A couple of weeks ago my sons cut a cherry tree with a nice burl. They saved the burl for me. I was planning to wait until fall to cut it, but my impatience got the best of me and today I cut it. The wood is absolutely beautiful. I cut the appropriate size blanks and will Anchorseal the ends and store.

I decided to turn one of the blanks out of curiosity , even though it is green wood. During the turning process, and especially while sanding the wood heated up considerably. In fact, when the shaping was finished the insert seemed dry. I applied CA glue and have buffed it using 3 different wheels. It looks great. I plan to set it aside for a long time, but will label as " turned green".

I am wondering if anyone has turned green wood and what your experience has been. What do you think might be the long term effect.

I don't plan to make a habit out of turning wood that is not dry---I was just surprised with the results on this piece.

Herb

I think it's going to split / seperate . If you could control the dry time it might not split, but I think it will change shape.

Dave von Doehren
PRRODS......If man built it , man can fix it.and if man built it man can break it !

I agree with David. I had a nice piece of Cherry used in the butt and tip ends of a grip that I hurried (seeking instant gratification :) ). It looked great coming of the lathe and mounted on the blank. It later split. I think it was because of being used, getting wet, drying, etc. I learned to keep with my longer-term approach that is similiar to the one you described.

I am not an expert but......I know people who have turned bowls (decorative) out of green burl. The trick is to seal the wood which will maintain the current moisture level. I suppose it would matter how wet it is also......if you have a local lumber mill with a kiln they will have a conductuctivity meter which will measure the moisture content.

It is fairly common to rough turn green wood. Then let it dry and re-turn to finished specs. It is also possible to turn it to finished size and just live with the warps that occur during drying. One woodworker developed an art form of very thin bowls turned green, dried in a microwave, and then soaked in epoxy and sealed. The good ones warped, but did not crack.

It is necessary not to let it dry out too fast. Surface checking can happen in a matter of hours in a dry room. Put it in a brown paper bag or a plastic bag. Put in some of the green chips to provide a little moisture. Take it out everyonce in a while to look at it and put it back in. If it molds, it was too wet. If it cracks, it was too dry. You just have to guess it right. I have turned locust and osage orange that way and ended up with piecies with no checking.

For a really difficult figured or burl wood it probably lessens the chance of it checking if you use the rough out and dry slow method. If you can keep the surface from drying so fast it checks. Everything about drying wood is more difficult with large piecies than small, so roughing it out can save a lot of time and defects.

Some people even turn green, then dry the rough blank in a microwave. One way to go that is to put it in a plastic bag, leave the bag open, and microwave gently. You want to heat it internally and drive a little water out, but to keep the surface from drying out too rapidly.

I have turned many bowls starting with green wood, oak, cherry, and apple. I usually turn about 50% of the way to the completed object, then store the partially finished object in a paper bag with most of the shavings for about three, four months. The shavings in the paper bag helps to control the drying and checking. After drying, rechuck the object and turn it to the finished dimensions. You will be surprised at how much the wood will move as it dries.

Trying to sand wet wood is about impossible. Once you are ready to sand the finished turning, it is helpful to sand, reverse the lathe, sand again in the opposite direction, lightly wet the wood, and repeat the sanding procedure. You might also try using an orbital disk sander.

Hope this helps.

rhr