# Microwave drying green wood



## JoshNZ (Jun 22, 2015)

Has anyone got any hands on experience with this? I've done a little reading, leaving the wall fairly thick and slow short cycles seems to keep coming up. I've roughed out a maple bowl and left the wall about 3/4" thick and I'm just doing 30 seconds on high then letting it cool off. It's losing about 10 grams of water per cycle which is surprising I think.

I can see hairline cracks starting to form which I think will worsen, possibly they won't go too deep, but whatever. If it works it works if not oh well.

Any one have any tips?

Josh


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## Bruyet (Apr 10, 2015)

I've done a bit of it. Do NOT run it on "high." Use the lowest setting, and run it longer, for several cycles. Put it in a plastic bag and remove it and let it air out a bit between cycles. Either swap bags or wipe the moisture out of the bag you just used.


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## JoshNZ (Jun 22, 2015)

How long are your cycles, what power level, and how many of them do you need to do for a small bowl?

I notice mine is already turning oval, but there is still a bowl in there. Still losing a lot of weight though, after at least half a dozen cycles now.


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## Bruyet (Apr 10, 2015)

I was doing two minute cycles at the lowest power setting, and weighed it each time afterward. You can determine when to stop. It probably varies by MW manufacturer, too. Just experiment with it. The only reason I don't do more of it is I don't want to kill my sweetie's built-in MW.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

I tried that once. "Next time you do that, something other than that piece of wood will be cooked!" )


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## BigR (Apr 15, 2014)

keep in mind that the power settings don't change the wattage output on a microwave, they just pulse the waves to lower the overall cooking effect. As such, 2 minutes on 50% is really the same as 1 minute on full power, so you might as well save yourself the time.

Also, I find I have the best luck when I leave the wood in a paper bag while microwaving, and then leave it in the bag and in the microwave, while it cools down. This slows the drying process, but the steam created seems to minimize the checking.

Also, flip the bag and bowl upside down every other cycle. Not sure why that matters, but it seems to help.


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## JoshNZ (Jun 22, 2015)

Alright all good advice. I've been doing it in the kitchen microwave with no bad smells or marks or whatever. Why have I read so much that it ruins the microwave for cooking?

Lots of checking on this bowl now and still losing a lot of water. I would say it's a lost cause. Will have to buy a jointer and go back to laminating kiln dried boards lol.


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

After a year or so, the smell left the MW…and my wife began to talk to me again.
Also, do not use the oven to bake parts that you just powder coated…..don't ask me how I know this…...


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Jimbo4's wife and mine must be sisters.


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

I tried that one time in one of my wife's convection ovens. When she discovered it I had to take her out to dinner every night for a week.


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## JoshNZ (Jun 22, 2015)

ahahaha you guys are whipped . Did it not cross your mind that a new microwave would be cheaper than dinner out for 7 nights in a row lol (not to mention the new workshop microwave you get as a bonus!)


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## JoshNZ (Jun 22, 2015)

I'm using my partners parents microwave haha. Talk about playing with fire


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## Druid (Sep 30, 2010)

Hi Josh, In case you are still looking, here's a link to a bit more information for you.
http://lumberjocks.com/Druid/blog/79450
I'm interested in how your efforts at drying have worked out.
Have a great day.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

My wife was dumb-founded when I asked her if she didn't think it was time to buy a new microwave for the kitchen!

It still hasn't occurred to her that I really only wanted the old one for the hop.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

> My wife was dumb-founded when I asked her if she didn t think it was time to buy a new microwave for the kitchen!
> 
> It still hasn t occurred to her that I really only wanted the old one for the hop.
> 
> - TheDane


Neat Gerry. That was a "Win - Win"


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## DW833 (Mar 31, 2013)

I haven't tried it yet, but did talk with an experienced turner about it. He mentioned to use the defrost setting instead of the cook setting. Also, he mentioned much shorter time frames, like 10 second burst and 10 second rest.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

Watch this video and his process for drying wood - 1 minute at a time and letting cool completely between cycles. Claims he can get green wood down to 11% in 15 minutes doing it that way. Shows it being done towards the beginning of the video:

Wood Turning Segmented Bowls by Wallace Currie

Cheers,
Brad


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## Druid (Sep 30, 2010)

Hi Brad, Interesting link, and thanks for pointing it out. There is one variable (besides the starting moisture content level of the wood) that has not been mentioned yet, and that is the quantity of wood being dried. The video by Wallace shows a group of 16 wedges being dried simultaneously, so his method of using 1 minute cycles between cooling seems to be suitable for his projects. But, if he was drying only 1 wedge at a time, I would expect that he would have to shorten the power times to about 3 or 4 seconds to prevent damaging the piece (60sec/16wedges). This would also depend on the type of wood being worked with, so my approach would be to carefully try some off-cuts from the project before trying this on the final pieces.
It's something to add to my list of projects. A chart of "cooking" times for various varieties of wood.


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## splatman (Jul 27, 2014)

Sounds like some of you people need to get used MOs for your shops. Check Craigslist, yard sales, etc.


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