I soak almost all of my green turnings. I turn to final thickness,
soak, dry and then sand and finish. There were claims about both the
LDD and DNA (denatured alcohol) soaking methods helping keeping wood
more stable and reducing cracking. With the thin turned bowls, with my
experience of drying maybe 8,000 or more bowls, they do nothing in
this respect. I even did a test with 3 sets of bowls, 2 were soaked
(LDD and DNA), and one was just air dried. I weighed them till they
were dry. The results were exactly the same. It may have an effect on
thick turned bowls that you are going to return later, but I have
never turned that way. I continue to do the LDD soak. It makes the
wood a lot easier to sand out. Nothing more. Use cheap brown soap (not
the green or blue), mix 50/50 with water, soak for 24 hours, rinse off
lightly (you will never get all the bubbles out, but it doesn't make
any difference, and if you leave the soap mix on the wood, it can clog
up your abrasives, but that comes off with the eraser sticks), and let
dry. I do wrap the outside with a couple of layers of newspaper and
secure it to the rim of the bowl with some of the plastic film that
you use to wrap around boxes on a pallet. Stretch the plastic over the
rim about an inch, and put some pressure on it as you wrap. Cut out
the paper on the inside of the bowl, then dry as normal. I usually
start with the bowls on the floor for a day or 2 (cooler there), then
move to a wire shelf. Most are totally dry in about 10 days, depending
on your local weather.
robo hippy


On Mar 16, 5:36*am, Ralph E Lindberg wrote:
In article ,

*"Ted" wrote:
I have read on several web sites about soaking fresh cut wood in a 50/50
mixture of dishwashing soap and water to help with turning. None of the sites
mention how long to soak the wood?

Does anyone here do this and if so, how long do you soak the wood? I
understand that it will depend on the size/thickness and the type of wood as
well as how dry it is.

Thanks.

As I recall it's usually a couple of days. IMO (and many others) it does
nothing for helping the wood dry, but it does help with the sanding

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