I have a set of 3 maple turning blanks that I recieved from a friend
who works for a tree service company. The 3 blanks are about 6 inches
across and about a foot or so long each. They were cut last week and
appear to be branches. They are all straight and look to be some
clean looking blanks. The bark is still attached. How long should I
wait to let these dry before I attempt to mount them on a lathe and
turn them?? Should I strip the bark off now to help them dry out
better? Most of the turning I have done is with glue ups of various
species of KD stock, so the drying and possible splitting, checking
and cracking that comes with fresh cut logs is new to me. Any one
have any first hand experience with this kind of thing or any advice
you'd be willing to share?? Thanks!!

Marc,

From my experience you should seal the ends of the blanks right now, then
come back are read the rest of my reply.

Best sealant is wax emulsion which you probably don't have. OK is latex
exterior paint, a couple of coats. Slightly less OK is any other paint.

You should turn the blanks within a year for minimum cracking. If you turn
it right away, the wood will be throwing water wet. If you wait 6 months or
so , you will be able to feel that the shavings are damp, but a lot of the
free water is gone.

If you wait to turn them until they are dry, they will be cracked to he//
and gone.

There's lots of information on the internet about turning green wood.

Have fun--and what was your friend's name again???

Old guy


"marc" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a set of 3 maple turning blanks that I recieved from a friend
who works for a tree service company. The 3 blanks are about 6 inches
across and about a foot or so long each. They were cut last week and
appear to be branches. They are all straight and look to be some
clean looking blanks. The bark is still attached. How long should I
wait to let these dry before I attempt to mount them on a lathe and
turn them?? Should I strip the bark off now to help them dry out
better? Most of the turning I have done is with glue ups of various
species of KD stock, so the drying and possible splitting, checking
and cracking that comes with fresh cut logs is new to me. Any one
have any first hand experience with this kind of thing or any advice
you'd be willing to share?? Thanks!!

In article . com,
marc wrote:

I have a set of 3 maple turning blanks that I recieved from a friend
who works for a tree service company. The 3 blanks are about 6 inches
across and about a foot or so long each. They were cut last week and
appear to be branches. They are all straight and look to be some
clean looking blanks. The bark is still attached. How long should I
wait to let these dry before I attempt to mount them on a lathe and
turn them?? Should I strip the bark off now to help them dry out
better? Most of the turning I have done is with glue ups of various
species of KD stock, so the drying and possible splitting, checking
and cracking that comes with fresh cut logs is new to me. Any one
have any first hand experience with this kind of thing or any advice
you'd be willing to share?? Thanks!!

Don't wait. Mount and turn now, with two options - 1 leave the walls
thick, and then boil or soap if you like, and then pack in paper bags or
shavings or nothing and wait for the thing to dry (or microwave if in a
hurry) - remount and return. Option two, turn to final thickness and
finish sand, slap some oil on, and wait for things to warp, hoping it
comes out nicely. But this is mostly bowls...and I think you are not
describing bowl blanks, but perhaps whole log sections.

If what you have are 6 inches round and a foot long, with bark all the
way around, you are looking at a lot of splits whether you chuck them up
as is or set them aside to dry slowly - whole log sections crack,
virtually always, due to wood shrinkage, except sometimes in the sub 3
inch diameter range. You'd want to saw or split them down the middle, so
that the pith (center of the log/growth rings) is not inside the
remaining two parts. Then you either split/saw off more for spindle
blanks (about 2-1/2 to 3" maximum from a 6" diameter log) or cut them
down/round for bowl blanks.

For bowl blanks you typically want a log section 2-4 inches longer than
it's diameter if you are going to dry the blank (or take a while to get
to it, even if it's not really dry), or the same length as the diameter
if you are going to turn the blank green and it won't have a chance to
dry before you get to it. Saw the log section through the pith to make
two blanks. Educate your tree service friend on this if bowls appeal to
you and you might get better bowl blanks.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

Marc
One of these days I am going to put this info in direct answer to your
question, but what you need to know is right he
http://aroundthewoods.com/firewood.shtml
Have fun.

