View Single Post
  #11   Report Post  
Posted to rec.crafts.woodturning
Kevin Miller[_2_] Kevin Miller[_2_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 499
Default Seasoning timber.

On 02/04/2015 06:27 AM, Ralph E Lindberg wrote:
On 2015-02-04 09:12:56 +0000, Stuart said:

In article ,
wrote:
You dont need to semi cut your "log" at all , brush both ends with
molten wax , no fancy end seal is needed.. and store in a cool to cold
but not freezing well aired place for 1 year per inch diameter.. so
yours is 200mm/8 inches... wait 8 years and it will be perfectly
seasoned... I know it sounds harsh to deny you working your wood but
turning is a life not a now and then... the more wood you season the
more wood will be yours in the future..


Thanks for the info.

It is currently residing in my shed, which is well insulated and has a
300W heater on a thermostat set at 10 deg C.

Waiting is not an issue as I have plenty to occupy my time. When I
retired
almost eight years ago I had a number of things which I intended to do
and
haven't done a fraction of them. I thought being retired I would have
loads of time but it doesn't seem to work that way grin


It is safer (as in lower failure rate) to split the log and take the
pith out


Ditto what Ralph said.

When I have larger pieces, I'll typically cut them in half and cut the
length to approximately twice the diameter, plus a couple inches (50 -
75 mm) to allow for minor checking. I seal the ends. They'll last much
longer that way.

For smaller pieces such as you have, I'll seal the ends and leave them
until I can get to them. There's usually some checking on the end to
cut off but on a 2 or 3 meter log that's no biggie.

The best thing to do is to halve the log, then rough out the bowls as
soon as possible leaving the walls overly thick; about 10% of the
diameter is the usual recommendation. I seal the end grain on them, put
them in a paper bag, then set them aside for 3 - 6 months. After that,
they will have warped but will be a equilibrium with their environment.
At that point you can finish turn them. No need to wait for years.

If you cut away 80% of the wood during rough turning, you've turned away
80% of the water as well! Plus, the end grain is only a dozen or so mm
thick so the water can leave the wood much more rapidly.

HTH...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller
Juneau, Alaska
http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
"In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car."
- Lawrence Summers