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indian george

indian george

Joined
Feb 15, 1999
Messages
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Blade Jan. 2004 page 122. It is Dan Michaelis he live in Middleboro Ma. works two days a week here in New Bedford Ma. 1 1/2 miles from my house. Seen Dan Gray in a resturant in Maine where he goes hunting. New Member of NECKA
 
yeahup he's studying under JD Smith right now a
good maker to learn from too..

I got some cherry burl coming,, the newest guy I'm teaching
is a tree climber/remover type and has a Cherry burl that is over a foot
across.:D I'll cut it up thin, pressure in hot water for a time and
then let it dry , it'll dry faster that way then stabilize it.:D
 
Have you guys tried PEG to stabilize your wood? A lot of bowl turners use it to keep their bowls from checking after turning them thin (from green wood).

Rob
 
dan could you possibly go over your drying process with me? i'm always up for a good way to speed things up without screwing things up
 
sure
I'm not sure how it will work on Burl but I'm going to try it.
it's the basic way you kiln dry wood with steam
I'm going to soak it in hot water ,,,
hmmmmm maybe a little of it in water in the microwave??
the water replaces the
sap in it and then the water dries faster than the sap will.

you may have seen on TV the logs they dig out of the water
here and there that's been there for years they
get some big bucks for it.
it does something to the wood and is beautiful for furniture
and Music instruments even make a better tone I'm told..

I have a place up by the my oil furnace that I dry such things
you can get a moisture meter to check it's progress.
then I'll stabilize as norm..
 
I used to turn lots of bowls. LOTS of bowls! When I turned a green bowl blank, I kept it to about 1" in thickness, coat the end grains with preservative wax, and put it in a paper bag. Then it sits on a shelf for a year at LEAST.

In my humble opinion, its best not to rush the drying of a burl or any other wood for that matter. Checking and cracking can pop at any time during the drying process as it is, let alone inducing any artificial means. I tried the PEG thing. It makes the wood a little funny, IMO. Nothing better than naturally dried wood, and the grain seems to be nicer. Maybe my perception? Seems to me, that in making handle materials for knives, the wood would take maybe 6 months or so to dry fully.

The general rule have always been: One year drying time per inch of thickness. If you take a burl and slab it up, it'll dry to a usuable moisture content in only a few months, especially if its kept in a dry house... like under the bed! Don't laugh. I did this. Made a hell of a mold under there and really ticked off the Missus! Now I dry on thos purty white vinyl-covered shelves you get at Home Depot.
 
speaking of burls...george how did them cherry burls end up turning out?Any pictures of em?
 
Jeff
I'm thinking of these being cut up at about 3/8" for slabs

the place I have by the my oil furnace keeps them at
a range of 85 deg to room temp cycling as the Burner is needed
with a lot of air moving around them
my shop is heated through out the winter, in my den
where the furnace is I don't
believe it gets below 70 deg. the cow bone I get
is fresh and it don't take long for it to get bone dry :)
but I know what you mean by to fast..
 
Dan, I'm hoping to meet you next Saturday along with the rest of the NECKA crew.

Do you dye your cowbone after its all dried out? Do you jig it at all?
 
Jeff
I haven't died any
but if I did I'd do it after drying
then dry it again then stabilize it with the die also
once it's almost to finished size.

I don't jig I really don't care for the looks of it myself...
I have used some But still
it depends on what the Boss wants,, he's paying..

hope to see you the 15th I'll be there if the weather permits.
 
so can i slab the burl before i dry it? or if not could i atleast maybe make it into blocks before i dry it? I'm just worried about maybe some warpage in the wood, but i've never worked with anything besides deasoned wood to keep the house warm
 
sure cut it up
a big burl would take forever to dry other wise
and still may have some possible problems at that time..

just cut them big enough to allow for some warpage
if you use blocks and know your going to use them for
hidden tangs, I'd even drill the center hole
it will dry faster and more evenly.
 
QUOTE]hope to see you the 15th I'll be there if the weather permits.[/QUOTE]
Dan: We are having it unless we have a blizzard.
Jay; They came out cool I'l have to take a pic
 
Originally posted by indian george
QUOTE]hope to see you the 15th I'll be there if the weather permits.
Click to expand...

Dan: We are having it unless we have a blizzard.
Jay; They came out cool I'l have to take a pic [/QUOTE]

? :confused: got your finger in the wrong place didn't you...
:D

IG you live there anyway:confused:
a blizzard shouldn't bother you,
just keep the forges fired up you won't
have any snow to worry about there..
the smithy gets red hot too
I can't believe
you haven't burned the roof off from it yet..:D

cheater you edited it :grumpy: :D
 
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