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Walnut

Nice example of all of the wild colors you can see in fresh cut walnut. Purples, greens, yellows, browns, and every shade in between. Should be a stunner when done.
 
Rusty Nesmith said:
It is end grain with no pith. Always wanted to try an end grain bowl. Not fun hollowing the inside.
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What tools/method did you use? Are you aware endgrain cut direction is opposite facegrain, ie for the ID its center to rim.

I typically dig out the center with a 1/2” spindle gouge, and when it starts to chatter switch to a long wing 5/8” bowl gouge. Once you get the hang of it it wont take any longer than facegrain.
 
Rusty Nesmith said:
Thanks. Going to have to dry for about a year.
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That depends on how thick it is. If more then a 1/2" thick coat the primarily end grain areas with Anchor Seal and or place in a brown paper bag. Note: eliminating the pith helps to avoid checking around the pith but also introduces the problem of that the piece will go oval as it dries, which may require a thicker wall to be able to round it out on the second turning.
 
Doug Freeman said:
What tools/method did you use? Are you aware endgrain cut direction is opposite facegrain, ie for the ID its center to rim.

I typically dig out the center with a 1/2” spindle gouge, and when it starts to chatter switch to a long wing 5/8” bowl gouge. Once you get the hang of it it wont take any longer than facegrain.
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I started with a 5/8” bowl gouge and ended up doing pull cuts with a 1/2” bowl gouge.
 
Don Wattenhofer said:
That depends on how thick it is. If more then a 1/2" thick coat the primarily end grain areas with Anchor Seal and or place in a brown paper bag. Note: eliminating the pith helps to avoid checking around the pith but also introduces the problem of that the piece will go oval as it dries, which may require a thicker wall to be able to round it out on the second turning.
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I always rough turn minimum 1” and thicker on a larger bowl. It is waxed inside and out. There is no pith. This is a cut off from one of the 12” by 12” pieces I got.
 
Hi Rusty, i see you turned it on your Record power lathe. i am thinking of getting the Regent lathe how do you like the lathe? enough power for what you turn?
New to the Forum.
Thanks ,
Dennis
 
When I rough turn Walnut I seal the end grain only and put it in a paper sack. Usually dries in 3 to 4 months. I weigh them so I know. As far as hollowing end grain. I drill.out the center and then use a Hunter Viceroy tool cutting from the center out. I usually dont cut straight across but sort of pull it out at 45 degrees. That cut causes a lot less chatter. When I start getting close to final thickness I'll switch to my bowl gouge.
 
Dennis Peterson said:
Rusty, your wax regiment on bowls, why do you like it better?, less warping or other?
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I like it better because I don’t have to keep weighing it and making a mess with the chips every time I have to. A friend who I consider a master turner told me he rough turns, then waxes and puts the on the shelf for a year. I have rough turned bowls that are ready to finish turn now and I haven’t had to mess with them at all. If they are on the shelf longer it won’t hurt a thing. I did have a few cracks when putting them in a bag of chips. Never had a crack waxing and putting on a shelf.
 
john lucas said:
When I rough turn Walnut I seal the end grain only and put it in a paper sack. Usually dries in 3 to 4 months. I weigh them so I know. As far as hollowing end grain. I drill.out the center and then use a Hunter Viceroy tool cutting from the center out. I usually dont cut straight across but sort of pull it out at 45 degrees. That cut causes a lot less chatter. When I start getting close to final thickness I'll switch to my bowl gouge.
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That’s what I did with a sharp bowl gouge and it worked much better.
 
