Peppermill blank dryness

[Bope]

How dry does a peppermill blank need to be? I ordered some 3"x3" blanks from Cook Woods and some were 1-2 years air dried and then totally sealed with wax. They say there may be some residual moisture. Do I need to scrape the wax off the sides and let them dry for another couple years or will they work as is? My turning experience is really around pens not larger items like this.

 

[gimpy]

Hi Eric, Kiln dry removes the moisture, air dried , there still is moisture in it
The rule of thumb is if the moisture content is < than 10% your good to go
If air dried and waxed over, that is trapping the moisture inside.
So yes scrap the wax off the sides but not the ends.
One way to keep track of the process is to. Weight each piece and make a log of it.
Once the weight remains the same for several months, your good to go
Hope this helps at least some

 

[endacoz]

Another way is to boil the wood briefly and the wax comes right off.

 

[civilwartalk]

When I get blanks like this that seem dry for pepper mills, I turn them round, and cut the top off, and bore a 1" hole all the way through body. This lowers the mass of the blank, and increases the surface area by alot, and the wood is never more than an inch thick anywhere.

If I see steam in the drill process, I know it's still too wet to go further. I then paint the end grain with latex paint, or wood glue, and then let dry a bit longer, a month or two.

Then once fully dry I can bore the needed larger holes, and turn the outside round again.

I did that for 2 walnut and one cherry blank so far, and it's worked really well, and didn't get any cracks. That might just be luck, but it worked well.

 

[gimpy]

When I get blanks like this that seem dry for pepper mills, I turn them round, and cut the top off, and bore a 1" hole all the way through body. This lowers the mass of the blank, and increases the surface area by alot, and the wood is never more than an inch thick anywhere.

If I see steam in the drill process, I know it's still too wet to go further. I then paint the end grain with latex paint, or wood glue, and then let dry a bit longer, a month or two.

Then once fully dry I can bore the needed larger holes, and turn the outside round again.

I did that for 2 walnut and one cherry blank so far, and it's worked really well, and didn't get any cracks. That might just be luck, but it worked well.

Yes, I've do this at times myself