boiling wood
Howard Klepper
can be stabilized by boiling (for a long time) and it then
will not warp or crack. One person told me this works with
madrone burl, which is pretty amazing if you have ever seen
how a madrone burl rips itself apart while drying. Can
anyone inform about how to use this process, and why it
works?
Fred Holder
Boiling and steaming both seem to work according to the various reports that
I've read, personally, I don't do much work with wet woods, but I read most of
the reports. One fellow is using a pressure cooker to stabilize his wood. I
think the process is to boil for a couple of hours or steam for several hours,
then set on the shelf to dry for a few weeks. I think that most of this is done
of rough turned pieces. Reports say that it works on madrone. Have you tried
checking DejaNews.com for postings on boiling, steaming, and pressure cooking
wood with rec.crafts.woodturning selected as the newsgroup? There has been a lot
written on this subject.
Fred Holder
<http://www.skagit.com/woodturning>
In article <3620CDE3...@mindspring.com>, Howard says...
Typeset
this. He indicates his Madrone Burl and Walnut Burl stays pretty
stable when drying, provided he's boiled it.
My recollection is that this works because the act of boiling releases
"bound water" from wood cells much faster. Breaks it free. When
drying occurs you don't get the same kind of cell collapse that causes
cracking.
That's the theory as I understand it. Borek claims there is a
dramatic increase in successful/clean drying of blanks.
Michael Latcha
>
> I have heard from a couple of people lately that green wood
> can be stabilized by boiling (for a long time) and it then
> will not warp or crack. One person told me this works with
> madrone burl, which is pretty amazing if you have ever seen
> how a madrone burl rips itself apart while drying. Can
> anyone inform about how to use this process, and why it
> works?
From what I understand, boiling ruptures the cell walls, allowing the
water inside to quickly evacuate when removed from the boiling water,
but leaves the lignin cell structure intact. Boiling for a long time
would be necessary to achieve a significant depth to this effect.
Haven't done it, so I can't comment on how well it works...
Mike Latcha
Tom Albers
Jon Schilling
I have personal experience with boiling and my next door neighbor turning
buddy has
experience with using the pressure cooker....
I have boiled rough turned Madrone....usually about 2 hours, then I let it
cool
and then remove from water and place it on my shelves to dry....my drying
room
is not heated, and I do not coat the outside with anchor seal, as I do with
almost
all other rough turnings....I have never had one crack, and the warping is
hardly
perceptable.....Ditto with the pressurecooking....He does 3 rough turned
bowls
at a time, allows them to cool and then treats them the same as I do......
I THINK I should try this for Cherry, Prune and apple.....
I have not noticed any unusual characteristics for finishing these cooked
bowls...
Turning, sanding and applying finish were like the others...
Jon
Michael Latcha wrote in message <36221C...@oeonline.com>...
>Howard Klepper wrote:
>>
>> I have heard from a couple of people lately that green wood
>> can be stabilized by boiling (for a long time) and it then
>> will not warp or crack. One person told me this works with
Mike Orr
How long does he pressure cook for....
Jon Schilling
I can't vouch for the necessity of his time, but he cooked them for 3
hours.....
Jon
Mike Orr wrote in message <7055fr$11d$1...@frasier.island.net>...
Dee Smith
What effects did the boiling have on surface coloration and down to the
level of returning. I would think that it would fade the colors and/or
make the whole piece the same color. I know that walnut sapwood is
stained to the same color as heartwood by using steam.
Dee
--
Dee Smith
PIT, Packaging and Integration Testing
IBM Austin, Tx
Jon Schilling
But, upon final turning the new surface is fresh, full of color and still
finishes well.
Actually, I never finished any Madrone that had not been boiled after rough
turning....
I've seen some green turned items, very thin, and the color and texture of
the
finished surface looks like my boiled ones...
Jon
Dee Smith wrote in message <362663F7...@austin.ibm.com>...
>Jon,
>
>What effects did the boiling have on surface coloration and down to the
>level of returning. I would think that it would fade the colors and/or
>make the whole piece the same color. I know that walnut sapwood is
>stained to the same color as heartwood by using steam.
>
>Dee
JLORCH
I recently began a controlled experiment with boiling beech (prone to warpage
and cracking) and ash (quite friendly to drying).
I boiled four rough blanks of each species in various diameters for 1 hour in a
galvanized washtub on a charcoal grill. Then placed them on a shelf in my
dehumidified shop along side two (unboiled) blanks of each species.
I check all the blanks each day with a pin type moisture meter. Before
boiling, the moisture content of all the pieces pegged my meter in excess of
25%. 24 hours after boiling the boiled blanks of both species was around was
around 22% (+ -1%)and the unboiled ones were still at +25%. 36 hours after
boiling, the beech registered 16% and the ash was 18%, the unboiled pieces were
still >25%. Once I get the blanks down to around 10 to 12% I'll post my
results in a more organized format.
Gael Montgomery from new Zealand uses this technique regularly. She cooks her
pieces in a old fashion wash boiler for 1 hour and remounts them in 10 days.
I am pleased to hear Jon's experience with the color fading being only on the
surface. The colorful beech came out of my tub a sickly gray with all the
vibrant rose sapwood figure gone. The water was sure pretty though.
============================
- John Lorch -
Timber Treasures
Connecticut, USA
Dee Smith
This is a very interesting experiment you are doing! Please do keep
us informed of the results. I was thinking that maybe you could use
the boil water as a dye after you have finish turned the beech bowls.
Kind of put back what was there in the beginning!
Dee
--
Jon Schilling
As Dee asks in the next post,
please keep us informed......
I'm not much good in those kinds of details,
yet, they really tell the story...
Well done!
Jon
JLORCH wrote in message <19981016161210...@ngol05.aol.com>...
>
>I recently began a controlled experiment with boiling beech (prone to
warpage
>and cracking) and ash (quite friendly to drying).
<snip>
ERich10983
>I recently began a controlled experiment with boiling beech (prone to warpage
>and cracking) and ash (quite friendly to drying).
Great test procedure. Any chance you could, in addition to the resistance
test, add a scale to weigh the pieces as well. Easier to track, and not
affected by differences in wood types. Good work.
Earle Rich
Mont Vernon, NH