Rusty Nesmith said:
I like it better because I don’t have to keep weighing it and making a mess with the chips every time I have to. A friend who I consider a master turner told me he rough turns, then waxes and puts the on the shelf for a year. I have rough turned bowls that are ready to finish turn now and I haven’t had to mess with them at all. If they are on the shelf longer it won’t hurt a thing. I did have a few cracks when putting them in a bag of chips. Never had a crack waxing and putting on a shelf.
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Thanks Rusty, your method sounds very nice, and quick, i will try it out. What kind of wax /,cheapest stuff or other/
 
Dennis Peterson said:
Thanks Rusty, your method sounds very nice, and quick, i will try it out. What kind of wax /,cheapest stuff or other/
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Think he refers to emulsified wax - AKA End grain sealer - AnchorSeal is the more common brand name, you can also get a private label brand from Rockler. PVA glue (Elmer's white glue, or even Titebond, can be thinned 50/50 with water to stretch it out longer) also works. I typically only use it on half log blanks if I can't get to them right away, or on particularly nice log specimens that I can't immediately process - it helps minimize cracking (doesn't eliminate it!) I have recently experimented with a little bit of "waxing" rough turned bowl blanks as Rusty has done , among other tests of common rough turned blank drying processes , but don't really have enough results as yet to say whether I am happy with it - at the moment my current process is just packing them away in brown paper bags and pack them into a box for a few months (box dated with when it was packed)

So, for my process: 1) Rough Turn bowl 2) on tenon, note date, wood source, and weight in grams. 3) wrap in brown paper bag and stuff into a cardboard box with other rough turned bowls recently done, until box is packed full. So far that has worked very well for me, minimal cracking or other defects. the 3 walnut bowls I turned (6 months ago) and simply slapped on a coat of anchorseal over at least all the end grain areas inside and out - they have stayed pretty stable so far and have been drying very slowly, but they're still losing moisture weight so they aren't done drying yet... I may go to that if I am able to build up a sizable inventory of dry rough turned blanks to work with that I'll have lots of turning to do while waiting a year or more for "waxed" blanks to dry.....
 
Each person has their own views of whats simple, messy, etc. I use the paper bag method to dry roughs.

Double bag, no chips, once in the bag I weigh all together, write wt on the 2” painters tape used to tape bag closed. No mess, no clean up, no removing the item to weigh, quick and easy. Can weigh as often as you want. Experimenting showed me the chips arent necessary. Bags are reusable many times. Bagged items cant be stacked, but sealed items should not be stacked until dried out.

Using a sealer is a messy application job, then have to wait for it to dry before putting on the shelf, sealer can only be used once.

I cracked a lot of roughs when I started - due to the blank I used, leaving areas of hi stress near the rim and sharp edges. Dont get many drying cracks anymore.
 
Doug Freeman said:
Each person has their own views of whats simple, messy, etc. I use the paper bag method to dry roughs.
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For twice turned bowls I use paper bags. Not chips. I turn green wood lots of moisture. I swap daily to dry bags until the bags are not damp.
Damp bags dry overnight for reuse
I check for mold. If left in damp bags mold is almost a certainty. If I see mold I wipe the piece with Clorox.

After 3-5 days bags are dry - leave the piece in the bag 4-6 months then a shelf.
I used to use anchor seal. Bags - no mess from anchor seal - still free at Publix
Bagged bowl dry several months sooner than anchor sealed bowls.

This is not a good method for production turners but works great for folks who rarely do more than 2-3 bowls a day.
 
Well poop, there is so much I still don't know. Thanks for the above, drying techniques. So if you do this as a business and someone comes to you for a walnut bowl, you say great I'll see you in 4 - 12 months? I imagine the room atmosphere where that bowl is stored has a great deal to do with drying time.
 
Jeff Nelson said:
I imagine the room atmosphere where that bowl is stored has a great deal to do with drying time.
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Correct. IMO what is most important is that the items are dried in a consistent room environment, so that a consistent process can be developed - whether bagging, with chips, sealing with wax, glue, only end grain, etc. Remove as many variables as possible. I dry mine in the house, which is temp and humidity controlled, so that time of year is irrelevant.
 
Jeff Nelson said:
Well poop, there is so much I still don't know. Thanks for the above, drying techniques. So if you do this as a business and someone comes to you for a walnut bowl, you say great I'll see you in 4 - 12 months? I imagine the room atmosphere where that bowl is stored has a great deal to do with drying time.
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A walnut rough out will absolutely not need a year to dry. Unless you live in a rain forest.
 
Jeff Nelson said:
Well poop, there is so much I still don't know. Thanks for the above, drying techniques. So if you do this as a business and someone comes to you for a walnut bowl, you say great I'll see you in 4 - 12 months? I imagine the room atmosphere where that bowl is stored has a great deal to do with drying time.
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One alternative is a NE bowl with a white sap ring that will dry in 2-3 days. Sanding and finishing May take another week of 5-10 minutes each day. I bleach the sap raring to keep it whitish.

After a while you will have a stash of dried rough outs.
 
Jeff Nelson said:
So if you do this as a business and someone comes to you for a walnut bowl, you say great I'll see you in 4 - 12 months?
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That is pretty much the case, for bowls made from a particular log (I.E. someone's favorite tree blew down and they ask for a bowl or some such made from it) I'll tell them anywhere from 4 to 12 months depending on the wood, the size of the bowl (smaller diameters can be roughed thinner, and thus dry quicker) - However, as Hockenberry pointed out, you can also offer them nearly instant gratification by doing once-turned (With the understanding that no matter what you do they ARE going to warp and deform over time, so plan ahead) - I'll often turn a foot bead on those so if they wobble after they have dried, I can carve out sections of the bead so as to have a 3-point stance to hold the bowl stable.

Last year I got in a large pile of ash (massive branch almost 2 Ft diameter broke off the main tree at the crotch) from a neighbor and old friend of my late mother, so I offered to make her a couple bowls in exchange for letting me pick and choose chunks of that ash wood. Ended up with a gorgeous looking (and unique) grain pattern from the butt end of that branch (the upper edges of the flame) which I was able to turn a nice 11 inch salad bowl (twice turned, dried 8 months) and a lovely once-turned fruit bowl (8 inch) that sat on 3 "feet" courtesy of that turned bead (Not a natural edge bowl though, bark was way too chunky) just a week after I picked up the wood. She was thrilled to bits with the result, and I still have a half dozen large ash chunks of that tree yet to be turned. (Sadly, I did not think to take pictures of the bowls at the time, so I can't post them here) - So basically she got 1 bowl a week later, and another bowl after 8 months or so.

However, if someone just wants a particular size bowl and/or of a specific wood species that I have already a stock of roughed out drying (or dried) blanks, I can sometimes pick a blank out and tell them "a day or two" - that's the main reason to collect as many logs as you can and process and rough them out and pack away for slow drying as quickly as you can, and if you do a good batch once a month (or every couple months) , by the time your first year-ago batch is ready for finishing, you'll be able to build up a decent inventory - I finally reached the point where I have some roughed out blanks from just about a year ago I haven't had a chance to finish yet, so if I can keep bringing in more logs and rough out more bowls every month or so, I'll have a constant flow of inventory for finish turning
 
hockenbery said:
One alternative is a NE bowl with a white sap ring that will dry in 2-3 days. Sanding and finishing May take another week of 5-10 minutes each day. I bleach the sap raring to keep it whitish.

After a while you will have a stash of dried rough outs.
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For the first time (for me that is) I have been making goblet forms and natural edge bowls from a piece of the far upper trunk of a walnut that was cut down in September in a Mpls suburb. The piece was about 5 feet long by about 8" diameter and for the first two goblets I cut pieces off about 10" long and proceeded to turn the goblet forms that I displayed in the members gallery.

22071Goblet1.JPG

I was aware of using lemon juice to prevent the sapwood from darkening but never got around to trying it. The first one as pictured above was turned to less than 1/8" wall thickness on the cup portion and the base and didn't seem to darken so I am thinking that the rapid drying without any sealer or paper bags did the trick. The inside of the cup was wet sanded before the outside was turned down and rinsed with lots of clean water to remove the dark dust from the sapwood. The different effect that I noticed was the slightly blurred line between the sapwood and heartwood, but I think it adds to the form.
 
Jeff Nelson said:
Well poop, there is so much I still don't know. Thanks for the above, drying techniques. So if you do this as a business and someone comes to you for a walnut bowl, you say great I'll see you in 4 - 12 months? I imagine the room atmosphere where that bowl is stored has a great deal to do with drying time.
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Or you can do like my friends do and I am starting to do. They have at least 100 rough turned bowls each with all of the popular woods. I have around 15 to 20 with about 8 to 10 ready to finish turn.
 
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