Mark,

Actually, green bowl turning is a lot of fun. Give it a try.

Take the green piece (without any pith in it) and turn the rough
shape.

Make the wood as uniform a thickness as you can, but leave lots of
wood in place for the final turning.

For drying, if the wood feels really wet (you'll know) I put it in a
brown paper bag so it dries slowly for a couple of weeks. Plastic
bags don't do it.

Otherwise I just put it on the shelf. I weigh it first (a cooking
scale from the Mart on the Wall). I weigh if each week, and when I
get the same weight for two weeks, its ready to turn. Usually about a
months time in MN.

I don't slather it with anything, unless I have a big (12" plus) bowl,
or I know that the wood is fragile. Then, I just do the end grain
portions of the outside, but not the inside. After all I do want the
moisture to LEAVE the piece, not be trapped in there forever. I use
Anchoseal, shellac, old latex paint, whatever I have. After all it
will be turned off when I finish the work.

Mounting the wood is the most seriious problem. Remember that the
bowl has changed in all directions when you put it back on the lathe.

If you use a glue block on your faceplate, it may have warped enough
to weaken/break the glue joint. You may have to reflatten the bottom
and reglue.

If you use a scroll chuck, you will have to redo the tenon or the
recess, as it won't be exactly round, and wont hold the wood securely.

If you just screwed the wood to the face plate, you should be fine

Once it is securely mounted, get out your chisels and create beauty.

Old Guy



On Nov 20, 10:38*am, "Mark Jerde" wrote:
Could someone assist my googling? *g *Two days ago the power company
converted a walnut tree in our backyard to a pile of branches and a stack of
14" logs about a foot to a foot and a half long. *I painted the ends of the
largest of the logs before running out of old paint.

Then I unpacked my new Harbor Freight (I know, I know) mini lathe and set of
starter lathe chisels and made three practice "Christmas Tree Ornaments"
from lengths of the branches. *No finish was applied. *This morning the two
that are under an inch in diameter are ok but the 2" diameter ornament is
badly cracked.

How does one successfully work with green wood? *Strip off the bark and let
it sit a year?

In any case I'm not going to be able to turn all the wood so there are some
free-for-the-hauling walnut logs in Bowie, Maryland USA if anyone wants some
wood. *Do the obvious to the email address.

* *-- Mark