"Kevin Miller" wrote in message
...


Got me thinking about drying though. Usually I rough turn to 10% of
diameter, slather on end grain sealer inside and out (on the end grain -
I ignore the side grain) then toss them in a paper bag w/shavings.
Wondering what everybody else does. Leo seems to coat them and toss
them on the shelf w/o any bagging. I presume he coats the inside and
out. Is the whole thing coated?

So what's everybody else do after roughing? Seal and bag? Seal only?
Seal inside and out? Various permutations of the above? Yeah, I know
about finish turning wet bowls and letting them warp. But I'm not
asking about that.

I've got a basement, so I put them where the air doesn't exchange much and
stays at ~75% RH after the first day or two. When I get around to it, I
move them to dryer places to store for use. 65% or less.

First day or two wants to see the surface moisture I've ejected
centrifugally dissipate, otherwise they mildew on me. Which is why I don't
coat. Played that and suffered the consequences, though places where it's
really dry would benefit, I suppose. Makes no sense to coat the inside,
that's under compressive stress, so no cracks get a chance. Slowing loss on
the outside which _wants_ to pull apart is yet another matter.

If you've got a humidity gage, test various locations and you can play a
real shell game, even to the point of pushing drying if you're impatient.
First stage there is to turn thinner than 10%. Most domestic stuff can take
a 5-7.5 % over desired wall thickness without a problem. Look your
varieties up in the FPL literature to help out.