how long for huisache to dry?

[lago]

I cut a log back in March of this year and then sliced and diced it on the BS to about 1" thick. It sat outside for a few months and then to the shop. Two of the boards did crack but still have enough for quite a few pens. I now have them planned down to 3/4 and ready to cut in blanks.

I did come across some articles where bowl turners use alcohol to dry out partially turned bowls. I can try that or have even thought about putting them in a small toaster over at 100 degrees or even outside in the sun at 100 degrees, what it is now.

Or do you think these are dry enough to turn at this point?

Lago

 

[GaryMGg]

Rule of thumb for Air drying lumber: 1" thickness takes 1 year to dry. YMMV.
Pen blanks are easily dried in the microwave but don't let SWMBO know. :biggrin:

 

[DestinTurnings]

You can easily see if they are dry by measuring with a scale accurate to the gram level. Weigh a blank, wait a couple of days and weigh it again. If there is no difference, then the blank has equalized and is ready to be turned. If it is wet, you can microwave it or toaster oven set to LOW. You can also use your regular oven set to very low with the door cracked open.

 

[jd99]

You can use DNA also, Chris (justturnin) posted his drying method a while back in this post (number 2) It works thats how I do it also.
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f43/stablize-blanks-98578/index4.html#post1422779

 

[OOPS]

A wife of a pen turner in our local club tells a hilarious story about the time her husband tried to dry a beautiful piece of wood in the microwave. He ended up with a piece of wood burning in the back yard, and she got a new microwave!

I am not an expert in this area, but others in our group have used cardboard boxes with a 60 watt bulb for heat, and some have used food dehydrators. Still others have used toaster ovens. Personally, I wouldn't use anything that I was using in the kitchen for preparation of my own food. Some of these exotic woods have "exotic" emissions, and I would urge caution as to avoid contaminating your kitchen appliances with these substances.

 

[dogcatcher]

This year with our temps in Texas the wood should dry quicker. Did you sticker it so it could get good air movement? If you did I would guess that it is almost dry. If you didn't sticker them, do it now, or you will wait a long long time.

Take a couple of pieces and weigh them, and in a week weigh them again. If there is no change, they are dry, if not wait another week and weigh them again.

 

[lago]

I didn't sticker them, just laid them on a table on the deck for about 3 months before I brought them into the shop. I have a small scale and will weigh them and put back outside. It's been in the 100's for the past several days and will continue for another week or so.

Lago

 

[plantman]

:cowboy: Don't forget to turn them every so often or they will dry unevenly and warp or crack. Try to find someone that owns a moisture meter you could use. If it's 11% or lower, your good to go! Jim S

 

[alamocdc]

I am not an expert in this area, but others in our group have used cardboard boxes with a 60 watt bulb for heat, and some have used food dehydrators. Still others have used toaster ovens. Personally, I wouldn't use anything that I was using in the kitchen for preparation of my own food. Some of these exotic woods have "exotic" emissions, and I would urge caution as to avoid contaminating your kitchen appliances with these substances.

I use an old gutted dishwasher with a 60 watt buld in the bottom where the pump used to be. The top rack is perfect for drying pen blanks.

 

[Rick_G]

I picked up a $40 microwave on sale, 3 minutes on defrost, take them out let them cool to room temp. repeat until my moisture meter doesn't read any more. The lowest reading is 8%.
Heating ducts for the house run through the shop so in the fall I'll just set them up on top and forget them till spring.

I usually cut them just over 1" square, the microwave ones have warped pretty good sometimes.