My neighbour finally dug the apple stump out of the ground. This is
about 2ft in diameter and weighs about 160 lb. I've heard several
ways to dry out the burled wood without cracking, but I've never tried
one before.

Has anyone ever done a dry out on a stump burl without it cracking?

Should get some nice turnings out of this thing.

P

On Sep 22, 1:57*pm, wrote:

Has anyone ever done a dry out on a stump burl without it cracking?

I have sawed up a fair amount for my woodturnings, as well as for
small veneer hobby type projects.

It takes a very long time for this stuff to dry out properly.

My personal suggestion would be to cut it into the rough size of
blocks you want to turn or to use for other projects, the cover with a
couple of coats of this stuff:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Search/Sear...0wood%20sealer

or he

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2532vd6

the "sticker" the wood in a stable place for a couple of years to let
it stabilize. I found the best way for me to tell was to weigh the
pieces after coating, then after a year or so. You will be surprised
how much water weight you will lose. Try again in another year and
you might be ready to turn depending on the size of your blocks.

As will most turners, I prefer to turn at least slightly green so I
don't try to get down to furniture/fine woodworking dryness of 8 - 10%
moisture.

A good tip would be that when you are turning, keep your sealer where
you can reach it and seal it again if you have to leave it. That burl
wood never dries straight and true and can knot itself up and crack
badly in less than an hour. And the freshly exposed cut surfaces will
most likely be wet causing a great deal of distortion in a short time,
even if you are just stopping for lunch.

When I have wet, unstable wood on the lathe and need to stop, I always
bury the piece faceplate and all in a garbage bag full of wet shavings
created from shaping the piece. This method is a tremendous help in
stabilizing the wood while you are still working.

I have seen some really gorgeous pieces turned from apple wood. I
hope you post some pics!

Robert