# Turning green bowls to finished state in one day



## TulipHillWoodWorks (Nov 27, 2008)

Looking for ANY info on this. I know that as a woodworker I'm supposed to be patient, but I need at least SOME instant gratification. I have been turning bowls for a little while, and most of the wisdom I've garnered from folks on this site and others tells me I should rough turn the bowl to a thickness that's 1/10 of the diameter, seal the bowl with anchor seal, and then say goodbye to it for 3 - 6 months. After that time, I'm supposed to rechuck my now much drier and somewhat warped bowl for final turning and finishing.
I'm ok with that, I suppose…....... but I've read about folks who take green wood, turn it down to the final thickness, somehow sand it (not sure how - when I try to sand green wood the sandpaper lasts about 30 seconds before clogging) then seal and finish it with some sort of coating. Then over the course of several days, they lightly sand and reapply to build up a finish.
Anyone ever heard of doing this and if so, what are the specifics? how thick are the bowls? how large? how do you sand them? what do you finish them with?

Thanks,
Mike


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## Broda (Oct 7, 2008)

I have read something about drying the wood with a heat gun and competing the sanding before the woods internal moisture rises to the surface.
This may not work on some woods though; they may surface crack.
Im also not sure how much a heat gun would cost if you dont have one. Probobely expensive


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## TulipHillWoodWorks (Nov 27, 2008)

Hmmmmmm…..... maybe I could swipe my wife's hair dryer???? It's worth a try anyway - I have 20 acres of trees - so no shortage of wood - got nothing to lose - except maybe staying in my wife's good graces


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## trifern (Feb 1, 2008)

Another option is to rough turn your bowls as you have described and then soak them in denatured alcohol for 24 hours. After the soak, wrap it in a brown paper bag for 1 to 2 weeks and it should be dry. Then you can remount and do your final turn.

Check out my project page, the majority of my hollow forms where turned from green wood. Some of them do move a little, but I think it adds to the organic feel to the piece. On some of the really wet pieces I wet the exterior when the piece is finished and wrap it in a brown paper bag for a few days.


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## johnpoolesc (Mar 14, 2009)

i read an article about a method that turned a bowl in a single trip to the shop. starting from green stock he turned the complete bowl less then 1/4 of an inch thick.. because the bowl was so thin, the heat from the turnning did the rest…

i can not turn one that perfect, he used an internal light source to get it uniform.. i turn one blank every week or two.. so i've got 30 blanks roughed out drying.. i started one today from walnut burl that i roughed out maybe a year ago.. the instant gratfication happens after you have a six month supply of blanks..


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## TulipHillWoodWorks (Nov 27, 2008)

thanks everyone - will try out all suggestions


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## jeffthewoodwacker (Dec 26, 2007)

Google John Jordan woodturner and look for his article on turning green wood.


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## wood_wench (Jan 2, 2009)

trifern's approach with replacing the water with alcohol is the only way I have ever had any success.

You could borrow from the hat turners technique. A turned hat starts out with wet wood that is turned to final thickness (plus a little sanding room) and using a light to determine the even-ness of the wall. The somewhat pliable and wet-like turning is then secured over a drying form and placed in an environment that will allow it to SLOWLY dry. Because of the wall thickness this doesn't take very long.
To turn bowls I guess you could take the same approach and then just strap/rubber band the turning over a ball or some other pre-formed object to let the wood dry and thereby take the shape of the form. My guess would be that tighter grained woods would have more success with this approach while "grainer" woods have good luck with the water replaced with alcohol approach.


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## leroque (Sep 13, 2008)

For sanding wet wood, us 3M silicon carbide (the black stuff).
It is totally waterproof. 
For some fun, try this:
Turn a small bowl or hollow form from very wet wood. Make it as thin as you possibly can - less than 1/8 inch is best. Immediately, put it in a microwave overn for a minute and watch the action.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

trifern's alcohol treatment sounds interesting.

I've used PEG, short for poly-ethylene glycol. but that process takes a long time.


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## Woodtreker (May 9, 2007)

I have also used a microwave to dry wood…


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## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

I have heard of using a microwave to dry wood. You have to be very careful as not to fry it to a crisp.

FYI: They also use very low wattage microwave to keep piglets warm. Pigs in a microwave, no blanket.


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## Tikka (May 14, 2007)

Microwave the finished bowl for a few minutes - but be warned it will warp and twist. The base will become an oval shape - it can be very pleasing to the eye.

There is no short term solution to a good symmetrical bowl without any cracks - I rough out my bowls, wrap them in news paper and stack them in a cool dry place. I check them after about 2 months, depending upon the thickness and type of wood, some blanks stay there for a year or more.

Once you have a stack of green blanks turned, you just keep adding to them and rotating the stock. soon you will have more blanks than you know what to do with.

