WET BOW Blanks

[lkorn]

I just received some BOW blanks that are really very wet. Boy do they smell good [:I]. How long do I need to wait before turnin? Do I need to protect them somehow? How do I dry them, Do I leave tem open or keep them wrapped in plastic?

Too Many Questions.

Thanks, Larry

 

[dougle40]

Larry,
First off I wouldn't leave them wrapped in plastic , that will prevent any evaporation from going on .
I have heard that putting them in a microwave oven for short bursts will dry out a wet blank . If I'm not mistaken , times of 1 minute or less until they are dry enough will do the job .

 

[KKingery]

Although I've not tried it, I believe Doug is correct about the microwave drying. - Definately do not wrap them in plastic though!

 

[Gary]

I dry mine in a food dehydrator.

 

[lkorn]

Great Idea, I've got one someplace. How do I know when they are dry? Do I need to seal the end? Before or after drying?

Larry

Originally posted by Gary
<br />I dry mine in a food dehydrator.

 

[Gary]

I don't seal them. I just load up the dehydrator, and let it run. I check the moisture content with a moisture meter. If you don't have one, you can use a small scale for rough measure...like a postage scale or your wife's kitchen scale. Just dry them until you don't see any more weight loss. It's a crude technique but it should work.

Originally posted by lkorn
<br />
Great Idea, I've got one someplace. How do I know when they are dry? Do I need to seal the end? Before or after drying?

Larry

Originally posted by Gary
<br />I dry mine in a food dehydrator.

 

[wayneis]

Larry be carefull with using a microwave you can crack blanks pretty easy if you heat them to fast or too long. Personally I put my wet blanks on top of my furnace, not to much heat but enough that they dry within a week.

Wayne

 

[tipusnr]

I am currently using a dishwasher converted to a drying cabinet. Don't have any real time data on the drying yet but the trouble light is keeping the wood at a steady 100 F.

Searched and searched for a broken dishwasher for this project and now that I finally found one - two more have become available!

 

[Gary]

Originally posted by tipusnr
<br />I am currently using a dishwasher converted to a drying cabinet. Don't have any real time data on the drying yet but the trouble light is keeping the wood at a steady 100 F.

Searched and searched for a broken dishwasher for this project and now that I finally found one - two more have become available!

That's why I like the food dehydrator...it has a temperature controller on it. I run it at 100F and it has worked well.

 

[Randy_]

Originally posted by Gary<br />.....That's why I like the food dehydrator...I run it at 100F and it has worked well.....

Do you have trouble with sawdust in your dried tomatoes???

And BTW, did you know that you can get a degree symbol by holding the "alt" key and entering "248"?? Like this.....100°F.

And if you ever need it, "alt" "241" will give you "±".

And if you ever need it, "alt" "246" will give you "÷". It was the desire for the division symbol that started me on the "alt" search!!!

I've got so much trivia stored in this old noggin, it amazes me that there is any room left to learn anything about crafting pens!![]

 

[ilikewood]

Just a note...I talked with Ghasen, and he stated that it takes <b>3 years</b> to air dry olive wood. The reason is the oils seem to keep the water from migrating out of the wood. They usually dry their wood that long before they cut and sell it. But when I was there last year, the supply was in a slump (don't worry, it fluctuates from time to time). He was cutting wood that was 2 years dried instead of 3 to keep the flow going. That just means we have to let the blanks dry longer or speed dry them ourselves. Still a fantastic wood and worth every penny.

 

[Gary]

Hey neat! I've been wondering how you can insert the degree sign.
100

Hmmm...it doesn't work for me.

Originally posted by Randy.
<br />

Originally posted by Gary<br />.....That's why I like the food dehydrator...I run it at 100F and it has worked well.....

Do you have trouble with sawdust in your dried tomatoes???

And BTW, did you know that you can get a degree symbol by holding the "alt" key and entering "248"?? Like this.....100°F.

And if you ever need it, "alt" "241" will give you "±".

And if you ever need it, "alt" "246" will give you "÷". It was the desire for the division symbol that started me on the "alt" search!!!

I've got so much trivia stored in this old noggin, it amazes me that there is any room left to learn anything about crafting pens!![]

 

[tipusnr]

Doesn't work for me either. Must be something in our settings!

 

[dougle40]

And BTW, did you know that you can get a degree symbol by holding the "alt" key and entering "248"?? Like this.....100°F

It didn't work for me either !!!

