Drying Bowl Blanks

[Kevin Tambascio]

I have a wire shelving unit in the garage that I'm using to store bowl blanks for twice-turning. To help them dry faster, was wondering about adding a shelving unit cover (like this: Amazon link) and a small dehumidifier to help with drying. Any other ideas or options for turning a wire shelving unit (36" x 18" x 72") into a drying rack?

 

[Bill Boehme]

For twice turning, you don’t dry the blanks. You rough turn the wet blanks and then dry them. You do not want to speed up the drying time, you want to slow it down. Otherwise, the rough turned bowls will crack. Depending on your local climate, you can Anchorseal them or brown bag them. In extremely humid conditions you might need a dehumidifier or they might never dry.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

Rough turn first while still green the sooner the better after cutting the tree down, then store the roughs in brown paper bags and keep a log of the weight with a periodic weighing schedule. The weight will gradually change until until it stops decreasing and that is the best indicator that the piece is in equilibrium with it's environment. Some will say to exchange the bag for a dry one in the early stages of the drying cycle and that may speedup the drying, but the idea is to dry slowly to prevent drying checks so I don't change the bag. I stopped using Anchor Seal because the wax must be completely turned away on the second turning, where as the bag provides a miniature environmental chamber that works I think much better without the mess.
Note: as I was writing this a notice came up that someone else had posted a reply and looking at it saw that it was mostly the same answer in different wording.

 

[Darryl Fective]

To speed up the process, I've been experimenting with a 24 hour soak in denatured alcohol, then air drying. I've only done smallish ones that will fit in a 5 gal bucket so far, but hope to find a larger container with good lid for larger pieces. Menards had the best price around here on DNA, and they also have buckets with easily removed lids.

 

[hockenbery]

What Don and bill said.

I’m one that swaps dry bags for the damp ones daily until the bags don’t feel damp.4-5 days.
If I see any mold it discard those bags and wipe the turning with Clorox

 

[Kevin Tambascio]

Thanks. For clarity, I meant this for after I have made the initial turning from a green wood blank. I saw Kent's video about a dry box to help the process...I was looking for a way to adapt it to my setup.

 

[robo hippy]

Well, if you try to dry it too fast, it will crack to relieve stress. If you dry it too slow, it will mold and/or rot. And, every species of wood has different drying rates. I have a friend who used a dehumidifying kiln, and he put boards in it. A light bulb for heat, and a dehumidifier to pull the water out of the air. Do make sure to round over the rim edges since a sharp edge is more prone to cracking than a rounded edge. Some woods need to be sealed, some don't. Me, I once turn my bowls because I like the warped shapes.

robo hippy

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

What Don and bill said.

I’m one that swaps dry bags for the damp ones daily until the bags don’t feel damp.4-5 days.
If I see any mold it discard those bags and wipe the turning with Clorox

That is a good example of what the differences in environment can make.

 

[John Gordon]

Working off of others who made "fridge kilns", I took the same wire shelving unit you have and turned into a "finishing" kiln. I built a base on wheels for the rack, and then made walls, a floor, and a ceiling from 1 1/2" styrofoam with a bifold door system out of the same styrofoam. I installed two heat lamps, a temperature controller, and an old bathroom exhaust fan. The lamps and fan are hooked into the controller, which cycles either the lamps or the exhaust fan depending on the settings. This brings in new fresh air (from vent holes low in the walls) and exhausts the damp hot air.

Once I turn my bowls from green wood, I use Anchor Seal and store them in my crawlspace (not too damp, not too hot) for 3-4 months. That brings the MC down from the 20's into the low teens. Then I cycle them in the kiln for about a month, regulating the temperature from 25C to a final round at 50C. My bowls come out right around 7-8% MC, which is about perfect for my area. Jim Sprague has a few helpful YT videos that help explain how to work with the controller, heat lamps, and fan. It might not be the fastest way to get to turn a finished bowl, but once you get the process down and rotate your inventory, you should end up with more dry blanks than you can keep up with - that's been my experience at least.

 

[Russell Nugent]

Since about the first year of turning I've not been interested in speeding up drying. I green turn enough that I have more blanks ready for returning. I hardly ever get any cracking now that I'm not worried about speeding it up.

 

[Kevin Tambascio]

Thanks for the advice. Will look into these ideas. I have a good pile of green wood to turn as well.