"william kossack" wrote in message
...
My wife took a bunch of my turnings to a craft show at her work to sell.
We did fairly good considering the company is small but the day after a
sales manager where my wife works came to her wanting to know if I could
turn a custom vase as a christmas present for his wife.

They have a vase in their bedroom but it is ceramic and a light color. I
have tons of aspen unfortunately but I recently got some black walnut.
However, the black walnut is very wet and only recently cut.

I've searched for other turning chunks but they are also either wet or too
expensive.

I'm debating on how to turn a 12 inch tall vase and keep it from cracking
as it dries. I don't think a little warp will matter and there is just
not the time to rough out the vase and dry it normally. I've thought of
boiling, soaking in LDD, and even using alcohol but all of these take some
time to dry after the treatment. I'm not also not set up for any of these
approaches because I normally rough out and slowly air dry pieces.

I even thought of microwaving but 12 inch length and 7 inch width plus a
tenon probably will not fit in our microwave. I've even thought of
putting it in the oven on low for a day but the problem is that I do
turning outside and in Denver this time of year I can't count on having
too many outdoor turning days before Christmas.


===Oh, my stars and garters! Ye of little faith!! "Our doubts are traitors,
and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. I could
have your vase made and finished with four hours, old buddy, and you'd never
have to fear about warping or cracking. LDD, like rock-n-roll, is here to
stay!! *G*

Leif