crooked wood

[Tom D]

I need a little help, I have a hickory tree that fell early in the spring and it has finally gotten cool enough so I can cut it up. It is a fairly large tree, about 3ft in dia at the trunk. One of the crotches had split so I cut some of it for pen blanks and other items. When I got home I sawed some of it into 1" blanks. I put one blank in the oven at 200deg for a couple of hours and it came out dry but fairly crooked. I was able to turn a pen though it was tough it wanted to blow out. I had put the rest of the blanks in sawdust and they also started to curve. I put 2 more blanks in the oven, this time at 150 for a few hours (l lost track) and you can see the results. any Idea on how to keep it straight. I guess if I don't cut it into blanks until it dries is one way. I am just to impatent.

 

[hewunch]

The issue is at least in part caused by the place you cut the wood from. Water escapes quicker from end grain. But when you are cutting crotch, you get the mix of end and face grain. So it moves in several ways, thus making your crooked blanks. I would try to clamp the blank to a stable substance, like UHMW.

 

[okiebugg]

Problems?

I need a little help, I have a hickory tree that fell early in the spring and it has finally gotten cool enough so I can cut it up. It is a fairly large tree, about 3ft in dia at the trunk. One of the crotches had split so I cut some of it for pen blanks and other items. When I got home I sawed some of it into 1" blanks. I put one blank in the oven at 200deg for a couple of hours and it came out dry but fairly crooked. I was able to turn a pen though it was tough it wanted to blow out. I had put the rest of the blanks in sawdust and they also started to curve. I put 2 more blanks in the oven, this time at 150 for a few hours (l lost track) and you can see the results. any Idea on how to keep it straight. I guess if I don't cut it into blanks until it dries is one way. I am just to impatent.

I have had the same problem for going on 40 years. I think all wood tende to twist, curve or crack because of stresses in the wood. Like was said before, end grain is the worst. I tend to turn almost everything cross grain and I cut it that way (oversize) so I can resaw when the wood cures.

Do you mean that your wife will actually let you dry wood in the oven????

 

[jbswearingen]

The only way to "fix" this, is to do as okie said--cut it larger than needed and pray that enough is left to use when it's dry.

 

[nativewooder]

You can always cut larger slabs and anchorseal the end grain and put it away and let it air dry. Sealing the endgrain will always slow down the evaporation and allow the wood to stay straighter. Yes, this will take much more time, but what do you have besides time?!

 

[juteck]

You can also cut the dried pieces into shorter sections just a little longer than each individual pen tube, then spin it between your spur drive and live center. Before you start "cutting" the wood, you will see where the wood appears solid and a ghosted image where it is not. Adjust the center points at each end until you maximize the solid wood section, then turn it round. Once it is round with parallel sides, you can drill as you normally do. I remember seeing a youtube video on turning antler this way to work around the natural curves.

 

[nativewooder]

You can always cut larger slabs and anchorseal the end grain and put it away and let it air dry. Sealing the endgrain will always slow down the evaporation and allow the wood to stay straighter. Yes, this will take much more time, but what do you have besides time?! The results you have obtained should show you that the wood does not like to be "cooked".

 

[pensbydesign]

i find the quicker the wood dries the more it will twist. i had good success with use a heat source that's about a 100 decries and a fan letting it go for 4 or 5 days then let it sit for a week, a 100 watt light bulb works a fan from a computer to move air. build a box so air will move from one end to the other. i have the fan at the top with the heat source which i took out of a old fruit dehydrator and vented out the bottom.

 

[Tom D]

Thanks for all the good advise, I think what I need to do is to cut the portion of the tree that I want to turn pens, bowls etc., seal the ends and put them in a metal shed and wait a year or two. The rest will be fire wood