Does this mean the wood is ready to turn?
 

In article
1812935.1185.1316449392294.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@vbkd5,
jtpryan wrote:

As in it is dry enough?

"CUT FROM A TWO YEAR OLD LOG AND WAX SEALED"

I see this in a lot of ads on eBay.

Best bet is to turn from a two-minute to two-week old log, and either
finish turn it and let it warp, or turn it down to an inch thick or so,
and then seal, or pack in green shavings, or paper bag, or boil, or
liquid dish detergent soak it - all ways to try and deal with drying
stresses and variously in and out of vogue with various people or at
various times. Then you can wait a year or so for the inch-thick or so
roughed item to dry, remount and finish-turn it. Or go crazy with the
microwave (better get the spouse a new one and dedicate one to shop use
if going there) as yet another method of dealing with drying stresses
and accelerating drying.

A blank cut from a log two years ago and wax sealed is a heck of a lot
better than one cut from a two year old log and wax sealed, as blanks
go. And an ALL CAPS SHOUTER probably did cut it from a two-year old log,
not the other way around...

A blank more than 2 inches thick will not be dry at two years of age.
Depending how it was stored, a thinner one also might not be. So you
might as well have turned it green and then dried it.

The best source for turning blanks? If you can't just walk out the ack
dor with a chainsaw and get it, either a local tree surgeon who will
drop off the big stuff, or a firewood supplier who will drop off a load
of green, unsplit (or split in half only) firewood. Have a woodstove or
wood-fired grill/smoker handy for the chips and failures, and you're in
good shape.

Exotics are an expensive habit, especially if you are still learning to
turn. I've been at it for 3 decades and I'm still learning...

If you only want to turn fully dried wood, glue up boards and do
segmented or patterned turning, unless you are looking to make plates or
something where thin stock is all you need anyway. Dried large blanks
are rather difficult to create, and expensive as a result. They are also
a lot of work to turn as compared to green blanks.

--
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Does this mean the wood is ready to turn?
 

On 09/19/2011 09:56 AM, Ecnerwal wrote:

A blank more than 2 inches thick will not be dry at two years of age.
Depending how it was stored, a thinner one also might not be. So you
might as well have turned it green and then dried it.

That's the conventional wisdom for drying lumber, i.e. 8'+ boards, but
on a small blank that's somewhere between 6" to 24" will dry much faster
as the end of the wood is only 3" to 12" away from any given point. The
wax will slow it down, but I'd expect it to be pretty dry by that time
if it was kept inside.

If it was me, I'd probably rough turn it, wait a couple weeks and see
how much it moves then finish turn it. And the microwave is always an
option (be cautious).

If you're planning on turning a lot of home dried wood, a moisture
meeter isn't a bad investment...

....Kevin
--
Kevin Miller - http://www.alaska.net/~atftb
Juneau, Alaska
In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 hard drives preferred Linux
Registered Linux User No: 307357, http://linuxcounter.net