Drying wood

[gilljc]

Has anyone any advice on drying 'found' wood in the oven? Have fairly successfully dried a couple of bits of birch branches which had been washed down river in the floods last winter at 80 - 100 degrees and am currently trying to dry another piece which I think is a lot 'fresher', certainly wetter,type unknown. Approx 40mm in diameter. Been making xmas tree ornaments out of the thicker sections :ho2
They have lost about 20 grams so far, a wee bit of thin sap has dribbled out and my kitchen smells funny.... :shock:

 

[Claymore]

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[bigbob1]

I dry pen blank size in the microwave. You need these wee scales that measure down to grams. Mark the weight of each piece of wood with a sharpie put a bit of kitchen towel on the platter of the microwave (helps soak up any moisture and stops leaving stains for the other half to discover ) set microwave on defrost setting cook for 30 seconds take the wood out rest it for 30 minutes then weigh again it will have lost weight as it becomes more seasoned repeat until the weight stays stable. I find this takes 3 or 4 goes in the microwave.

 

[Claymore]

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[gilljc]

Brian, thanks for the interesting links, the second sounded like maths and so my brain went all whirly :wink:
Bob, interested to hear that you are successful with the microwave method and particularly about the weight thing and knowing when to stop, my samples are about a foot long and so far have lost about 60 grams from the one that started at 340 grams.
Might try slicing a few sections and drying them, although the previous 70-80 mm diameter ones I dried that way did split a little.
Anyway thanks again guys

 

[Claymore]

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[beganasatree]

Hi gill,if you do try the microwave dont use your household one it will smell just like your oven did.Last year I bought one from the charity shop[£15] just for drying wood and it lives in the workshop.

Peter.