This mornings haul.

[JustBen]

This is the collection I made this morning.

A gent who comes into the wife's pub asked if I would like some wood in exchange for turning a small bowl for his wife.

So this morning I went to collect some with the offer of collecting more anytime I like.

I'm not so good with naming woods but I've been told that there is..

Field Maple,
Mulberry,
Plum,
Yew
Elm.

Most of it looks useable and I love to colours of the plum.

So.....

What would be your suggestions on drying and storing it?

I would like to cut some into 2"x2"x8"ish for handles once dry
Some into roundish blanks for turning later,
Some would be rough turned now and left for drying.

In the past I've just wrapped them in brown paper once rough turned.

He did mention that another guy microwaves them?
Is that right?

I'm too tight to buy paraffin wax but have got a large tub of wax which I was going to dip the ends of the 2x2x8 into.

Bad idea?

All suggestions welcome.

I'm still quite a novice at this.

Thanks for looking

 

[Mark Hancock]

Nice selection there

They are in quite short lengths so you'll need to convert and/or use pretty soon.

I would suggest for your handles you slam the timber to roughly 2" thick but don't cut to length.

For bowl blanks I'd rough turn them now for finishing later. The halved logs may keep a while but the short length whole logs need converting. I wouldn't suggest cutting bowl blanks and leaving to dry. Even if you seal them I don't think it would be very successful.

End sealing can be done with anything that seals the end eg wax, old paint. Some even staple plastic over the end.

I'm not a fan of forced methods of drying like microwaving so I'll let others comment on that.

 

[JustBen]

I was hoping to use some of the plum for handles although I hear it's not ideal. It's very pretty though.

They are all between 8" - 10" long and about 8" wide.
I asked for smaller pieces because my lathe is only small.

Would you suggest wrapping the rough turnings in brown paper or would they be ok untouched.
Cold workshop or warm house cupboard for drying?
I usually weigh each piece and wait until its stops losing weight before final turning, is that ok?

I think next time I will see if I can get some long lengths of the plum and slab them.
Would make a beautiful box.
I'm slightly in love with the colours of the plum.
Sad, I know.

 

[procell]

I am no expert but would suggest sawing a bit more off the halved logs to remove the pith. This it the cause of most of the splitting as the heartwood shrinks around it. The Plum does look nice but like most Fruit wood is very prone to splitting.

I am sure there are plenty of far more knowledgeable people in here who will give you the correct advice.

 

[Mark Hancock]

I was hoping to use some of the plum for handles although I hear it's not ideal. It's very pretty though.

They are all between 8" - 10" long and about 8" wide.
I asked for smaller pieces because my lathe is only small.

Would you suggest wrapping the rough turnings in brown paper or would they be ok untouched.
Cold workshop or warm house cupboard for drying?
I usually weigh each piece and wait until its stops losing weight before final turning, is that ok?

I think next time I will see if I can get some long lengths of the plum and slab them.
Would make a beautiful box.
I'm slightly in love with the colours of the plum.
Sad, I know.

Always try and get timber in lengths as long as possible i.e. what you can manage to manhandle. The timber will keep better in long lengths and just cut off what you need when you need it.

Definitely the cold workshop. Putting it straight into a warm house will be too much of a shock for the timber and it will crack. When rough turning bowls I don't bother wrapping or sealing them but I do place them in a room what has is a pretty stable environment humidity and temperature wise. Just remember timber does not like changes to it's environment particularly dramatic changes.

 

[CHJ]

.....Would you suggest wrapping the rough turnings in brown paper or would they be ok untouched.
....

I invariably partially wrap mine, but then it just might be that my drying location suits treating it such.

there are some notes on the subject in the sticky links at the top of the forum

Drying green wood is a bit of a mystical art, national location, storage method and shop/shed location/heating/air-movement etc. etc. differ for everyone and I think it's a case of try it and see what happens.

If you have the luxury try differing cuts and methods in different locations, see which gives you the least wasted wood.
And I'm afraid that when you think you have cracked it, the seasons weather will be different or the wood species will behave totally differently to the last one you handled.

Main thing is to do it as slowly as possible and have patience.
But if it'd Beech then check it regularly as it will readily spalt and you need to catch it before it goes too far.

 

[renderer01]

Hello Benjimano,
Yep nice batch of wood, plum is superbly coloured but of all the fruit wood I have used it has proved the most treacherous and I have followed numerous tips and methodology to stop same that work with other woods a treat. If you succeed in drying it to a usable state please let me know how you did it.

Rend

 

[CHJ]

Rend, next time try wrapping some in cling film and forgetting about it for an extra year or so.
Cornucopia (George Watkins) uses cling film quite often I believe.

 

[Teepeg]

Definitely remove the Pith, it will certainly split with this on ...

 

[JustBen]

2 bowls have been rough turned with pith removed.
Now wrapped and drying.

A couple of fruit logs have been quartered into 1" slabs, ends waxed and stickered/stacked.
Will see what they end up like.
Could make an nice little box kif all goes well.

I've not got round to the rest yet but they have been sat in a log yard for a while and are still soaking so think they will hold out for a few more days.

 

[renderer01]

Hello All.
Thanks CHJ, will try this if I come across more plum or cherry.

Rend.

 

[russ1980]

Lovely haul of wood there