drying wood quickly

[bensoelberg]

I need to dry a small amount of Juniper as quickly as possible so I can make a pen for my neighbor.

Last Wednesday, he saw me looking disparagingly at some Juniper bushes in my front yard. I'd never really spoken with him before, but he came right over and asked if I was planning on taking them out. I said that that was the eventual plan, but that I wasn't going to do it right away. He told me that it was easy and that he would help. I had no idea what would be involved, but we decided that we would do it Monday morning. Most of the day Monday and Tuesday morning were spent cleaning out those bushes. I had to get back to studying for a big test I have next week, but he would not be satisfied until he had also removed all of the weeds from my backyard, mowed my lawn, and leveled the dirt where the bushes had been. I had to study for a test, so I told him that I would help him if he would wait, but he wouldn't do it. This man needs a pen.

I saved some of the clippings of the juniper and would like to make him one from that, but need to dry it as fast as I reasonably can so I can get him his pen sooner than later. Any suggestions? I've thought about boiling it, then microwaving it on half power for short bursts, but I really don't know if that would work.

 

[Drstrangefart]

I put 2 or 3 blanks at a time in my living room window. It gets all-day sunlight, and we have to have blankets covering it to see the TV. Makes a great hotbox for fast drying. Still takes about a week, but it beats 3-4 months.

 

[robutacion]

I need to dry a small amount of Juniper as quickly as possible so I can make a pen for my neighbor.

Last Wednesday, he saw me looking disparagingly at some Juniper bushes in my front yard. I'd never really spoken with him before, but he came right over and asked if I was planning on taking them out. I said that that was the eventual plan, but that I wasn't going to do it right away. He told me that it was easy and that he would help. I had no idea what would be involved, but we decided that we would do it Monday morning. Most of the day Monday and Tuesday morning were spent cleaning out those bushes. I had to get back to studying for a big test I have next week, but he would not be satisfied until he had also removed all of the weeds from my backyard, mowed my lawn, and leveled the dirt where the bushes had been. I had to study for a test, so I told him that I would help him if he would wait, but he wouldn't do it. This man needs a pen.

I saved some of the clippings of the juniper and would like to make him one from that, but need to dry it as fast as I reasonably can so I can get him his pen sooner than later. Any suggestions? I've thought about boiling it, then microwaving it on half power for short bursts, but I really don't know if that would work.

The fastest way to dry the wood is to cut it in a 1" square x 5 to 6" long (shrinkage) and then using the microwave in the regular cooking setting, weight one of the green/wet blanks, then start with 1 minute bursts (5 or 6) with cooling time in between. Cooling time is easily achieved by simply opening the microwave door and leave it open until the next burst, this can be done every 10 to 15 minutes for those first 5 or 6 times as the wood gets dryer and hotter as you go, there fore easily burned if you are not careful with the second stage of the drying process.

Weight one blank or the same one if you have marked it (recommended), and start the second stage with half of the "cooking" time (30 seconds...!), allow the wood to cool down properly, by feeling it in your hand, then continue with these 30 seconds bursts will the blank(s) stops loosing weight, at this point, you can safely consider the wood dry/stable to turn but let it cool down completely before turning it...!

Preferentially and being on the safe side of things, you should leave the microwaved wood/blanks, alone and in a safe controlled environment (house/shed) for 1 day (24 hours), the reason is that, the wood will need to stabilize/reach equilibrium to the atmospheric conditions surrounding it, moisture content (MC%) is crucial at this point as the microwave has changed and altered the cell composition at an accelerated rate, all wood needs moisture and if the microwave has removed more of it than what your atmospheric environment contains and if you take it out of the microwave and turn it straight away, you will have 90% probabilities that that wood will crack withing the first 24 hours, this is the reason why is better to let the wood to "settle down" and soak/balance/reach the MC% of your surroundings....!

The success or failure of the microwave drying wood method, has a lot to do with these facts...!

Good luck...!

Don't forget that, if there is no pics, never happened...!:wink:

Cheers
George

 

[mrcook4570]

Microwave

 

[mrcook4570]

Also, drill a hole (slightly smaller than needed for the pen) through the blank prior to microwaving. This will provide more surface area and remove unnecessary wood.