trevtheturner
Established Member
Last evening, suffering from severe lathe withdrawal symptoms, I dived into the workshop and lifted a nice piece of olive wood from the shelf where it had been sitting for about four years. Just right for a bit of therapy, I thought.
Mounted onto the lathe, the waxed rim of the blank was removed. Thinks, this feels a bit wet - although it looked fine when I started. Out with the moisture meter - both faces show 9% - fine so far.Then :shock: the end grain on the rim is showing between 17% and 22%!
Think a bit more. Do I:
a. re-seal it and stick it back on the shelf for a few more years?
b. stick it back on the shelf as it is for a while and hope it doesn't split?
c. turn it to roughly 1" thick and leave it to dry? Perhaps even incurring domestic wrath by using the microwave (I have read about this, see)?
d. just turn it and see what happens, accepting the distortion that may occur, even if it doesn't split?
Impatience getting the better of me I settled for d. Even before I had finished turning the outside I was amazed to see a film of rust, as a result of the moisture in the shavings, forming on the lathe bed!
Anyway, here is the finished bowl, 120mm diameter x 70mm high, turned to a thickness of 3mm, with just one coat of oil so far. Will it stay like this or do horrible things? Time will tell. The pen beside it (purely for scale, of course :wink: ) was turned from an offcut of zebrano.
Cleaning the iron & steel that was within range of the shavings probably took longer than the turning itself. :roll: Decided I'm not keen on wet turning!
Cheers,
Trev.
Mounted onto the lathe, the waxed rim of the blank was removed. Thinks, this feels a bit wet - although it looked fine when I started. Out with the moisture meter - both faces show 9% - fine so far.Then :shock: the end grain on the rim is showing between 17% and 22%!
Think a bit more. Do I:
a. re-seal it and stick it back on the shelf for a few more years?
b. stick it back on the shelf as it is for a while and hope it doesn't split?
c. turn it to roughly 1" thick and leave it to dry? Perhaps even incurring domestic wrath by using the microwave (I have read about this, see)?
d. just turn it and see what happens, accepting the distortion that may occur, even if it doesn't split?
Impatience getting the better of me I settled for d. Even before I had finished turning the outside I was amazed to see a film of rust, as a result of the moisture in the shavings, forming on the lathe bed!
Anyway, here is the finished bowl, 120mm diameter x 70mm high, turned to a thickness of 3mm, with just one coat of oil so far. Will it stay like this or do horrible things? Time will tell. The pen beside it (purely for scale, of course :wink: ) was turned from an offcut of zebrano.

Cleaning the iron & steel that was within range of the shavings probably took longer than the turning itself. :roll: Decided I'm not keen on wet turning!
Cheers,
Trev.