Worthless Wood Question

[keithlong]

I came upon some green hickory wood today, it is in staves about 1 inch square and from 12 inches to 24 inches long. I ran across a place that makes hammer handle staves and they also make drum sticks. I was given a tip that a person could go there and get all the wood they wanted, so i checked it out and sure enough the manager told me to take as much as i wanted. The only problem is it is all green wood. I know that i need to seal the ends, but my question is, what is the best way to dry this green hickory wood? I am trying to accumlate a viriety of different wood. In the past all the wood i have used has always been dried. Thanks for any suggestions. Keith

 

[purplehaze]

Microwave

Try a search, there is always ten different ways to do things. Some build hot boxes with a light bulb to dry the wood while other boil the wood and still others use chemicals such as alcohol. Research everything, ask lots of questions and experiment.

Here is what I do, I got this from one of the New England guys at a meeting.

I don't seal the ends of the blanks, I have had very few crack but they will warp.

Put a few (4-5) blanks on a paper plate leaving space between each blank and microwave for one minute on high. Let the blanks completely cool or you will burn them. Repeat until dry. It could take 10+ tries in the microwave.

If you think they are dry wrap them in a paper towel or napkin and repeat the microwave part to see if any moisture transfers to the towel.

Someone else on this site suggested that you put a glass bowl over the blanks and again microwave to see if any condensation attaches to the glass which would mean there is still some moisture. The blanks dry from the center outward.

Good luck

 

[jimbob91577]

The other theory is to stabilize instead of drying - and when you get into the mystic art of stabilizing you can begin to use everything from DNA (Denatured Alcohol) to Cedarcide/Turners Choice (Texas Cedar Oil - that reportedly the Koa turners on Hawaii use to stabilize their bowl and vase blanks). Then there is "Stabilization" which uses acrylic resin pressure cooked into the wood - same logic applies here, replace the water with a curing resin and away you go.

I haven't tried either method so I can't begin to offer suggestions on which one is better or which one will work, however, if you have an unlimited supply it wouldn't hurt to try various techniques and see what happens.

 

[timben]

I have one of those "home Harvest" food dehydrators that people use to make beef jerky with. It sat in my storage room unused for years before I decided to try it out as a mini "Home Wood Kiln". It has a fan and adjustable heat. Just the right size for pen blanks. Works great. I seal the ends of the blanks and put them in the dehydrator for a couple days.
I don't remember how expensive they are, but it might be a worth it if you use a lot of local woods.
I also have a cabinet type large egg incubator I built that works well for preheating molds and curing stuff, I haven't tried it as a kiln, but I think it would work as well.

 

[Larry Gottlieb]

When I harvest green wood, I cut them into 3/4" blanks about 12" long. I then put them in stacks into an attic that gets very hot. After about 3-4 weeks I remove them.

Of course the drying time will depend on how wet they are.

Little trouble with significant splitting, but lots of warping (no trouble)

Larry

 

[workinforwood]

Yea, what Larry says works really good. You build a little rack with some one inch spacers and put a cinder block on top. It's not so much the heat, but the constant air flow that makes it such a great place in the attic. If you were to put the stuff on cement, it would never dry, just sit there and spalt then rot. Concrete is always wet, even though it feels dry.