Turning oak?

[adzm124]

Hello, I have just felled an oak, 12 inch diameter, and am wondering if I can turn 'in the green'. I read the article on meths soaking - very interesting. Does this mean I can turn the green wood to a rough bowl shape then meths dry, or turn to higher standard then meths? I have recently bought a record lathe, but have not set it up.

 

[CHJ]

Hello, I have just felled an oak, 12 inch diameter, and am wondering if I can turn 'in the green'. I read the article on meths soaking - very interesting. Does this mean I can turn the green wood to a rough bowl shape then meths dry, or turn to higher standard then meths? I have recently bought a record lathe, but have not set it up.

Oak is one of the most difficult timbers to dry without "checking" according to the commercial dryers. (do a google for "Oak Drying")

I have never had the opportunity to try it myself from the green.

My experience to date with drying green wood is:

1. Reduce the logs to as near your preferred sizes as possible as soon as possible, by Slabbing or Splitting, See This Thread for sample pics
2. If not turning Green immediately leave 20% over length to allow for some cracking.
3. MOST IMPORTANT, Seal the ends with Wax or Gloss paint, Do not Wait even half a day. In emergency put wood in Plastic dustbin bags to keep moisture in.
4. If Turning Green, Turn to 3-4 times the expected finished thickness.
(it will distort considerably when drying)
5. For some of the more "Difficult Woods" I have found that Boiling in the rough turned state is more successful.

 

[NickWelford]

Good luck.
I haven't had the good fortune to get green oak to turn on my power lathe, but I have seen it turned on a pole lathe very successfully. If it was cleaved (cleft? cloven?) it doesn't have such a tendency to split.

Be aware that the oak sap will react with every exposed piece of ferrous material, so try and keep the spray from getting everywhere. If you are turning very fresh, then rest assured it will go all over the place. You will probably have a trail right across the workshop and over the ceiling. Make sure you clean up your tools well.

 

[adzm124]

Thanks for replies, I've not yet attempted any turning yet so am at the STEEP! learning curve. Should I rough out the shape on the lathe, then proceed to dry, or just dry it beforehand? I'd hate to make a collosal mistake on the first attempt piece. Do you always have to the dry the wood slightly or fully before turning?
I have a couple of books on the subject, they appear quite vague about it.
Apologies for daft questions!

 

[jasonB]

I've done a few bits of green oak without major incident.

Whenever I turn green wood which is quite often I always turn the finished thiskness to about 15% of the overall diameter. So for a bowl that is 12" dia I would leave the thickness at around 1 1/2".

I then dry the wood using the plastic bag method - Seal the rough turned iten in a large preferably clear plastic bag and bring it inside. After 24hrs you will see moisture has condensated on the inside of the bag, take the item out, turn the bag inside out and then reseal the turning inside, wait 24hrs and repeat. Keep this up for a couple of months until no more water appears on the bag, you can then leave the rough turning in the room to settle for a few more months then remount on the lathe and finish turn.

Almost all the items in this album were dried this way including the wood for the boxes. The first couple of pics show why you need to allow for shrinkage :wink:

Jason

 

[adzm124]

That's an interesting effect, must have taken ages!
Have you tried the meths drying method also?

 

[woodbloke]

jasonB wrote:

I then dry the wood using the plastic bag method - Seal the rough turned iten in a large preferably clear plastic bag and bring it inside. After 24hrs you will see moisture has condensated on the inside of the bag, take the item out, turn the bag inside out and then reseal the turning inside, wait 24hrs and repeat. Keep this up for a couple of months until no more water appears on the bag, you can then leave the rough turning in the room to settle for a few more months then remount on the lathe and finish turn.

I've never heard of that one before but it do make sense - will have to give a go next time I come across some green timber for turning - Rob

 

[treefella83]

with all my green timbers that are going to be bowls i just rough them out on the lathe and wrap them in about 20 sheets of news paper and leave for about 6 months.
after 6 months i unwrap them and leave for another month at least.
my method takes a long time but i have very good results.
with large logs i just split them down the middle where it has already started to split or check that way it reduces a lot of stress in the timber.
with fresh sawn logs or planks i use PVA glue on the end grain to slow down moisture loss.
good luck

 

[Anonymous]

(...) I then dry the wood using the plastic bag method - Seal the rough turned iten in a large preferably clear plastic bag and bring it inside. After 24hrs you will see moisture has condensated on the inside of the bag, take the item out, turn the bag inside out and then reseal the turning inside, wait 24hrs and repeat. Keep this up for a couple of months until no more water appears on the bag, Jason

It's a good idea to weigh the piece at the start of the process... when the weight is the same for a couple of weeks it's probably stable...

Just a note about Oak... even a 300 year old piece of dry Oak can 'move' once it is cut or turned... don't worry about it, you have to get lucky sometimes :wink: