I know why you guys like to turn green hardwood

[Webb Willmott]

I jumped off the deep end today and turned the largest bowl I’ve attempted. I had a nice piece of kiln dried 12/4 walnut so I glued up a square and cut a round blank on the bandsaw. Final piece turned out 13” by 2.75”. Finished with walnut oil and burnished with bees wax. My wife has already claimed it for a fruit bowl.

I found the dry walnut much more difficult to turn. Bowl turning with dry walnut is entirely different animal compared to dry spindle work IMHO. I gained a lot of gouge experience. The harder drier wood let you know quickly if the tool was in the right position. I’m going to rechuck it tomorrow and do one more smoothing cut on the inside.

As Raffan says, let the wood come to the tool. Compared to green wood, the dry walnut was more like a slow crawl than a brisk walk. I also found myself honing and sharpening a lot more. One clue was the shavings started getting hot when a new edge was needed.

Tally ho.

 

[John K Jordan]

I know why you guys like to turn green hardwood: I've never cared for turning green hardwood, even twice turned bowls, and even though I live smack in the middle of an immense wealth of hardwood trees. I've turned enough to last my lifetime. In addition to other reasons, I find the turning too easy, prefer the challenge of dry wood, the harder the better. I'm sure that makes me an outcast.

JKJ

 

[Doug Freeman]

Yes, wet wood is much more fun! Fun is what a hobby is all about. If I want a precision piece (truly round, sharp embellishments, etc), it’s roughed while wet, dried, then returned - no sense fighting all that hard dry wood or waiting years for a chunk of wood to dry.

There’s also the added character of the distortion created by the drying of 1 turn wet pieces.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Webb, it's possible that the kiln dried wood could be at an even lower overall moisture content than seasoned, air-dried wood. Air dried wood will dry (over extended time) to what its environment will allow- Olympic Peninsula Washington "dry" will probably be a wetter wood than Arizona "dry". Kiln dried wood can re-acclimate to its environment somewhat, but I don't know if it picks up enough moisture to compare to its air-dried cousin.

Kiln dried may cut more brittle than air dried, depending on the actual moisture content remaining in the wood, making the cutting process relatively more "laborious". Wet fibers under a sharp edge tend to cut easier the dried fibers with the same sharpness tool.

Grain orientation can come into play as well. Side grain bowl shapes have the grain changing every 90 degrees of a rotation (end-side-end-side), so the end grain sections make it seem tougher to cut overall. Spindles, it's all side grain, which cuts easier. And then relative moisture content again comes into play...

But you've truly discovered the importance of keeping a keen edge on the tools, and heeding Raffan's advice, too. Good job.

 

[Russ Braun]

But if you had segmented that dried Walnut board Webb, you would have captured the joy of turning dried hardwood! All side grain if gluing up rings and unlimited forms can be created at your pleasure!! Did I mention at you can add contrasting hardwoods to create patterns and other eye candy features!!

 

[Ron Solfest]

I know why you guys like to turn green hardwood: I've never cared for turning green hardwood, even twice turned bowls, and even though I live smack in the middle of an immense wealth of hardwood trees. I've turned enough to last my lifetime. In addition to other reasons, I find the turning too easy, prefer the challenge of dry wood, the harder the better. I'm sure that makes me an outcast.

JKJ

John, you’re an outcast for many reasons

Regarding green vs dry - green is fun because of the ease with big curls, but sure makes a mess of my shop! I just finished cleaning up the lathe with PB Blaster and steel wool after processing some green blanks last week.

All in I’d also choose turning dry wood too I guess

 

[robo hippy]

Every one is different, and some of us are more different than others. I have been having a "discussion" with some one on You Tube who turned an end grain box and claimed it would not move because it had been kiln dried and "acclimated" to the shop, but it was 3 inches or so in diameter. I ALWAYS rough turn my boxes first, then let them "adjust" and then finish turn them. That will give me a long lasting "perfect fit". For bowls and platters and plates, I just once turn them, and like them to warp. I won a Dale Larson bowl in a drawing and it was made out of madrone. Dale boils his madrone. I put it in the Christmas auction because it just didn't look right to me since it was almost perfectly round. Green wood is easiest to cut. A piece of "air" dried lumber is second on that list. If you rip a board on your table saw that is air dried, you get shavings instead of dust. Vacuum kiln or solar kiln dried wood is pretty much the same. Kiln dried wood is the worst for dust and not pleasant at all, at least as far as I am concerned. Walnut always seems to be the worst wood for dulling all of your tools from chainsaw to bandsaw blades to turning tools.

robo hippy

 

[John K Jordan]

Walnut always seems to be the worst wood for dulling all of your tools from chainsaw to bandsaw blades to turning tools.

I wondered about that. I've cut and turned a bunch of walnut over the years and never saw a difference. Then someone gave me a plank of maybe 12/4 walnut he said was very old, guessed about 100 years based on where it came from. Man, that's the worst on tools I've ever had. I dulled a new Starrett bi-metal bandsaw blade with just a few cuts. Don't know if it was a high concentration of silica in that particular piece, the age, or from being used as a fireplace mantle for a bunch of decades. Maybe I should split the rest into firewood.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Don't know if it was a high concentration of silica in that particular piece, the age, or from being used as a fireplace mantle for a bunch of decades. Maybe I should split the rest into firewood.

Walnut that I've cut from the log, I've seen micro minerals looking back at me after very fine sanding and a coat of finish.

A long time ago, walnut found its way to me if I just thought about it. Nowadays, finding walnut cuttings is very rare.

 

[John K Jordan]

A log time ago, walnut found its way to me if I just thought about it. Nowadays, finding walnut cuttings is very rare.

I decided today to take down five black walnut trees this winter. Three are dropping walnuts all over the road, when cars come past it's pop/pop/pop running over the walnuts, one bounced off the top of a neighbor's car. Probably have at least 20 reasonable size walnut trees here and haven't even searched through some of the woods.

I might cut up some into planks with the sawmill and some on the shop bandsaw, let it air dry. Also planned for this winter is a couple of large sassafras, maybe four persimmon trees, a sourwood, and perhaps a cherry and an ash or two or a big y. poplar. (Winter is the best time.) Have a huge red oak that needs to be removed but I don't much care for turning that. I want to let some light into a few areas (a forester comes and advises.)

JKJ