drying timber

[seventhdevil]

hi all, just curious to know what methods people use to dry their timber a little faster than nature intended.

i've got loads of laburnum in under 2" cylinders and would like to know if drying in an oven or microwave or any other method is effective in any way.


i've lots of timber in 3" sort of sizes too so rather than just air drying what do you recommend.

steve

[Graham]

I guess if you are thinking about microwaves then you are in a real hurry. I have read about it but not tried it myself.
Somewhat slower..... someone set up a forced draught with a fan and tunnel and dried big slabs in about half the normal time. Not sure the electric costs would be worth it though.

[seventhdevil]

has no one got any tried and tested method they could share???

i'm still sealing the ends and bringing them in the house.

there are faster ways surely.

[julcle]

Hi Steve,  I think that Kiln Drying is probably the fastest way to do the job without the timber splitting. Not many people have a kiln but if you know a local timber merchant he may let you put your parts into his kiln. I normally just seal the ends and put them in a corner of the shed/workshop and leave them for a few months until the moisture level gets down to a reasonable level, tends to be about 20%

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Steve you might try using a humidifier for drying. Build a box with it attached and shove some planks in. But like Graham said is it worth the electricity costs. I just buy (collect) more wood than I need and shove it in the workshop in some sort of order and leave it for a few years. if you do that all the time you will constantly be able to drip feed wood into the system.

[seventhdevil]

it's not planks i wish to dry it's merely just the small blanks that we often cut and put aside to dry in their own time.

i don't have enough stuff for a kiln and there isn't one round here anyway.

i was just curios to see if anyone had a method of drying small block efficiently and quicker than sealing the ends and letting them air dry.

looks like that is the simplest method so i guess i'll keep on doing it.

anyone works out a quicker method please let the rest of us know.

[Paul Hannaby]

For small blanks the best thing to do is to rough turn them first, then dry them, then re-turn to the final size.

You can seal end grain after rough turning to reduce the chance of splitting and/or do things like putting them in paper bags etc. Anything that reduces the moisture gradient will reduce the chance of splitting.

[davidbrac]

there is a lot of information on this site regarding drying timber, try searching

l have a kiln but it cost to run so dont use it unless l need something urgently and l can recoop the cost. Rough turning is good. Have also had good results boiling wood, but have not tried this on laburnum. Tend t let that dry after rough turning. or by dealing and leaving in the workshop loft

[edbanger]

David

It was my understanding that it's better to let green turn wood dry lower down best on the floor I tried drying wood up higher on a slatted shelf I installed and the wood split, I was told that this was because the heat rises which made sence. I never thought  to put it in the loft. I'm running out of floor space in the workshop so I'll give the loft a try.

Thanks

Ed

[Graham]

Lofts tend to suffer from extremes of temp

[woodndesign]

I've microwaved small (size which will fit) rough turned and finished items on defrost for a minute or so, with it placed on a sheet of kitchen towel to absorb any water, let cool between each heat burst until dry or weight has stabilized.

Have read somewhere to use full power for 3 minutes over likewise period frame. Low or medium bands I'd consider might be best, than the ex stream.  Like with most things we encounter, it's to experiment.

Should a commercial kiln have been available, their material drying temperatures could dramatically differ from your timber needs, more than likely high enough to destroy your timber, there's as much in combining the right timbers or how they are stacked, as with drying timber in the first place.

Cheers

[davidbrac]

David

It was my understanding that it's better to let green turn wood dry lower down best on the floor I tried drying wood up higher on a slatted shelf I installed and the wood split, I was told that this was because the heat rises which made sence. I never thought  to put it in the loft. I'm running out of floor space in the workshop so I'll give the loft a try.

Thanks

Ed

it is worth me saying that the loft does not suffer from big varies in temp but does have seasonal gradual changes. This is due to 22 inch stone walls and insulation

[Graham]

it is worth me saying that the loft does not suffer from big varies in temp but does have seasonal gradual changes. This is due to 22 inch stone walls and insulation

Fair enough 

[seventhdevil]

wish i had a loft like that.

i'm in and edwardian house with a very thin roof but i don't find the temperature to be the problem. for me it's just down to the humidity as i put stuff in the conservatory which can go through a 30 degree change in a day and there has been no problem as yet.

purchased a hygrometer and saw that the humidity stayed up in the 60% region so it gave the wood an easy ride to drying.

the large walnut bowls i've been doing recently have gone through the same method and only have had one or two split out of 100 bowls.

if the humidity dropped or the sun came out i put a dust sheet over them.

if there is no quicker and dead reliable way to do it faster than wait 6 months then i'll just have to wait 6 months.

[Graham]

As every undereducated GP will tell you
Patients is a  virtue