Green Cherry

[woodfarmer]

I have had zero luck with cherry so far. Today I cut out bowl blanks and some bits to try to make some fruit. I was careful to remove all of the pith and surrounding material and the bark base . Was pleased with myself, and with the bandsaw which today for the first time worked without any problem at all, Really zapped through 8-9" green cherry. Had lunch then went back to re seal the stuff I had cut. Practically all of the pieces have started splitting in no more than an hour. This was from a short (45cm) log I picked out of the woodpile and sealed the ends about a month or two ago. I am beginning to think I should just leave cherry in the firewood pile.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

persevere with it. I've got a load from last summer which I blanked some and left some in the round. I cut a bunch more last week and then re sealed. That's not split at all whereas about half the stuff I cut in the summer did. So it seems leaving it in the log (split down the pith at least) and then sealed seems to stabilise it somewhat. That cherry goblet I posted last week was from that batch and it did develop a few micro checks on the rim. I flooded it with CA glue overnight and it was fine next day.

I also find that while turning if I use CA glue, squirt it in the crack and then trickle in as much fine sawdust from the actual piece and that goes off almost instantly so you can keep working. Its never a perfect colour match but it generally blends in and look like grain once its all sanded up.

 

[bellringer]

Cut it and seal with in 5 mins is best

 

[woodfarmer]

Cut it and seal with in 5 mins is best

I am beginning to think when I turn some again I should use my Holbrook and use Thompsons sealer in the coolant tank.

 

[Dalboy]

I found seal straight away and rough turn soon after then reseal this only applies if you have more than 1 piece as while you are turning the first piece the rest will split.

 

[CHJ]

Unless you are slabbing to 25-40mm thick to put in sticks and seal any endgrain cuts immediately you need to talk in years not months for slow drying.
Cherry I'm currently turning has been in store 4 years plus, and some Cherry still being sorted and stacked in store since 2006 is still at 18-20% moisture.

 

[bellringer]

Unless you are slabbing to 25-40mm thick to put in sticks and seal any endgrain cuts immediately you need to talk in years not months for slow drying.
Cherry I'm currently turning has been in store 4 years plus, and some Cherry still being sorted and stacked in store since 2006 is still at 18-20% moisture.

you see that odd i have some cherry it 3 inch thick and they are 6 inch round and they were cut 6 months ago and they are dry

 

[Spindle]

Hi

I'm with Chas on this one - you can't rush seasoning, let it take it's time - you'll end up with far more usable product this way.

Regards Mick

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Unless you are slabbing to 25-40mm thick to put in sticks and seal any endgrain cuts immediately you need to talk in years not months for slow drying.
Cherry I'm currently turning has been in store 4 years plus, and some Cherry still being sorted and stacked in store since 2006 is still at 18-20% moisture.

you see that odd i have some cherry it 3 inch thick and they are 6 inch round and they were cut 6 months ago and they are dry

Have you tested the very middle of the those 3" pieces with a moisture meter? I did this very thing yesterday with some oak that had been downed in the 1987 hurricane. So that's nigh on 30 years drying time!!

It was a 3" square that I trued up between centres. I then skewed off one end to true it and tested the freshly cut wood with a cheap aldi moisture meter (which works incredibly well by the way). It was at about 20% whereas the outside tested at 10%. I think one has to be careful about definitions of "dry". What that proves to me is wood kept outdoors will never really go under a certain threshold moisture content

 

[Grahamshed]

It was a 3" square that I trued up between centres. I then skewed off one end to true it and tested the freshly cut wood with a cheap aldi moisture meter (which works incredibly well by the way). It was at about 20% whereas the outside tested at 10%. I think one has to be careful about definitions of "dry". What that proves to me is wood kept outdoors will never really go under a certain threshold moisture content

There you see, thats what bothers me about these moisture meters, they are only ever going to measure the outside 'skin' and what good is that if there is any thickness to the log ?

 

[CHJ]

..
There you see, thats what bothers me about these moisture meters, they are only ever going to measure the outside 'skin' and what good is that if there is any thickness to the log ?

Standard practice with any moisture meter system is to drill two small holes and allow the probe points to penetrate as far as possible if you need to get best approximation.
After several years experience handling green wood in storage you get a good idea about likelihood of it being safe to re-saw, once this is done in slab form you have reduced thickness and subsequent quicker drying.

But I would go so far as to say that any bowl turned from a solid blank that has more or less stabilised at 12-15% during indoor storage will still move out of round by some degree within hours of turning it's just of no consequence.

Even furniture grade timber that has been kiln dried is not guarantied to be dry enough for closed segment work or tight fitting lidded boxes.

 

[bellringer]

Unless you are slabbing to 25-40mm thick to put in sticks and seal any endgrain cuts immediately you need to talk in years not months for slow drying.
Cherry I'm currently turning has been in store 4 years plus, and some Cherry still being sorted and stacked in store since 2006 is still at 18-20% moisture.

you see that odd i have some cherry it 3 inch thick and they are 6 inch round and they were cut 6 months ago and they are dry

Have you tested the very middle of the those 3" pieces with a moisture meter? I did this very thing yesterday with some oak that had been downed in the 1987 hurricane. So that's nigh on 30 years drying time!!

It was a 3" square that I trued up between centres. I then skewed off one end to true it and tested the freshly cut wood with a cheap aldi moisture meter (which works incredibly well by the way). It was at about 20% whereas the outside tested at 10%. I think one has to be careful about definitions of "dry". What that proves to me is wood kept outdoors will never really go under a certain threshold moisture content

they measured 20% which is fine i leave it in the shop a couple of day and then it fine