--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS
http://aroundthewoods.com
http://roundopinions.blogspot.com

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article . com,
marc wrote:

I have a set of 3 maple turning blanks that I recieved from a friend
who works for a tree service company. The 3 blanks are about 6 inches
across and about a foot or so long each. They were cut last week and
appear to be branches. They are all straight and look to be some
clean looking blanks. The bark is still attached. How long should I
wait to let these dry before I attempt to mount them on a lathe and
turn them?? Should I strip the bark off now to help them dry out
better? Most of the turning I have done is with glue ups of various
species of KD stock, so the drying and possible splitting, checking
and cracking that comes with fresh cut logs is new to me. Any one
have any first hand experience with this kind of thing or any advice
you'd be willing to share?? Thanks!!

Don't wait. Mount and turn now, with two options - 1 leave the walls
thick, and then boil or soap if you like, and then pack in paper bags or
shavings or nothing and wait for the thing to dry (or microwave if in a
hurry) - remount and return. Option two, turn to final thickness and
finish sand, slap some oil on, and wait for things to warp, hoping it
comes out nicely. But this is mostly bowls...and I think you are not
describing bowl blanks, but perhaps whole log sections.

If what you have are 6 inches round and a foot long, with bark all the
way around, you are looking at a lot of splits whether you chuck them up
as is or set them aside to dry slowly - whole log sections crack,
virtually always, due to wood shrinkage, except sometimes in the sub 3
inch diameter range. You'd want to saw or split them down the middle, so
that the pith (center of the log/growth rings) is not inside the
remaining two parts. Then you either split/saw off more for spindle
blanks (about 2-1/2 to 3" maximum from a 6" diameter log) or cut them
down/round for bowl blanks.

For bowl blanks you typically want a log section 2-4 inches longer than
it's diameter if you are going to dry the blank (or take a while to get
to it, even if it's not really dry), or the same length as the diameter
if you are going to turn the blank green and it won't have a chance to
dry before you get to it. Saw the log section through the pith to make
two blanks. Educate your tree service friend on this if bowls appeal to
you and you might get better bowl blanks.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by

I have tried both of the basic methods and sub-methods suggested in
all the replies.
Turned green to rough, that is, get the basic shape of the bowl turned
but leave thick walls. Then let dry and finish.
Turned green to rough, slather the end grain with wax and let dry then
turn to finish.
I've packed the rough turned green bowls in shavings and then into a
brown bag
I've turned to finish size, well somewhat thinner than usual and let
the bowl warp thereby transforming it from a functional piece to a
piece of what might be termed art.
I've ripped the logs I have to size, anywhere from 1 1/2' to 3" in
thickness whatever length I thought was
appropriate and painted the ends with latex paint.
I've also ripped and then painted the ends with parrafin (candle wax
used for things like canning). This latter seems to work rather
well.



On Sep 11, 8:27 pm, marc wrote:
I have a set of 3 maple turning blanks that I recieved from a friend
who works for a tree service company. The 3 blanks are about 6 inches
across and about a foot or so long each. They were cut last week and
appear to be branches. They are all straight and look to be some
clean looking blanks. The bark is still attached. How long should I
wait to let these dry before I attempt to mount them on a lathe and
turn them?? Should I strip the bark off now to help them dry out
better? Most of the turning I have done is with glue ups of various
species of KD stock, so the drying and possible splitting, checking
and cracking that comes with fresh cut logs is new to me. Any one
have any first hand experience with this kind of thing or any advice
you'd be willing to share?? Thanks!!

Thanks for all the good advice. I've now blanked up the pieces,
sealed the end with 3 coats of exterior grade paint, and put them in a
brown paper bag and covered them all with wood shavings. I'll check
on them in a couple months and see how they have made out. Old
guy...my friends name is Chris. Also...one reply made mention of
using a microwave to speed up the drying process. Is there any truth
to this?? Is there a temperature and time frame that I could put the
blanks into a regular oven, and use it as a makeshift kiln?? I am not
sure what temp and time goes into a commercial kiln to dry lumber??