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wizkid1st

Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
142
Location
Louisville, TN
I recently purchased some pen blanks from a member on here. They are cut from Jack Daniels "White Oak" Whiskey Barrels. They are very cool blanks with a nice whiskey smell. My question is about drying them out. I checked them with my moisture meter and it read 17%... Do I need to wait for these to dry out some or would it be ok to turn them now? Please keep in mind that I am relatively new to pen making and I apologize for my ignorance.
 

HamTurns

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2012
Messages
273
Location
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
I'd say that you want it to get a bit lower than that before you turn it, otherwise it might change shape a bit as it dries.

I see that you live in Louisville, Tn and the RH is 70% right now and how dry the wood gets is relative to your local weather.

Do you have other known dry woods in your shop that you could measure and compare to?

I live in Wisconsin, and the RH is 93% today, but my "dry" woods stay between 8% and 11% MC. They will vary some, but when I use them when they are in that range I don't have any trouble. My shop and wood storage is in my detached, non-air conditioned garage, so it goes up and down with the ambient RH.

There are some other variables though, such as how thick will the actual wood be after you get done turning it? You may dry it out in the turning process just due to the heat from the friction of sanding and finishing. The thinner it is the faster it will dry.

You could also dry it some in your oven at a low temperature, I do that, but mainly for woods that I'm going to stabilize.

I hope this helps.

Tom
 

snyiper

Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
1,601
Location
St Inigoes, MD
You could also turn the wood close to size and then let it dry a bit more then return to finish it that way there would be less wood to have to dry!!
 
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