Drying thick slabs

[Denny Nebgen]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this topic as it is only indirectly related to turning. So please if this is incorrect forgive me.

Ok, local Amish mill had a 5 foot piece of Walnut that he would sell me for what I thought was real reasonable. I had him slice this into 4 and 5 inch thick slabs just about 58 inches long. I cut a couple pieces off the ends of two of those pieces to turn green bowls. I now have one piece 13" wide by 43 inches long and 5 and 3/4 inches thick, one piece 45 inches long by 10 inches wide by 5 inches thick, one piece 10 inches wide by 58 inches long and 5 3/4 inches thick, plus one piece about 3 inches thick by 7 inches wide by 58 inches long.
Should I try to dry some pieces in my little home made kiln, stack and let air dry for 4-5 years, then kiln dry, t urn everything I can get out of them now while green leave thick and seal for drying? What is your experience?

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Question, How long do you think you still will be able to turn wood ?.

Dried for 6 years and then turning it, the turning will then still need to dry more as the wood will not be dry yet.

Turn it now, and you will not need to wait 6 years to dry it.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

If you rough turn a bunch of them and seal them they will be ready in a year.

 

[Hugh]

When one acquires a large amount of nice wood, the problem becomes how to take care of it in a timely manner.
First thing I would do, is to seal the ends and 3-4 inches from the ends. Then I would find a nice shady spot, under some cover and put the wood there. Sticker it.
Then I would start working on it as soon as I could. Roughing out. Seal the rough out. Don't forget to date the rough outs. Store them in a nice cool, safe place to dry.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Depends on what kind of items you want to turn on the lathe. If you want to turn some spindle items down the road you might want to cut a couple of long pieces that will dry quicker with four sides exposed to the air. I used to turn a lot of large diameter spindle type work and those size of blanks were always hard to come by.

 

[Dean Center]

My understanding is that thick walnut does not dry well in a kiln. KD walnut is available up to about 3 inches, and rarely 4, because after running bigger stuff through the kiln, the inside will still be moist, and kind of green and unfriendly. Possibly it also doesn't dry well stickered.

As Mike pointed out, it all boils down to what you want to make from the stuff. 6" walnut spindle blanks are really rare, and you could cut some. Since in it's current thickness, it could be many years before it's dry enough to turn boxes and urns, you might want to rough turn any big spindle blanks into a hollowed shape, just as you would with bowls.

This is a pretty good problem to have, but if it gets overwhelming, just say the word and a horde of locusts from this forum will descend on your home to remove the troublesome wood.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

I make rough turned box blanks all the time to dry them faster. I make a cylinder with a tenon at each end between centers. Mount it in a chuck and part off one end at an inch or so. Then drill out the center with a forstner bit the right size to give the same wall thickness as the top. To dry i wax the outside only and place the top covering the hole. After its been sitting for awhile i take the top off so it can start drying more from the opening of the hole.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

I would start turning it ASAP, rough turn.

 

[Marc Banka]

I’m in the rough turn it now camp, or ASAP anyway.
I would also seal it all in plastic till it’s roughed.

 

[Denny Nebgen]

I have taken the advice of the majority and started rough turning bowls. I have 6 turned sealed and boxed, About that many more to turn. A few might have to wait until next week. Thank you everyone for your help./