 

[Mac In Oak Ridge]

0° 0° Works here.

 

[TheHeretic]

To dry the blanks you may try the Denatured Alcohol protocol that has made its rounds over at Wood Central and other sites. I know you could try the boiling water protocol as well. I personally tried the Denatured alcohol protocol for a piece of Amboyna burl that I recently picked up and will be turning it this weekend to see how it went. I have used it on green box elder bowls and it works great.

Dont have a moisture meter or scale or I would try the microwave method. Although I like the idea of Tip's dishwasher conversion.

anyhow now I am rambling........


Dean
Columbus OH

 

[Rudy Vey]

I also got some wetter (?) than normal BOW and contacted Diane about that, here is their answer:

Dear Rudy,

The blanks we sent you have are not so dry as our supply of dry pen blanks ran out but they are not too wet either as they come from branches we had for around 8 months, Give your blanks one month and they will dry. My advice is drill the middle and cover them with saw dust for few weeks then let them sit in a shop for a week and they should be very dry that way.
Have a great day
Ghasan /Diane

Rudy

 

[wpenm]

While we are on the subject of wet wood, I found some maple that has been cut and on the ground for some time. I cut them into pen blanks and about half have some nice spalting. I sealed the ends of some of the blanks with polyurethane (the only thing I had on hand) and put them in a zip lock bag.Will they continue to spalt? What would you guys do with the rest of the blanks, try drying them of try to keep them damp in hopes of more spalting?

 

[tipusnr]

Like the saw dust idea very much! Way too simple.

 

[goldentouch]

° °
÷
It works for me.

 

[Daniel]

Garry,
I have heard of some people using home made concoctions to cause spalting. I recall beer being mentioned but can't remember if that was for the wood or the woodturner.
My personal thought are in relation to composting. as I think this is basically what spalting is the beginning of. this requires moisture but not wet. heat. and the right bacteria. the wrong bacteria will work but you can't keep it in the house. the in a baggie would tend to produce the wrong bacteria. the idea is to give the right bacteria soem food such as yeast or even lawn fertalizer to get started. once they have finished off the snack they will turn to the wood.
probably not a nearly complete method by any means but I have had to play with enough bacteria between Aquariums and gardening to have at least that much of a clue.

 

[Gregory Huey]

I have heard of many people putting them on top of their hot water tank and letting them dry there for about a week.(I have not tried this) The dish washer sounds like a great idea if you have the xtra space for it.

 

[jwoodwright]

Don't have an Old Dishwasher[?]
How about an Old Refrigerator[?]

Up here in Alaska we make our own Fish Smokers... From, GE, Whirlpool, Amana, Wards, etc. $20.00 Refrigerators...[8D]

OLD Refrigerators are great. Use Compressor for Vacuum pump. Trade Zinc Coated shelves to Refer Man to remove Freon. Ask nicely and Refer Man will remove Compressor and Coils and cooling fan. Refer Man will also set-up Compressor to be Vacuum Pump. Offer extra Parts to Refer Man including Door Handles. Steel racks from old Barbecues, work great...[8D]

These Smokers don't use a lot of heat, so disable the door switch and let the light shine.[] If you need more light (heat) and the light socket only takes the small appliance bulb, get a screw-in plug adaptor and wire up a pig tail with plug. a 75 watt bulb puts off a lot of heat. Venting is done through the door. No coils in the door. [:I]
Could even use Vent Ring from old barbeque. Drill hole, mount ring and adjust vent...[] Have fun...[8D]

 

[Gary]

Refrigerators? I thought you guys up there just stuck meat in a snow bank.[]

But, a refrigerator would work. All you want is an box with a little bit of insulation. You need a hole to ventilate and get the light bulb cord in. Or ,just crack the door I guess.

 

[Darley]

Originally posted by jwoodwright
<br />Don't have an Old Dishwasher[?]
How about an Old Refrigerator[?]

Up here in Alaska we make our own Fish Smokers... From, GE, Whirlpool, Amana, Wards, etc. $20.00 Refrigerators...[8D]

OLD Refrigerators are great.

Goosssh, John we do the same here old fridge are found in recycle place for free as you need only the shell, is treu good for smoking Barra, Croc and Roos but never try as a blank dryer would be unnusual to have a smoke pen [][8D]

Serge

 

[jwoodwright]

Serge,
Smoked blanks, a pen so tasty it's a treat![]

 

[lkorn]

Dean,
How is the DNA used to dry the blanks. Just soak them?

