drying green blanks

[bensoelberg]

I've read of some turners using a microwave to dry rough turned green bowls and was wondering if the same thing could be done with green pen blanks. I know that the bowls are usually turned to a thickness of about 1/2 an inch so it seems like this should work. Has anybody done this?

 

[rjwolfe3]

Short answer is yes. But I have not done it. I have read where other people have done it with great success. I do believe that it involves a lot of weighing of the blanks or a moisture meter.

 

[SDB777]

Not to steal the topic....but I got question involving dye.

#1: Would a vaccuum increase the depth that the dye would go? Or is soaking the blank enough to get completely through with the color(dye)??
(I have some rock maple-very hard- that I'd like to dye)

If a vaccuum is needed, what would the negative pressure be?
What brand of dye seems to give the best results too?





Scott (a dyed bowl would be pretty unique) B

 

[hunter-27]

Not to steal the topic....but I got question involving dye.

#1: Would a vaccuum increase the depth that the dye would go? Or is soaking the blank enough to get completely through with the color(dye)??
(I have some rock maple-very hard- that I'd like to dye)

If a vaccuum is needed, what would the negative pressure be?
What brand of dye seems to give the best results too?





Scott (a dyed bowl would be pretty unique) B

Wouldn't a new thread be more applicable?

 

[Fred]

Try boiling the wood. I find that a microwave and weighing procedure (several in fact) take about as long to accomplish the same thing with boiling. AT least by boiling I have yet to burn the insides of my would be blanks. Just boil about an hour per inch of thickness and let them dry a day or so. THEN, maybe microwave on low to medium power until they are dry.

Also, I have yet to hae any blanks warp after boiling but often did using a microwave. Definitely has to do with a heat built-up issue inside ve overall even heating with boiling.

 

[Bellsy]

Toaster oven set at @ 190 degrees for about 8 hours. Shut off the oven and jar the door open slightly to cool down. Check it with a moisture meter and repeat as necessary.

I have not tried this, but I am going to give it a try this weekend with some box elder burl that I just received.

The tip is partially from Mesquiteman who recommends this for drying out blanks to make worthless wood blanks. The toaster oven technique is used to completely dry the blanks before casting them in Alumilite. If the blanks are for normal pen turning then I would think a slightly higher moisture content would be acceptable. 8 - 10% should be adequate I would think. I'm open to other suggestions of course.

Dave

 

[Bellsy]

This morning I took a piece of fresh box elder burl and checked it with the moisture meter. The reading said it was @ 16 -18% moisture. I heated the toaster oven to @ 190 degrees and placed the blank (3/4" thick x 5" long x 4" wide) into the oven along with some worthless cherry burl pen blanks. I left them in the oven for 8 hours and then shut off the oven. After about one hour I took the blanks out of the oven and checked the moisture reading again. This time the meter read between 6-7% moisture.

I hope that helps answer your question. Thanks to MesquiteMan for this bit of info he passed onto me over the phone.

Dave

 

[rjwolfe3]

Does drying them quickly like that lead to cracking or splitting?

 

[Bellsy]

Does drying them quickly like that lead to cracking or splitting?

I didn't see any cracks or splits in the blank of box elder burl. The worthless cherry burl blanks already had cracks in them before I started and now that they are going to be cast in Alumilite...it pretty much don't matter for them. I will take another look at the box elder burl tomorrow to see if it's still ok.

Dave

 

[bensoelberg]

Thanks Dave. I hadn't ever heard of using a toaster oven before. That sounds like a great option.

 

[jason_r]

Not to steal the topic....but I got question involving dye.

#1: Would a vaccuum increase the depth that the dye would go? Or is soaking the blank enough to get completely through with the color(dye)??
(I have some rock maple-very hard- that I'd like to dye)

If a vaccuum is needed, what would the negative pressure be?
What brand of dye seems to give the best results too?

Scott (a dyed bowl would be pretty unique) B

See my notes on dye penetration here:
http://www.rziha.net/woodworking/experiments/dye_penetration

If you want to take notes and send me the data I'd add to the page.