How do I dry big chunks of maple?

[Hosspen]

I need help. I just had a big maple log with ambrosia streaks and burl knots sawmilled into 1,3,6,& 8" thick slabs. The tree was cut last spring and laid up on a pile until now. It is still solid and pretty heavy with a little spalting near the outer edge in a few places. I'm hoping to make some bowls out of the thicker chunks and pens out of the burl & colorful one inch slabs. My big question is:
How do I dry the big pieces without it cracking?. It is too big to boil or freeze so I'm thinking I'll need to be very patient, but wanted see if any of you wood experts have ideas about the best ,quickest way to dry it. I have it stacked outside on a pallet now covered with a tarp. With winter approaching I wonder if this is a good idea? Do you think I should coat the endgrain with something? If so, what is good for that? I will probably cut some pen blanks and dry with microwave, but know this isn't practical for a big bowl blank. Thanks for any help you could offer.

 

[great12b4ever]

You will definetly need to coat the ends with a sealer. There are mnany products and some even use Latex paint. You need to sticker the slabs to allow airflow around all sides of the boards. The better airflow and steady temperature you can have, the better drying. Basically, most people figure you need somewhere between 6-12 months per inch of thickness to get dry enough to use. But on your bowl blanks, a lot of people turn them green, leaving them oversize a fair amount, then let them finish drying. That way they are not waiting years but only a few months or so for them to dry. Google search for air drying your own lumber and you will find several helpful articles.

Rob

 

[Fred]

I have followed the idea developed by Steven Russell that involves boiling of the wood for an hour per each inch of thickness. I have boiled many bowl blanks that were fresh cut and using Steve's plan I have yet to suffer a lost bowl. The idea works very well for green pen blanks as well.

You will have to cut your pen blanks at some point in time, so go ahead and cut them now, boil them and then store them and allow them to dry. The same goes for the bowl blanks.

Here is the link to Steve's article.
http://www.woodturningvideosplus.com/boiling-green-wood.html

The information is most excellent. In the end, you will save more wood and a heck of a lot of time. When you dry the blanks be sure to place spacers between each piece to allow for air circulation. I usually use a large cardboard box that can be closed up to dry my woods in. This keeps the humidity levels at a stable level and allows the wood to dry evenly.

To save on boiling time you can pre-turn the green wood to an approximate shape (hollowed out to a large degree) and then boil. When dry turn the piece to finished dimensions.

Try the idea on a few pieces and see if it works well for you as I am sure it will. []