Larry - Inquiring minds want to know!

Originally posted by TheHeretic
<br />To dry the blanks you may try the Denatured Alcohol protocol that has made its rounds over at Wood Central and other sites.

 

[Bethlehem Olive Wood]

My apologies to the group for our late reply.
But my husband Ghasan cut the top of his right thumb off while he was working in the shop.

Thank you for letting us know about the wet blanks.
Some people are not familiar with olive wood and they freak out when they drill the inside of the blanks and find it still damp. Olive wood has olive oil in it and you can get a pen blank that has been drying for 20 years and when you drill the blank it will
have moisture inside of it.
The best thing to do to dry the pen blanks is bury the pen blanks in saw dust.
If anyone is ever unhappy with their purchase from.
Please don't hesitate to send me an email so I can send you a new order as soon as possible.

 

[Dario]

100°F worked here...great tip!

 

[Dario]

I use microwave drying and it works wonderfully. Just don't set it for too long that you basically "boil" the water in the wood. It dries most bowl turned green in a day or 2. I don't just rough turn...I finish turning and sanding before I microwave then apply finish later. Note that since bowls were turned green, they may warp a bit during the drying stage (which I like). Severity depends on the wood used.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

The symbol [ALT]248 ° only works on a PC with western fonts

 

[jdavis]

Microwave for 45 sec works for us. You need a moisture meterto see how dry the wood really is. We do not get much wood to be dried.

 

[penhead]

Diane, you and Ghasan have always provided beautiful olivewood. Of all the olivewood I have received from you , I have never seen a single piece that wasn't exquisitely beautiful. Thank you and Ghasan for providing this wood, and the tip of drying in sawdust.

 

[penhead]

On the idea of creating a drying kiln out of an old refrigerator, I have heard that from many turners, however, everyone seems to have a different opinion of the size (and number) of light bulbs needed. Is there such a thing as an optimum temperature instead of kind of bulb needed...and does anyone know what that would be..?

 

[DCBluesman]

Check out Russ F.'s article. http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ8.shtml

 

[Tom Stephens]

± ÷ °
This only works on my computer if I turn on NUM Lock and use the numeric keypad. It does not work if I use the number keys at the top of the keyboard.
Tom
Branchport, NY

 

[rtjw]

I wis I would have read this thread about 2 weeks ago when I first got my BOW. 3 of the checked so bad I cant turn them.

 

[Dominic Greco]

Originally posted by TheHeretic
<br />To dry the blanks you may try the Denatured Alcohol protocol that has made its rounds over at Wood Central and other sites.

Glad to hear someone else is using it for pen blanks! I was in Dave Smith's original "test group" for the Alcohol Soaking technique. I soaked about 15 different species and successfully turned bowls from all of them.

Later, I experimented with soaking some pen, and bottle stopper blanks. The technique seemed to work just as well (if not better) with them. Some of the freshly cut (wet) woods I used were: Apple, Dogwood, Figured Cherry, Figured Walnut, Ambrosia Maple, Osage Orange, Sycamore, and Beech.

I sliced them up, right off the log to about 7/8" sq x 6" to 7" long. (left them a bit big just in case there was some distortion) and immersed the blanks in alcohol overnight. 24 hours later, I removed them and allowed them to dry for about 30 minutes. I then "Lincoln log" stacked them on a shelf and promptly forgot about them for about 2 weeks. When I checked on them later, they were all under 8 to 10%MC.

I was worried that they would crack, since I really hadn't covered them with any paper, as I would the bowl blanks. However, they didn't crack at all. Although, to be quite truthful the Osage got some small radial cracks. But they were only on the surface.

 

[darbytee]

On the note of encouraging spalting in wood, I use a large dog food bag (the kind with wax paper on the inside) and put the wood I want to spalt along with some wood chips and sawdust of spalted wood. The theory is that the wax paper inhibits the drying and the spalting on the wood chips will spread the fungus into the wet wood. I've got a piece of hackberry and a piece of maple that was already lightly spalted that I've had sitting for about 6 weeks now. I've been checking on them periodically and they seem to be spalting nicely. I'll post pictures when i get a chance.

 

[Fred in NC]

You need to hold down the ALT key and enter the number in the KEYPAD. The numbers on top of the letters will not work !!!!