Moisture Question

[James Baldwin]

Hi Group, I just acquired some maple the has aged maybe 5 to 10 years. When I checked it with a moisture meter after I quartered it showed about 7%. This was a pretty big stump. My 32" bar just barely reached through it. It had some pretty bad cracks but by quartering it I should get some turnable pieces. I suspect that I need to turn it green then dry right? Jim

[Jack Lilley]

Well if it's at 7% then that's about as dry as it's going to get. When turning "green" bowls that's exactly what it is, green. It's only been cut for a short period of time and is still full of water. When turning green the water is often coming out of the wood and going all over the place.

[John Keeton]

Ambient moisture content for “dry” wood in KY is closer to 12%. Kiln dry is 6%. “Green” wood is usually closer to 25% or more depending on species, time of year, and other factors.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Some woods are just darn difficult because they are so wet when green.

1-Average-moisture-content-of-green-wood-by-species.png

[James Baldwin]

I corrected my misspellings in my original post. Another senior moment. I'm going to block the wood up today into smaller chunks. I have a Jet 1642 and don't have outboard turning capability at the moment. I could use a friends 24" Oneway but I'd rather use my own lathe. Jim

[John Keeton]

Jim, you are more likely to get a response to your new question if you start a new thread with an appropriate title.

[Reed Gray]

I have found out through the years, that 'dry' wood can be misleading. A stump aged 10 years, and I am assuming there was a log section on top of the stump base, might be 10 to 15% MC in most areas. If I am breaking up some thing for making turning blanks, when I cut open a log, I want to process it as soon as possible. For reasons unknown, when you cut some thing open, it starts to crack very quickly. I would guess that maybe the uneven moisture levels of the different parts of the wood create tension, and tension/stress is relieved by cracking. 7% MC might be possible in Palm Springs or Phoenix, but not in most other areas.

robo hippy

[James Baldwin]

Stump might not have been the right description. It was a chunk of log that had been laying on the ground for the period of time mentioned. I'm going to start on one of the pieces tomorrow. I'll see how the chips fly. Jim

[James Baldwin]

Well I started blocking the wood chunks today. The maple that measures 7% won't give ma a big enough piece for what I have mine. I'm going to go with a piece of maple that measures about 17%. What would be a good wall thickness to turn it too before drying? Jim