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laburnum and cherry

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Tim Pettigrew:

--- Quote from: apw99 on March 17, 2020, 11:30:57 AM ---Hi,
Thank you Les and Tim for the very helpful posts, it looks like I have come to the right place! As always one answer spawns a hundred questions so here are a couple to get us started!

I don't tend to get a lot of turning done and I'm a bit dis-organized as to how long I have held stock, I probably need to sort that out in order to get the best of the this lovely wood. Given that and looking at the chart would a rule of thumb be something like a green bowl of medium size takes about 3 months to dry and stabilize?

--- End quote ---

Yes, but drying time does vary considerably according to size.  You can easily take the guesswork out by purchasing some kitchen or postal scales like the ones pictured below

These Abcon scales weigh up to 15kg and are excellent for weighing green turnings.  Note the angled read-out screen which is a good design feature as many of these scales have screens on the same plane as the weighing platform which means the read-out is effectively masked when weighing wide items such as platters. 

As it happens at the moment (17/03/2020) these scales are on special offer on Amazon UK  at 20 GBP (plus shipping). But there are many other similar scales to choose from, some much cheaper.

After rough-turning a green wood item I weigh it and record the weight on this sheet

Whilst the item is drying I weigh it on a regular basis, record the dates and weights on the sheet, until there is no more weight loss.  The item is then transferred indoors to a temperature and relative humidity where it will probably end up being kept.  Again when there is no more weight loss it is ready for re-mounting on the lathe for finishing.  It's probably too fussy a technique for most turners but I've used this for over 10 years now for bowls and platters and it certainly works for me in effectively eliminating warping and cracking in "finished" turnings :) :)  It also gives an excellent insight as to the variation in drying times for various species of wood which I find fascinating.
HERE is a link to a pdf version of the record sheet which can easily be printed.

Hope this is helpful?

Tim

apw99:
Hi gents,
this is really useful information, many thanks.
I plan to slice and dice the timber for storing this weekend and I may try to turn a few pieces of cherry to see how they come out.

Cheers! Stay safe.

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