So it seems there's a hundred different ways to dry bowls. And every turner has their own twist and magic voodoo on it. Drop a comment below with your trade secrets if you dare😅 Hit that subscribe button wile your at it youtube.com/@ray-dacatimberworkswoodturning?si=7L9CymsPGa70S96E?sub_confirmation=1 thanks!
I enjoyed the video and your commentary. Seems like how hard we try, we are at the mercy of the lumber to avoid cracks. You commented on safety steps you are taking. One that i would strongly recommend is to get into the habit of stopping the lathe when making tool rest adjustments. I saw you didn't do that very often and hope the bruised knuckles weren't the result o getting nicked. Be careful! and keep turning.
Thanks for the kind words and recommendations. All the cuts and scars on my hands are from cutting and splitting firewood, working on and sharpening chainsaws and wrenching on cranes without gloves. I need the dexterity and feel more than the protection, some cases they make an increased risk of accidents.
When all else fails, I have my outdoor wood boiler to feed! My best luck with the least effort is filling large cardboard boxes with rough outs and putting them in a room with no breeze. Thanks for the inspiration! I seem to do more woodturning when the weather gets ugly outdoors.
I might have to try the cardboard box trick to restrict airflow, seems to make sense. I can't wait for fal, I too like to turn when it's a bit cooler, winter is rough though my garage isn't insulated or heated. I burn all my shavings so the problem children go in the pit with them, have a good one Buddy!
what do you use to seal, where do you seal, why and when do you seal? do you seal and let it continue to dry? if you seal aren't you preventing the moisture from getting out? I don't understand and have so much to learn. really appreciate videos like yours. thanks.
@DennisDolan-fl3mw ok I'll try to break some of this down for you, I could make a ton of videos and write pages on it. But you can't stop the moisture from leaving, we simply try and slow it down. When the moisture leaves to rapidly or from one area faster than another it stresses the wood and it cracks. So wood is basically a bundle of straws that carry water from the roots to the leaves and back. We try and plug the end of the straws or the endgrain and make the water leave the sides and barkbat a much slower rate. I use anchorseal which is a wax emulsion, or Elmer's glue because it's cheap. People use other things such as latex paint and cling wrap. It's best to seal the logs the day it is cut, then any time you cut the wood again and it won't be in it's finished form. This step is completely unnecessary if you begin with kiln or air dried wood. This is a green wood technique.
You got a link to the Stewart Batty 40/40 you are getting? I'm in need of a new one... mine is down to the nub... if you will. By the way, I twice turn quite a bit. I'll anchor seal the ends and they put it in a paper bag. 98% successful with that method.
Yeah im thinking that extra step of limiting air flow like a bag, box, trashcan, etc. Might be what I'm missing thanks. stuartbattytools.com/buy-woodturning-tools/ols/categories/new-revolution-series-elliptical-bowl-gouges
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning My wife when she shops asks for paper bags. So there is not extra cost. I've 50 Cherry blanks I'm getting ready to rough out... if I"m short on bags. The grocery store will give 5 for a dollar.
Great work. You’ll probably never reach 100%, but saving more than you lose is where you want to be. I noticed that you stored them upside right to dry. If you’ll turn then upside down they will dry slightly slower, maybe making the difference between cracking or not.
Interesting take on drying buddy. I'll look into it. To be honest the majority of them get turned and tossed on the cupboards in the laundry room. I rarely even seal them. I think subconsciously I don't like turning dry wood so I don't care what happens to them, I just have fun roughing bowls lol!
@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173 so it would almost seem best to keep these high moisture woods in long slab form or half logs with the pith removed, let them semi and crack and warp and do their thing, then cut them into blanks and start working them. Hopefully being able to cut away most of the cracks in the semi dry slab state.
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning Yeah, I'm trying this with one 3 foot bit. It doesn't leave as much meat on it though. But I did get about 4 out of 6 10" bowls without cracking
@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173 that's awesome, I myself am not a fan of finishing cracked bowls, but sometimes the wood is so beautiful I will fill them and finish them out. Best of luck buddy, I have not got ahold of any beech yet, I hear it can be beautiful and cuts easily.
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning Beech is all blighted in New England. Gotta take it all down next 5 years. It's easy spalting too, just leave it on the ground for some months.
I scavenge and Salvage all my wood and can't find ash anywhere because of the emerald borer. All the ash in Michigan is on the ground and rotting or dead standing, it's weird to see tons of barkless trees everywhere.
@DennisDolan-fl3mw some use moisture meters, others use a formula of 1 year plus 1 additional year per inch of thickness. Weighing the bowls is a great option also you get a baseline weight and re weigh every so often and when it stops losing weight it's usually good to go.
I probably should, I have dozens of them laying around and I'd rather chuck up another piece rather than finishing one. I never thought there would be much of a market for them or going about doing it.
So it seems there's a hundred different ways to dry bowls. And every turner has their own twist and magic voodoo on it. Drop a comment below with your trade secrets if you dare😅
Hit that subscribe button wile your at it youtube.com/@ray-dacatimberworkswoodturning?si=7L9CymsPGa70S96E?sub_confirmation=1 thanks!
