Apricot and Alcohol

[W.Y.]

Cranked out four more small bowls this afternoon from a 6" diameter apricot log .
Even though I sealed the ends of that wood when I got it a few months ago it is cracking out badly in the pith area and beyond. I should have made bowls from it as soon as it was cut from the tree and would have had lot deeper bowls. Still have a few small cracks in the top of the rough turned ones and hopefully they won't go any farther now that the stress's in the log has been relieved. A little CA in them should do the trick because if I was to turn right down past them I would be left with just shallow dishes.

Tried to take a closeup of those stress cracks radiating out from the pith showing through the wax .

And here are those four small bowls getting pie eyed while being well covered with about 3/4 gallon of DNA.

When thoroughly drunk in at least 24 hours I will take them out with massive hangovers and wrap them in pieces of brown paper bag with the hole in it the way many here have seen the way I do that while they sober up and dry out . Then they should be ready for final turning and finishing in a couple weeks.

 

[76winger]

Interesting. Does the alcohol draw the moisture out of the wood?

I've had cracking issues when drying wood and haven't discovered the secret yet.

 

[W.Y.]

Interesting. Does the alcohol draw the moisture out of the wood?

I've had cracking issues when drying wood and haven't discovered the secret yet.

Yes , that is the theory behind it without going into elaborate technical explanations like some seem to like to do I like to keep it plain and simple .

The alcohol displaces the moisture .

I have tried every known method of turning bowls from green wood . I know some are going to say the way they do it is better and that's fine but the alcohol method is the one that always gives me better than 95% success rate .

 

[ren-lathe]

Biggest problem is the pith. I some species are worse than others. I usually try to avoid having the pith in what I am turning.

 

[Jim Burr]

DNA may work on that stuff...but it's so unstable, I wanna see what happens!!

 

[leehljp]

William,

Do you or have you "boiled" green blanks? When I was in Japan I did not have access to alcohol in volume enough for what you posted above, so I just boiled a few bowl blanks and had good success with it. Now that I am back in the USA, I have access to DNA.

Just curious if you have tried both and what difference it makes.

Thanks.

 

[JohnU]

This is good to know. I haven't tried this with bowls since I haven't turned one ...yet, but I soak all of my green cut wood blanks in DNA over night and wrap in newspaper for a month. Ive alway had great success with it.

 

[paintspill]

just curious about how you treat the bowls after the soak. considering that dna is poisonous

 

[Robert Taylor]

actually water and alcohol will mix. when the alcohol evaporates the moisture/water goes with it. same theory for dry gas in your tank. alcohol and gasoline do not mix, however the alcohol will mix with the water and is still a burnable mixture. just my $.02

 

[W.Y.]

William,

Do you or have you "boiled" green blanks? When I was in Japan I did not have access to alcohol in volume enough for what you posted above, so I just boiled a few bowl blanks and had good success with it. Now that I am back in the USA, I have access to DNA.

Just curious if you have tried both and what difference it makes.

Thanks.

Yes Lee I have tried the boiling method . As mentioned earlier I don't think there is any of the various methods I have not tried.
After boiling and then putting up on a shelf to dry I got a serious case of blue mold on the bowls . Some was only surface but some went almost right through .

actually water and alcohol will mix. when the alcohol evaporates the moisture/water goes with it. same theory for dry gas in your tank. alcohol and gasoline do not mix, however the alcohol will mix with the water and is still a burnable mixture. just my $.02

Good point Betty . First time I have heard that theory and it seems to make a lot of sense.

 

[leehljp]

I did mine in the summer and stuck them in a paper bag and put them to the attic. I know that is generally a little too fast but they did not crack and I did not get any mold. Thanks for the information though, I will consider myself lucky on those. I am going to try the DNA soon. Thanks!

 

[W.Y.]

I did mine in the summer and stuck them in a paper bag and put them to the attic. I know that is generally a little too fast but they did not crack and I did not get any mold. Thanks for the information though, I will consider myself lucky on those. I am going to try the DNA soon. Thanks!

When I did the boiling method Lee I wrapped them the same as I dd with the DNA with the back and rim all covered and a big hole in the top. Maybe a different kind of wrap would have worked but I didn't want to take a chance on more moldy ones. Then it might have had something to do with the particular kind of wood I used at the time.

If you have never done the DNA method yet , I bet you will like it once you do. Get 'em good and drunk and then let them sober up and dry out

My morning is taken but if nothing prevents me from getting in the shop tomorrow afternoon I will wrap and date them and record moisture and show a picture.

 

[W.Y.]

Out of DNA after 22 hour soak . Dripping and drying off a little for about 20 minutes prior to wrapping.

Wrapped with grocery bag paper and dated and M/C recorded . Started out as 35% moisture before putting them into the DNA . After 20 hours in DNA the moisture was already down to 22%.
For ones that do not have a moisture meter you can do it the way I used to . Record weight of each one and repeat and re-record new weight as often as you like.
After the weight has not gone any lower for three consecutive days they are considered dry and ready to final turning . For smaller bowls like this it should happen in about two weeks.

Top is cut out to allow air circulation but important to keep the rim covered .
Any printing on the grocery bags of course should be on the outside . DAMHIKT . . lol . .

 

[D.Oliver]

Thanks for the info, William.

 

[leehljp]

If you have never done the DNA method yet , I bet you will like it once you do. Get 'em good and drunk and then let them sober up and dry out

"Get 'em good and drunk and then let them sober up and dry out"
So THAT is the secret! :biggrin: Gotta give that a try!

Thanks for posting the picts of your work too!

 

[louie68]

I fine this very interesting regarding DNA, when i was learning how to wood carve my master carving teacher use to spray Isophol Alcohol on my wood carving's when we were doing real detail work on eye's, nose,mouth and he always told me by spraying Alcohol on the wood that would tighten the wood fiber, mine you the wood was very dry Kried Dry.

 

[W.Y.]

I fine this very interesting regarding DNA, when i was learning how to wood carve my master carving teacher use to spray Isophol Alcohol on my wood carving's when we were doing real detail work on eye's, nose,mouth and he always told me by spraying Alcohol on the wood that would tighten the wood fiber, mine you the wood was very dry Kried Dry.

Lovely carving you have shown. A++
I have never tried carving. Don't think I would ever have the time or patience but I love seeing what others have done.

 

[W.Y.]

Remember these from 4 days ago when they were taken out of the DNA and wrapped ?
They were down to 4% moisture this afternoon so I put them back on the lathe and final turned them and put a finish on them.
Two weeks is normal for larger bowls to go from green to dry but with these being smaller ones it only took four days.
They are totally stable now and will never warp or crack.

 

[philb]

Those look awesome!

Less than a week for soaking and drying! Bit quicker than the 6 months for air-drying!!
What moisture content did they show once drunk?
Phil

 

[W.Y.]

Those look awesome!

Less than a week for soaking and drying! Bit quicker than the 6 months for air-drying!!
What moisture content did they show once drunk?
Phil

33% at first turning before going into the DNA.
22% half hour after coming out of the 24 hour DNA bath and getting wrapped .
4% exactly four days later and final turned and finished.
It's not magic . . . it's just the way it is . . :wink:

 

[TerryDowning]

Wow, those look great. I'm actually looking forward to the day my apricot tree comes down now.

Terry