My neighbour finally dug the apple stump out of the ground. This is about 2ft in diameter and weighs about 160 lb. I've heard several ways to dry out the burled wood without cracking, but I've never tried one before.
Has anyone ever done a dry out on a stump burl without it cracking?
Should get some nice turnings out of this thing.
P--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---
Remove any parts that are obviously useless, if you can envision what you want to make, go ahead and cut the stump up in pieces and coat the cuts with wax or cheap latex paint, place pieces where they won't dry too quickly.
As an alternative, you can rough out your turnings and then dry them, but it has to be done before much drying occurs, then seal the end grain and put in a paper bag until dry.
If you cut the stump up in to thick sections it may take a couple of years to dry, much less for roughed out turnings, plan on a year per inch of thickness.
Don't give up on a piece that has cracked, sometimes cracks will close up on their own as drying progresses.
Fruit woods are notorious for splitting, cracking and warping. Keeping your fingers crossed works well too.
basilisk
Bigger it is, harder it is to dry - so a basic principle is to reduce it in size ASAP. If there are obvious turning blanks, then cut it down to them while it's green.
If you can rough turn to reduce thickness, even better. This encourages the strains to warp and twist it, rather than splitting. Rough turning a thick-walled bowl is a good idea, but you don't even need a lathe at this point - For big blanks I usually use an Arbortech carving disk as part of my initial balancing, and I can simply leave them like that for initial drying.
If you want an easier life turning of course, then rough turn it green right now, just because the wood is easier to turn in this condition.
Shape scraps into usable blanks too. Apple wood is useful in small pieces, so if it's big enough to chuck in the lathe, it's big enough to make something from. If it's not big enough to chuck, buy yourself a pair of ring centres 8-)
Then coat it with your favoured end grain sealer. A wax emulsion (turning suppliers) is best. Emulsion (latex?) paint is OK, if it's what you have. Hot wax isn't any use (unless you're dipping pen blanks). It should then be stored in an unheated, undried shed, but not _too_ damp. If it's in the workshop, put the blanks in taped paper bags too. Don't use polythene bags, or you'll get mould.
Don't wet-turn any thinner than an inch thick as yet, as the warping is likely to be enough that otherwise you'll not have enough timber left to flatten it afterwards. Unless of course you're after deliberate warping as a feature.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.