I enjoyed the video and your commentary. Seems like how hard we try, we are at the mercy of the lumber to avoid cracks. You commented on safety steps you are taking. One that i would strongly recommend is to get into the habit of stopping the lathe when making tool rest adjustments. I saw you didn't do that very often and hope the bruised knuckles weren't the result o getting nicked. Be careful! and keep turning.
Thanks for the kind words and recommendations. All the cuts and scars on my hands are from cutting and splitting firewood, working on and sharpening chainsaws and wrenching on cranes without gloves. I need the dexterity and feel more than the protection, some cases they make an increased risk of accidents.
When all else fails, I have my outdoor wood boiler to feed! My best luck with the least effort is filling large cardboard boxes with rough outs and putting them in a room with no breeze. Thanks for the inspiration! I seem to do more woodturning when the weather gets ugly outdoors.
I might have to try the cardboard box trick to restrict airflow, seems to make sense. I can't wait for fal, I too like to turn when it's a bit cooler, winter is rough though my garage isn't insulated or heated. I burn all my shavings so the problem children go in the pit with them, have a good one Buddy!
what do you use to seal, where do you seal, why and when do you seal? do you seal and let it continue to dry? if you seal aren't you preventing the moisture from getting out? I don't understand and have so much to learn. really appreciate videos like yours. thanks.
@DennisDolan-fl3mw ok I'll try to break some of this down for you, I could make a ton of videos and write pages on it. But you can't stop the moisture from leaving, we simply try and slow it down. When the moisture leaves to rapidly or from one area faster than another it stresses the wood and it cracks. So wood is basically a bundle of straws that carry water from the roots to the leaves and back. We try and plug the end of the straws or the endgrain and make the water leave the sides and barkbat a much slower rate. I use anchorseal which is a wax emulsion, or Elmer's glue because it's cheap. People use other things such as latex paint and cling wrap. It's best to seal the logs the day it is cut, then any time you cut the wood again and it won't be in it's finished form. This step is completely unnecessary if you begin with kiln or air dried wood. This is a green wood technique.
You got a link to the Stewart Batty 40/40 you are getting? I'm in need of a new one... mine is down to the nub... if you will.
By the way, I twice turn quite a bit. I'll anchor seal the ends and they put it in a paper bag. 98% successful with that method.
Yeah im thinking that extra step of limiting air flow like a bag, box, trashcan, etc. Might be what I'm missing thanks.
stuartbattytools.com/buy-woodturning-tools/ols/categories/new-revolution-series-elliptical-bowl-gouges
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning My wife when she shops asks for paper bags. So there is not extra cost. I've 50 Cherry blanks I'm getting ready to rough out... if I"m short on bags. The grocery store will give 5 for a dollar.
@jonlanier_ thanks buddy, I'll have the wife start doing the same.
Great work. You’ll probably never reach 100%, but saving more than you lose is where you want to be. I noticed that you stored them upside right to dry. If you’ll turn then upside down they will dry slightly slower, maybe making the difference between cracking or not.
Interesting take on drying buddy. I'll look into it. To be honest the majority of them get turned and tossed on the cupboards in the laundry room. I rarely even seal them. I think subconsciously I don't like turning dry wood so I don't care what happens to them, I just have fun roughing bowls lol!
I have the same problems with turning American beech. Great wood if it dries without cracking, but high moisture content is a pain.
@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173 so it would almost seem best to keep these high moisture woods in long slab form or half logs with the pith removed, let them semi and crack and warp and do their thing, then cut them into blanks and start working them. Hopefully being able to cut away most of the cracks in the semi dry slab state.
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning Yeah, I'm trying this with one 3 foot bit. It doesn't leave as much meat on it though. But I did get about 4 out of 6 10" bowls without cracking
@timofeyzhukov-khovanskiy9173 that's awesome, I myself am not a fan of finishing cracked bowls, but sometimes the wood is so beautiful I will fill them and finish them out. Best of luck buddy, I have not got ahold of any beech yet, I hear it can be beautiful and cuts easily.
@@Ray-DacaTimberworksWoodturning Beech is all blighted in New England. Gotta take it all down next 5 years. It's easy spalting too, just leave it on the ground for some months.
I scavenge and Salvage all my wood and can't find ash anywhere because of the emerald borer. All the ash in Michigan is on the ground and rotting or dead standing, it's weird to see tons of barkless trees everywhere.
first turn you leave walls thick, then you come back and are able to turn walls thin? how do you know when the bowl is ready for the second turn?
@DennisDolan-fl3mw some use moisture meters, others use a formula of 1 year plus 1 additional year per inch of thickness. Weighing the bowls is a great option also you get a baseline weight and re weigh every so often and when it stops losing weight it's usually good to go.
Have you considered selling your bowl blanks? Especially since you admit you prefer turning wet wood.
I probably should, I have dozens of them laying around and I'd rather chuck up another piece rather than finishing one. I never thought there would be much of a market for them or going about doing it.