I have been having fun (if you can call it that) working out the bugs of my vacuum kiln. the last problem was getting even heat on the inside. this post shows my failure and my fix in a couple of messages.
might be risking the structure of the wood. I remember reading a dismissal of cryogenics once that said the body would never survive a complete freeze. Because water expands when frozen, water that is inside the cells would expand and rupture the cell walls, killing all of the cells.
Not that you have to worry about killing the wood, and you certianly aren't planning on reviving anything later (hehe) you might consider the damage freezing water might do to the cellular structure of the wood. I'm sure it probably depends on the existing moisture content. If it's high enough, you might find the wood becoming brittle and, well, crumbly.
This is ALL theory. Just wanted to bring the idea to the table, so to speak....
btw, what a sweet sweet load of ebony there! I can't wait to see the planes that come out of that batch.
david
One of the tricks turners use for drying green woods is to freeze - apparently it works as well as some of the other methods like microwaving and boiling. I've not done it, so can't comment on the failure rate or proceedure - just wanted to make note that this isn't untried, untested.
I regularly use wood which has been frozen - outside on my woodpile - and I have to say it's gonna take more than a few ice crystals to break through cellulose. Lipids are another matter.
Is there a difference between frozen and never frozen? If there is, it's so subtle I cannot detect it. As to turners, they claim to be using quiescent freeze-drying, in the belief it is worth the trouble over simply letting things alone. I disagree. Many, if not all of the methods touted in rec.crafts.woodturning work, IMHO, more from the placebo effect than science.
Many animals and insects have been frozen and thawed successfully. Even houseflys. The larger animals were quick frozen whereas smaller animals can freeze slow like in nature. I don't know what pre-op treatment the larger animals where given.
John
yep, my wife pointed out the cellulose difference too when I mentioned it to her. I rest my case. But I can imagine how much that much ebony would have cost Steve, and boy if it had been ruined....
david
On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 00:18:25 -0500, D K Woods <
I think it would be way too much of a hassle for me to freeze it. Plus just the money it would take.
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