How dry dor pen blanks?

[Dan Masshardt]

If a moderator could fix my heading typo, i'd appreciate it....

For those who have moisture meters, how dry do you require a pen blank to be to be usable?

 

[Justturnin]

I prefer EMC to the area, around here that is about 10%. If I over dry it and use it there could be issues, if it is still too wet and dries the rest of the way, problems again.

 

[robutacion]

Most non oily woods are workable at about 14% MC, fruit trees need to dry about 9-10% MC before they stop moving like snakes.

If you have some blanks that you are not sure if they are dry (safe to work with) or not, weight one blank and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes at normal cooking settings, let it cool down and re-weight it, if they is a weight difference, the blank is not dry and will require a few more bursts in the microwave but this time, you go for 30 seconds at the time with cooling in between. Weight it after a couple of 30 second bursts, if it continue to lose weight, continue doing those 30 seconds bursts until the wood/blank stops loosing weight, the wood/blank is then dry...!

HOWEVER, is very important that you let the blank(s) cool down to just slightly worm in your hand, before you proceed with the next heat burst, failing to do so, will cook/burn the wood from inside out.

The other very important factor is, after you dried the blanks/wood on the microwave, let them cool down inside the microwave with the door open, do not turn any of them immediately after that, get them out of the microwave and put them in a plate/container in an area were they are totally out of the weather but can "acclimatize" EMC to the temp and moisture content in the air, that will provide a equilibrium to the wood fibres and therefore, maintain the integrity of the wood structure and minimise any possibilities of movement after worked...!

Hope this helps...!

Cheers
George

 

[1080Wayne]

Don

12-!4% may be okay for you in the summer with 60-80 temp and 65-75 %RH , but come winter with 30-50 temp and maybe 30% RH you run the risk of cracks . The N American standard for construction lumber is dry at 13 % , which is a major annoyance to those of us in drier climes , because it must be used almost immediately to prevent snake formation . Lumber for furniture is generally kiln dried to about 6 % , because it is used indoors under less humid conditions .

You have the misfortune to live in an area where fairly extreme summer to winter variation is the norm . Those of us in drier interior or wetter coastal areas generally only see 1-3 % points of variation .

 

[randyrls]

HOWEVER, is very important that you let the blank(s) cool down to just slightly worm in your hand, before you proceed with the next heat burst, failing to do so, will cook/burn the wood from inside out.

I will reinforce what George said. You should wait AT LEAST 30 minutes between cycles. AND don't use the microwave in the kitchen unless you are single, or want to be!

Wood drying is very much dependent on wood thickness. Some wood turners dry wood by soaking a rough turned bowl in Denatured Alcohol.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

I will reinforce what George said. You should wait AT LEAST 30 minutes between cycles. AND don't use the microwave in the kitchen unless you are single, or want to be!

Wood drying is very much dependent on wood thickness. Some wood turners dry wood by soaking a rough turned bowl in Denatured Alcohol.

What's it going to do to the microwave?

 

[rogerwaskow]

It will cause your microwave to be unusable for food processing as the steam and residue of the wood will permeate your microwave. But then, you can always collect brownie points and buy your wife a new one. The major problem will also be if you dry Cedar. The natural poisons will stay in your microwave and again permeate the food as the poisons are a natural tree preservation against insects.

Again George, I am certain I am right on this one as I have a mate who tests for the hospitality industry and he did some testing for me and found these residues.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Interesting. I did use the regular microwave for a couple bursts on two oak burl blanks but I'll grab a used one if I decide to do this regularly. Normally I have plenty of dry blanks but this order is for matching sets of differs burls with specific ideas about coloring...

 

[Rick_G]

I have a cheap pin type meter, ($28 reads moisture, voltage, stud and metal finder) It has LED for a readout starting at 8% up to 22%. I cut my pen blanks an inch square then put 4 to 6 in the microwave at a time. Run it on defrost for 3 minutes then take them out and let them cool. When the meter reads 8% or less they are dry enough. Dry ones will often read 16-18% right out of the oven when hot but once they cool down the reading drops to 8% or less.

I cut the blanks to 1" square because they often warp a little when drying and then I recut them to 3/4" square after they are dry.

I've had freshly cut willow take 10 or 12 cycles in the microwave before they are dry and other hardwoods like cherry or oak take 3 or 4.

It's a good idea to have a container of water nearby when drying the blanks if one of them is smoking when you take it out of the microwave drop it in the water. It is burning from the inside out and could burst into flame DAMHIKT