Kris DeVault

[Kris DeVault]

I am super impressed by the amount of knowledge on this forum. I am a beginner turner (16 bowls so far) but do have a woodworking business. My specialty would be lamination.

I have been researching a ton the past few months and google keeps taking me back to this forum, so here I am. Thought I would introduce myself because I have plenty of questions and this seems like a great group.

Just went to my first woodturning symposium here in Alaska and was pretty excited about it. Just joined the Alaska Woodturners Association which I believe is a part of the AAW?
Can't wait to get into some of the classes there!

Since my last few bowls (which have sold), I have been gearing up for more production. We will see how that goes as I have a ton to learn.

Question:
I am getting a bunch of Walnut burl shipped up to Alaska and am worried about the bugs. Some of the burl is fresh and some is air dried for 2 years. My source has an iDry vacuum kiln. He was going to run it in his kiln for 2 days around 150 to kill the bugs. I am assuming the 2yr air dried stuff will be just fine but the fresh burl might not fair too well even if its only 2 days to kill the bugs. I have too much lumber in my shop to risk it so I thought I would start by asking here. Maybe build some kind of steamer for the fresh cut?

Appreciate you guys and this forum.
Here is a couple photos of my last few bowls.
Cheers,
Kris

 

[Brian Gustin]

Welcome! Awesomely nice work considering you've done 16 bowls beautiful laminations there.

As far as the wood - Air dried or Kiln dried, if it has sat around long enough especially outdoors, it can still have bugs - So, unless the whole works will be getting kiln dried at 150 for several hours (There is another thread on here where more knowledgeable folks have discussed the exact heat & time requirements to kill off any bugs) I'd find some way of quarantining the wood itself (a sealed room of some sort with no other wood in it) and leave the wood set for several months (Powder Post beetles can be dormant for years though) As far as the results from kiln drying a lot depends on the operator using it properly (I have heard of iDry kilns and there's a couple folks around my area trying to rent theirs out..) So I suppose the question as far as results for both bug sanitizing and non-cracking/case hardening will all depend on how well your source manages his kiln usage. If done properly and professionally , you should probably have nothing to worry about - However, I suspect for thick material such as half logs and bowl blanks, even a pro is going to have trouble getting a completely dry (and disinfected) blank without case hardening.

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

Welcome! Very nice laminations you have there!!

I am super impressed by the amount of knowledge on this forum. I am a beginner turner (16 bowls so far) but do have a woodworking business. My specialty would be lamination.

I have been researching a ton the past few months and google keeps taking me back to this forum, so here I am. Thought I would introduce myself because I have plenty of questions and this seems like a great group.

Just went to my first woodturning symposium here in Alaska and was pretty excited about it. Just joined the Alaska Woodturners Association which I believe is a part of the AAW?
Can't wait to get into some of the classes there!

Since my last few bowls (which have sold), I have been gearing up for more production. We will see how that goes as I have a ton to learn.

Question:
I am getting a bunch of Walnut burl shipped up to Alaska and am worried about the bugs. Some of the burl is fresh and some is air dried for 2 years. My source has an iDry vacuum kiln. He was going to run it in his kiln for 2 days around 150 to kill the bugs. I am assuming the 2yr air dried stuff will be just fine but the fresh burl might not fair too well even if its only 2 days to kill the bugs. I have too much lumber in my shop to risk it so I thought I would start by asking here. Maybe build some kind of steamer for the fresh cut?

Appreciate you guys and this forum.
Here is a couple photos of my last few bowls.
Cheers,
Kris

 

[Kris DeVault]

Welcome! Awesomely nice work considering you've done 16 bowls beautiful laminations there.

As far as the wood - Air dried or Kiln dried, if it has sat around long enough especially outdoors, it can still have bugs - So, unless the whole works will be getting kiln dried at 150 for several hours (There is another thread on here where more knowledgeable folks have discussed the exact heat & time requirements to kill off any bugs) I'd find some way of quarantining the wood itself (a sealed room of some sort with no other wood in it) and leave the wood set for several months (Powder Post beetles can be dormant for years though) As far as the results from kiln drying a lot depends on the operator using it properly (I have heard of iDry kilns and there's a couple folks around my area trying to rent theirs out..) So I suppose the question as far as results for both bug sanitizing and non-cracking/case hardening will all depend on how well your source manages his kiln usage. If done properly and professionally , you should probably have nothing to worry about - However, I suspect for thick material such as half logs and bowl blanks, even a pro is going to have trouble getting a completely dry (and disinfected) blank without case hardening.

Thank you!
I think he was going to bring it up to 150 over 2 days. He has been doing slabs for years now but doesn't like running thicker stuff in there. Forgot about case hardening, good point Brian.

 

[Kris DeVault]

Welcome! Very nice laminations you have there!!

Thanks!

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome aboard. Some nice turnings you have. As to the association between AWA and AAW. AWA is a chapter of AAW and bears little or no control to AAW. Most like to be members of both. Just to clarify.

You sound rather bullish on hauling wood up north. I know they do not have what we do down here but have seen some great stuff in spruce and other Alaska woods which peak my interest if you have done any.

 

[Kris DeVault]

Welcome aboard. Some nice turnings you have. As to the association between AWA and AAW. AWA is a chapter of AAW and bears little or no control to AAW. Most like to be members of both. Just to clarify.

You sound rather bullish on hauling wood up north. I know they do not have what we do down here but have seen some great stuff in spruce and other Alaska woods which peak my interest if you have done any.

Thank you Gerald. Great info on AWA and AAW, I was curious about that.
Alaskans are short on varieties of wood up here. Spruce and Birch are about it. I do plan on turning some and have a bunch set aside. I bring up shipments of burl and slabs for resale and business use and currently have a 2 pallets being put together right now. My 1st time bringing green wood up so I have a few questions on it.
Appreciate the help.