I turn all of my bowls green, and have been trying different drying
techniques. I have used the boiling technique, but I still have some
cracking. I have recently tried Pentacryl "The Wood Stabilizer". I
dipped my bowls into the Pentacryl once, and after a few weeks, I
haven't gotten any cracking. But now I'm not sure what to do. It is
easy to tell when my boiled bowls are dry enough to finish turn from
their feel and their weight. How do I know when the rough bowl that
is treated with Pentacryl is ready for finished turning. Do I need to
wait until it feels dry, or can I finish turn the bowl before it feels
dry and not worry about warping or cracking.

Thanks, Scott H.

I have somewhat limited experience with Pentacryl, but all of it was positive. I
found that the rough turned bowls dried faster and were ready for final turning
in as short a time as 4 to 5 weeks. A redwood bowl dried enough for final
turning in three weeks. I had no cracking on the bowls that I treated. I think
the old tried and true technique of weighing the bowl when you put it on the
shelf then checking the weight once a week. When two weeks have passed and the
weight remains the same, final turn the bowl. My bowls warped less and had no
problems with cracking. One was walnut and the other was redwood. I final turned
the walnut bowl in two months after roughing and treating with Pentacryl.

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

In article , Scott H. says...

I turn all of my bowls green, and have been trying different drying
techniques. I have used the boiling technique, but I still have some
cracking. I have recently tried Pentacryl "The Wood Stabilizer". I
dipped my bowls into the Pentacryl once, and after a few weeks, I
haven't gotten any cracking. But now I'm not sure what to do. It is
easy to tell when my boiled bowls are dry enough to finish turn from
their feel and their weight. How do I know when the rough bowl that
is treated with Pentacryl is ready for finished turning. Do I need to
wait until it feels dry, or can I finish turn the bowl before it feels
dry and not worry about warping or cracking.

Thanks, Scott H.

Try rubbing mineral oil all over the bowl and put in in the microwave for 1
minute, then remove and recover with oil again and put back in microwave for
2-3 minutes. The oil allows the bowl to dry consistantly and prevents
cracking.
hope this
helps............................................. .........................
Lumberjack

"Scott H." wrote in message
om...
I turn all of my bowls green, and have been trying different drying
techniques. I have used the boiling technique, but I still have some
cracking. I have recently tried Pentacryl "The Wood Stabilizer". I
dipped my bowls into the Pentacryl once, and after a few weeks, I
haven't gotten any cracking. But now I'm not sure what to do. It is
easy to tell when my boiled bowls are dry enough to finish turn from
their feel and their weight. How do I know when the rough bowl that
is treated with Pentacryl is ready for finished turning. Do I need to
wait until it feels dry, or can I finish turn the bowl before it feels
dry and not worry about warping or cracking.

Thanks, Scott H.

Lumberjack wrote:
Try rubbing mineral oil all over the bowl and put in in the microwave for 1
minute, then remove and recover with oil again and put back in microwave for
2-3 minutes. The oil allows the bowl to dry consistantly and prevents
cracking.
hope this
helps............................................. .........................
Lumberjack

Don't forget to rub your palms with the backside of an albino toad and
wave a wing from a long dead crow over the microwave while performing
this moisture exorcism.;-) (wink-wink)

--
Best regards,
James Barley
www.members.shaw.ca/jbarley

*HINT* Read "The World-famous Treatise on LDD." Never boil, bake, fry,
smoke, bury in manure, freeze, pentacryl or wait for a year of air drying.
"Treatise" available on request at deep discount charges. *G*

Leif
"Scott H." wrote in message
om...
I turn all of my bowls green, and have been trying different drying
techniques. I have used the boiling technique, but I still have some
cracking. I have recently tried Pentacryl "The Wood Stabilizer". I
dipped my bowls into the Pentacryl once, and after a few weeks, I
haven't gotten any cracking. But now I'm not sure what to do. It is
easy to tell when my boiled bowls are dry enough to finish turn from
their feel and their weight. How do I know when the rough bowl that
is treated with Pentacryl is ready for finished turning. Do I need to
wait until it feels dry, or can I finish turn the bowl before it feels
dry and not worry about warping or cracking.

Thanks, Scott H.

Scott-
I use Pentacryl a lot for bowl turning. I rough turn blocks down to about
10% or less thickness to diameter and then put the rough blank into a bucket
of Pentacryl for one or two days before draining and setting aside to dry.
Normally I let them dry for 1 - 2 months or more before finishing. If I'm
turning a block from a tree that has partially dried - set around too long
of had died on the stump - I will immerse the rough bowl in a bucket of
water over night then transfer it to the Pentacryl. Pentacryl works best on
wet wood. The only problems I've had involved trees with a large amount of
compression wood and blocks that I had not completely removed the pith. If
you have a log section with the pith not centered, it probably came from a
leaning tree with a lot of compression wood.
mike.
"Scott H." wrote in message
om...
I turn all of my bowls green, and have been trying different drying
techniques. I have used the boiling technique, but I still have some
cracking. I have recently tried Pentacryl "The Wood Stabilizer". I
dipped my bowls into the Pentacryl once, and after a few weeks, I
haven't gotten any cracking. But now I'm not sure what to do. It is
easy to tell when my boiled bowls are dry enough to finish turn from
their feel and their weight. How do I know when the rough bowl that
is treated with Pentacryl is ready for finished turning. Do I need to
wait until it feels dry, or can I finish turn the bowl before it feels
dry and not worry about warping or cracking.

Thanks, Scott H.