Back to hoarding.....

As Spring finally arrives, just finished roughing in bowls, ready for some dry time

pic of lathe, bowls half turned and homemade kiln

 

Those are beautiful!! How do you keep them from cracking when they are drying?

 

I’ve often wondered, turning goes better wet, then is it hopes that it won’t crack? I’ve never had anything crack/split but I’ve also always used pieces of salvaged firewood.
Some great coloration.

 

Looks.like you could make lots of fire starters with all those chips/shavings! Can you please ellaborate on your homemade kiln?

 

I turn them green but leave an inch thick or walls, then end grain seal them. I weigh and label each piece and then when they stop losing weight and i verify 10-15% moisture I would final turn

so all these were from stuff I cut green, and can’t say for sure none of them will crack. I have yet to final turn anything I dried myself, I have final turned a couple I bought to get started

 

Yes, wet for first turn and then final turn when dry

 

The kiln is and old fridge. I cut two air holes in bottom side and then two in top. Regulated with small round covers. It is heated with a 100 watt light bulb

thermostat controls to shut off light at 90degrees and then Back on at 75. Air is supposed to naturally flow via convection

I am testing it now. Supposedly you can dry a once turned blank in a month, compared to six months or more of packing one in its own shavings and keeping in a paper bag

I just followed a YouTube video

heck, I took one class on turning at woodcraft, and watched a lot of you tube. Still know very little of what I’m doing but figuring it out as I go and thankful to have many options for pieces to work with

 

Those are really nice Greg! What species? Nice FHC engineering with the fridge kiln. Just dont accidently put a beer in there...coffee okay, beer not so good!
I had a guy stop and ask for a couple pieces of pin oak i was cutting a couple weeks ago. Turns out he is a turner like you and is looking for logs...he came to the right person. Lives a few houses down from where i process most of my wood so convenient. He was turning a bowl for me too. Gave him a chunk of honey locust, cherry and a black locust burl.

 

Why? Maybe a person of German heritage would enjoy a nice warm beer!
Digging the kiln Greg , and the woodworking!

 

Not familiar with German customs? Do they normally drink it warm?

 

Yes and no...they don't like it ice cold like here...more like ~50* instead of the 35-37* preferred by Americans...

 

It depends on what style beer. Typical lagers are served chilled, but not ice cold so that you can't taste them (as in the USA) I hear in the U.K. where ale is king, they like to bring it to a low boil before they partake

 

I drink a few but don’t when I’m around the lathe and bandsaw, figured best not to have any help not knowing what I’m doing

 

I spent some winter hours turning. Hickory knot from the firewood pile with some red epoxy. Great work by the way

 

Wow, that tricked my eyes and mind at first.... Before I read the post, I thought it was a wooden platter with a well charred steak that you ate the middle out of!

 

By far the best thing I have ever made. Epoxy pulls out the color and textures for sure!

 

Did you coat the outer (regular "colored" wood) with anything? And that piece looks odd shaped, how did you make it?

 

Skim of epoxy on it, and tung oil. Turned part of the interior, band saw shaped the rest with a ton of sanding. If I turned the entire piece, I would have wiped out a lot of the unique aspects as it is oval in shape. I have another one of these drying out in the garage, unturned

 

That is cool! Nice work WNW!