"Fred Holder" wrote in message
...
As a result of all of the discussion from my last posting on this subject,
I
took another section of the Walnut Tree Root and cut it in half. I turned
two
bowls out of the two halves. Each had a wall thickness of 1/2" and
diameters of
less than 5". I soaked one in fresh denatured alcohol for two hours and
wrapped
both in brown grocery sack leaving the hollowed part of the bowl open to
the
air. I am very surprised at how similar the weight loss ran. I'm
presenting the
results here for your information:

Date Alcohol Unsoaked
Soaked
5-17 225 grams 215 grams
5-18 200 grams 205 grams
5-19 165 grams 170 grams
5-20 150 grams 154 grams
5-21 125 grams 140 grams
5-22 115 grams 125 grams
5-23 105 grams 115 grams
5-24 100 grams 105 grams
5-25 100 grams 100 grams
5-26 95 grams 95 grams

In nine days the alcohol soaked bowl lost 58 percent of its original
weight and
the unsoaked bowl lost 56 percent of its original weight. The percentage
of
weight loss each day was higher for the alcohol soaked bowl than for the
unsoaked bowl. However, it was not as great as I had expected. Until the
very
end, the alcohol soaked bowl lost weight faster, but as they reached the
end of
the drying cycle it slowed down to almost the same as the unsoaked bowl.
Another
interesting point, the alcohol soaked bowl weighed 10 grams more when the
test
began, but both bowls weighed the same after completely drying. Their
weight has
remained the same from 5-26 to 5-28 indicating that both bowls dry.

The unsoaked bowl warped somewhat more than the alcohol soaked bowl. On
the
alcohol soaked bowl, the finished size at the rim was: slightly over 5" in
the
grain direction and 4-3/4" across the grain. The foot measured 2-1/4" in
the
direction of the grain and slightly over 2" across the grain. On the
unsoaked
bowl, the finished size of the rim was: 4-7/8" in the grain direction and
4-1/2" across the grain. The foot measured 2-3/8" in the direction of the
grain
and slightly over 2" across the grain. Neither of the bowls cracked.

I still believe that alcohol soaking offers some advantages and from
previous
uses it has kept wood from cracking that probably would have cracked.
However,
this is the first side by side test that I've made of Dave Smith's drying
protocol. From this test, it appears that the alcohol soak did not help
very
much.

Now, all of you people who lambasted me on my other post, can say "I told
you
so."



Didn't "lambast" you in the other thread but I can't say I am at all
surprised by your results. I shall continue to merely consume all alcohol
that enters my premises........

--

Regards,
M.J. (Mike) Orr
http://members.shaw.ca/approachingart