Leo, as for me I was thinking out loud in general. I believe and practice
what you preach on turning green wood....letting it dry then finishing. I
occassionly get some rough sawn fresh wood and get in a bit of a hurry
because my work (job) schedule is so hectic. I think if I could justify it I
would build my own kiln. It is really good to see your pics again. I will
bookmark them this time around. Another problem for me is I run a
dehumidifier in my shop to reduce tool rusting and I think this causes more
splitting than in other shop. But thanks again for being a great source of
info here and I am sure elsewhere. :-)
Lyndell

wrote in message
...
On Dec 3, 10:54 am, Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 22:47:28 -0500, "Lyndell Thompson"

wrote:
I know it sounds crazy but othere than getting kicked out of the house
by
SWMBO....................I don't see why it would not work. I did the
math
and and it looks like it would run for $3.74 per hour @ my electric
rates. I
am not talking about a lot of wood here, just a few pieces to turn or
maybe
sheet or two of veneer. The stationary rack is about 24"long and 16"
wide.
They kiln dry here for about 30 cents a board foot, but won't fool with
a
few pen blanks or similiar. Just curious.....cuz I hate to be the first
fool
to try this and tear up the dryer or worse......burn down the house! It
was
time for an upgrade and we did the HE4 washer and dryer from kenmore.
They
sat here about a year due to deaths in the family & you name it. Got
them in
last weekend and thought about this. All comments pro and con welcome.
Really hoping to hear from Arch on this one as he says Turn To Safety.
:-)
Thanks Lyndell
I must be a good guesser than, as I have very few splitting bowls.
And I turn green wood exclusively, at least the first time, return
when dry.
I've told "my way" several times before, but it seems like nobody
wants to hear it.
See if you can find any splits or cracks in those bowls, there are at
least 300 of them in there.

http://homepage.mac.com/l.vanderloo/PhotoAlbum26.html

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo



Drying wood is tricky, a guessing game, almost impossible to do with
any accuracy without an instrument to measure the percent moisture
content. It takes a special know-how skill to dry wood. I prefer the
slow air-dry method, but I have been successful using a regular (200
degree or less) oven for smaller pieces. A clothes dryer might work
or it might dry the wood too fast, depending on the type of wood and
other factors.

I have turned wet wood but not without frustration. After some
suggestions and experimentation, I found that putting the turned piece
in a bag of sawdust immediately after turning slow the drying process
down enough to prevent splitting.