"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article ,
THumphr wrote:

I've got some dead standing timber tat I'm going to be cutting out of
my fence row. Does this need to be treated as green wet wood or can I
turn as is?

It's neither wet and green nor dry and seasoned. Standing deadwood is
often somewhat brittle, and may have lots of checking going on as well.
As with most free wood, turn some and pay attention to what happens.


Pay attention in more ways than one. Standing dead has been exposed to some
severe environmental stresses that can ruin your day. Chief among them are
checks which opened up when there was dry enough weather on sunny days and
have subsequently closed, sometimes invisibly, with the higher relative
humidity of the present.

I'd take a _wet_ rag to the endgrain and watch for wicking, which even a
closed crack will do, and then keep my eyes and ears peeled even after that
for warning clicks or hollow tap sounds. Depending on the beauty and rarity
of the piece you're working, you can glue and turn or practice and burn the
splitters.

Turn one to a finish thickness of about 3/8 and set it in the condition you
would for drying. Within a week it should tell you all you need to know
about the general condition of the rest of the stock.