Note: even drying these blanks slowly will produce a few blanks that can straight to the fire, because of large splits and cracks.


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## jlb (Aug 19, 2008)

Rough turn your bowl then place in the freezer at least 24 hours. Take it out of the freezer and let it sit until it thaws out Then finish turn. There may be some moisture left at that point so let it sit somemore and try again. I have not found this method anywhere on the internet-I learned it from a woodturning group I attend. (This method works by the water expanding and breaking up the wood cells thus releaseing the water.) I have had great success with this method.


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## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Jim, after you freeze and then thaw the wood, does it continue to dry and warp?


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I'll bet if you just put your turning in a frost free refrigerator, it would work.

It may take longer though.

Did you ever notice that if you put a piece of fruit, or an open dish of something, it will dry up.


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## jlb (Aug 19, 2008)

The wood will continue to dry. However after its dry enough to sand I go ahead and finish the work . As to warpage it depends on the species of wood. I have experlenced only minor warpage so far. I've only been using this process for several months-so far so good. (Some of the species I have turned are birch, black acacia, pear, plum, black walnut,)


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## Tikka (May 14, 2007)

*Jim (jlb)* - Thanks for this tip, I have not heard of this either, but it is worth trying. If it works, then I will turn my blanks in the late autumn and leave them outside over the winter to have a long freeze (4 -5 months), this will keep the wife happy not having her freezer filled with bowls.

This would also explain why my freshly cut lumber dries so well out side during the winter.


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## jlb (Aug 19, 2008)

Tony, I've been told not to exceed about three days. I have no answer to why this is. The advice came from an expert turner. However I think it would be worth testing to see if it really makes any difference.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

I think a frost free freezer would work the best.

There should be some way of putting your turning in a vacuum bag, or chamber.

& suck the moisture out, while it's in the freezer. That's how they freeze dry food.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

A frost free freezer will dry everything in it if it's not sealed very very well.


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## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

We hardly ever use ice cubes, they dry up into flakes of mineral from the water.

We quit making ice cubes.


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## WillyWally (Apr 10, 2009)

Hey, I'm an air conditioning mechanic and I use a vacuum pump to get the moisture out of the freon lines. I'm giong to try evacuating the moisture out of one of my turnings just as an experiment. My guess is it will take too long.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Air dryers and dehumidifiers are a refrigiration processes, but you already know that, eh, WillyWally? )


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## Phillywood (Feb 12, 2010)

Ok, guys. Can we stop the speculations and stick with what has been tried out and works. Or if youguys be kind and try what yousuggest and then report. I's apprecaite it.


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## BarbaraGill (Feb 12, 2011)

I have done this both with large and small bowls. What I do is get the best surface I can with the Kelton Multi Axis scraper. After I complete the bowl I put it aside for several days in my unheated shop. After the surface has dried some, I sand with Abranet ( I think I spelled it correctly). A number of suppliers carry it; I buy from The Sanding Glove. The Abranet is made to sand wood that is not completely dry. 
After sanding I put it aside until dry before putting a finish on it.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

I tried replacing water with alcohol once. Afterwards I couldn't find my lathe.
Bill


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

Trifern is the expert I'd listen to. His turning is 1000 times better than mine will ever be. I have attention deficit disorder and waiting 6 months to a year to finish something is just impossible for me. So, everything I make on my lathe is either from dry blocks of wood, or I dry it in the microwave. So far I've only lost a few items to cracks, ovaling, and breakage. The first step is to accurately weigh the turning and record the weight. Depending on the size of the turning, I heat it at full power for one or two minutes to heat up the wood to weaken or break cell walls. I also write down the weight after every heating. After the full power burn, I set the microwave to defrost meat (50% power, but a 1 push button setting on my microwave) and use the weight I wrote down. My microwave sets the time. I wrap the turning in paper towels to soak up the moisture that comes off. Then I let the turning cool to room temperature. Record the weight, and heat on defrost again. I repeat the heating and cooling cycle till the turning stops loosing weight. This is the same procedure I use to calculate the moisture content of wood (from Virginia Tech's solar kiln info). After the turning stops losing weight, it's ready to finish turn. It will still have some moisture content. The chunks I'm trying to get bone dry, I put in the oven at 175 degrees overnight and record that weight as bone dry. You can calculate the moisture content of the green wood and the moisture content of the wood at any time you recorded the weight of your sample. The sample chunks I microwaved to find the moisture content of my wood never got cracks or splits, so when I started turning, I used the microwave to speed things up. Try the technique on something you won't be upset to lose. So far I've not burned up the microwave, but you might want to find a free or cheap one on Craig's List. When we got a new one, I put the old one out in the shop to use for drying and so I can see the time.


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