"cuchara.red" wrote in message
oups.com...
Newbie here...

Turning free and available wood is a great way to break in.

As to aspen/popple, it's not so much that it dulls the tools as it requires
special sharpness and careful cutting angles because its fine-fibered, soft
and stringy. Once the bark's gone, with the grit it holds, it shouldn't be
too bad in the dulling department. Only corrosion from the juices to dull
the edge. Couple that with a tendency to grain reversals, where you
unexpectedly find yourself lifting up the grain where you thought you were
running down hill, and it can be a furry experience. If you turn dry,
things are much easier.

As to drying, it's almost bullet proof. Very difficult to get aspen to
crack, though it will sometimes, because of the interlocked grain, warp in
unexpected direction or dimension and render an otherwise safe thickness
rough incapable of being turned back round. Use any of the methods of
slowing the moisture loss if your relative humidity is real low, only don't
slow it so much - e.g. plastic bag - that it mildews. Those black spots
will run into aspen quickly.

Lots of people put oil finishes on real early in the drying process, even
without it. Makes for some sticky days, but when the oil cures, you know
you're ready for the second coat. I like the temperature test, where you
touch your lips to the piece to see if it's cool - by evaporation -
compared to other objects. For better sensitivity find a mother - they can
detect half a degree of fever on their child's forehead.