Freeze Drying....

[Sonny Edmonds]

..it works for other stuff. Why not wood?
Anybody ever tried it? Anybody here work where it could be tried?
I understand how it works, fast or flash freeze, then vacuum the moisture away.
Why not with green wood turnings?

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[dicklaxt1]

http://wowjoke.com/gif/white/1332.gif Yo no se, Jose

[bwuest]

Sonny,
My concern with the flash freeze method would be controlling moisture content. The freezing would almost totally dehydrate the wood leaving it too dry. This may or may not be true but worth considering.
Bryan
Go to http://home.twcny.rr.com/bwuest11/woodworking.htm
for my wood projects page.
Go to http://home.twcny.rr.com/bwuest11/index.htm to check out my other hobby's web site.

[volleyheads]

It works, pretty well actually. The problem is it is pretty slow, complicated and expensive to run. (also known as there are easier ways)

Best Regards,

Bill

"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[Sonny Edmonds]

Bill,
OK so what's the rest of the story?
Am I a booger to be left hanging? :)

"Also know as there are easier ways."
Well.... spit it out. :P

I have a freezer in the shop. I have access to vacuum pumps. And the welder could make me a vessel for the freezer.
Run a small tube out to the vacuum pump and let her pull till it holds a deep vacuum.
Or would that be a totally Vern idea?

Got any pointers for seasoning a green turning? Or drying chunks for turning without taking years to accomplish?

Inquiring pea brains want to know. :7

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !

[volleyheads]

Dear Booger,

Sorry, someone came in and I forgot to add that little section to the story, but the mental picture of that with Sonny's face on it actually made it a little worthwhile. LOL LOL :)

Sonny, for use of the vacuum pump, I would look into attaching it to the lathe as a vacuum chuck, great thing to have and one I am working on getting set up for my lathe as we speak.

Seasoning wood (Bill's way)(not original, just how I do it)

The current experiment that I am working on is comparing 3 methods and seeing how it goes for me. The last 2 are more work, but have reportedly yielded better quality and higher percent successfully dried pieces.

1 rough turn and then put in a paper bag with shavings to let dry slowly for a period of time (months) according to the thickness of the rough turned item

2 rough turn and then place into a solution of 1 part dish soap to 5-6 parts water. Let sit in solution for 3 days or more, then remove and let drip dry for 3-4 days and return to final form (If something comes up and it dries for more time, just put it back in and re-start the process

3 rough turn (could seal with anchorseal etc or leave raw) and then place in a freezer or refrigerator (modified) These blanks will then dry in a period of 3-4 weeks or so (size dependent) and then return and you are good to go

The modifications to the freezer or fridge are to turn it basically into a kiln

Take freezer or fridge that does not work (box of some type)
drill several holes (1/2" or so) into the bottom and several more into the top. Wire in a porcelain light socket and put in a 40 watt bulb. Place pieces inside and close door. The light will function as a heat source and the lower holes as in-vents and the upper as exit vents. The number of vents and the wattage of the bulb will affect the temperature of the drier. You want about 100-120 F degrees and the slow flow will dry the pieces. The shelves are handy way to sort the parts and small pieces can be dried in the door too. It is basically a low temp kiln. It takes the air drying method and increases the rate by a factor of about 10-12 while decreasing the amount of racking by having a semi-controlled atmosphere. You can control the temp and the flow by how many holes are there or by closing the holes off or increasing/decreasing the wattage of the bulb.

I will let everyone know the results as soon as I have them, but others use all the above methods, so they are tried and proven to work. It is all just personal preference.

Best Regards,

Bill
"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[DustyBob]

I've been using the microwave to dry my bowls. It's pretty fast and real easy. Check this link for one of the methods: [http://members.tripod.com/~mgorrow/microwave.html]

[volleyheads]

Microwave is not a good thing to use if you plan on using the microwave for food. Also, it limits the size of the turnings (they need to fit inside). The other problem is that a microwave is made to heat food and it therefore is designed to keep the moisture inside. The energy needed to heat and dry using a microwave is (IMHO) too much for wood/turning drying. It is also a PITA to have to keep going over and over through the cycles. It also raises the possibility of heat related cracking of the piece due to uneven or excessive heating. Besides that I really like the method for drying thin turnings that you wish to warp.

Best Regards,

Bill

"If it is worth doing, it's worth overdoing"

[dicklaxt1]

http://wowjoke.com/gif/white/1332.gif What % loss are you experiencing when turning green wood and then microwave drying,are you finishing completly prior to drying or what etc etc etc I would get a bad case of the Red A$$ if I styarted losing pieces from splitting, a little warpage i think would be unique...........

[Sonny Edmonds]

I read through the info on the primary and additional links.
It sounds worth a try....
I personally have yet to get anything that hasn't cracked. Some started out cracked, and the green turnings are cracking. It doesn't bother me yet as I am greener than the wood I'm spinning at this, so I expect failures.
BUT, I am leaning pretty hard in the direction of laminating stock I know is dry into forms and spinning that. And of that, I belive I would use the cycroacrilic (sp) (Super) glue types of glues to assemble them. Less moisture added, I figure.
I would seek out more advanced turners, but they are all 26 miles in different directions from my home. (Palmdale or Glendale)
And beings as I'm not only an A'hole, but a lazy A'hole as well, I'm not inclined to attend to group stuff, especially at distances and traffic.
I am more inclined to bug everybody here. That I can do from home and sometimes from work as well.
Basically, waiting months or years for a piece of wood to dry, then opening a brown bag to find a cracked chunk anyway would tend to pith me off.
But one of these days I will rig up a dryer of sorts. Lots of idea's, particularly solor. Lord knows there's plenty of sun here.

Freeze drying was one of those brain farts I come up with. Something I thought might have been tried.

Microwaving sounds good, though an arduious process. I would be inclined to automate it should I ever try it out. And it sounds like it might become expensive to run do to the energy it would take in the long process.

I do have a small gutted microwave oven, I tore the defunct wave guts out of for the turntable, thinking it would be usefull for finishing as a mini spray booth for very small projects.
Possibly running that with just it's fan drawing air through as the turntable rotates could affect some drying simply by the nature of the air movement around the piece.
Setting it in a sunny spot could use the natural cycles of night and day to season a piece, as it turns and turns with the small fan drawing air through.

So anyway, it appears several idea's, links and options have cropped up of this all.
Two others come to mind, the cyclone separator barrel with it's wind and sawdust/chips. Usually pretty dang dry in there.
And the Bar-B-Que setting on the patio idle. Brown bag a chunk or rough turned piece, set it in there with the vents open and let the sun/night cycles suck it dry.

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/
God Bless America !