Woodturning Walnut Bowl – Turn Green, Dry Rough then Finish Woodturn Walnul Bowl
Some time ago, I obtained some walnut from a builder who had cleared some land for homes. I promptly sawed the wood into manageable chunks and sawed each piece into halves through the pith. I coated each cut surface with a wax emulsion. I turned much of the wood soon thereafter, recoated each piece with the wax and placed each into a paper bag on a shelf in my shop.
Then work demands peaked and I could not get back to the finish turning. Now several years later, I pulled it from its paper sack. It was a dry as it was going to ever be. And it was so beautiful even as a rough turning. The wax highlighted the walnut grain. I felt an urgency to finish it and see how it would really turn out.
Remounting it in my jaw chuck was easy and it had not warped too much. Afraid of a catch ruining the beautiful wood, I proceeded to finish shape the bowl both interior and the outer portion of the exterior. Even without finish, the grain showed great figure.
With finish on the interior and some of the exterior, I removed it from the jaw chuck, flipped it over, and mounted the bowl on a vacuum chuck.
Finally, the base was sanded and finished. I have a beautiful walnut bowl. It was worth the wait to start with the green trunk, let it season, and wind up with such a beauty. Nice!
Register at the right & I’ll let you know with the next one is ready.
Woodturning Apricot Bowl – Green Wood to Finished Bowl via Microwave Drying
Woodturning green wood is fun. But it is hard to have patience after rough turning a beautiful bowl while the wood dries. Here, I rough turn green apricot then dry the rough turning in a microwave oven. Finish turning was just a few hours later. All finished within 1 day.
My plan was:
- Rough turn the apricot blank leaving the bowl walls thick.
- Coat the rough turning with wax emulsion (Not sure this did any good)
- Place wood in zip lock plastic bag.
- Weigh rough bowl
- Microwave at 20% power for 2 minutes & let cool from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. (depending on what I was doing to keep busy)
- Dry any condensed moisture from plastic bag.
- Repeat #3 through #6 until weight stabilizes. Weight declined from 323 grams to about 170 grams.
- Finish turn bowl.
- Apply walnut oil finish.
- Continue seasoning by placing finished wood bowl in closed paper bag for 2-3 weeks.
- Reapply walnut oil or wax.
After the microwave drying there were a lot of end grain checks on the bowl. Some of the center pith had also separated somewhat.
Before finish turning, I applied CA glue to all risk points.
When finishing the bottom of the bowl, the long grain wood still felt very slightly damp after removing several layers.
After finish turning no end grain checks were visible. Some of the center pitch stilled showed some separating. However, stabilized by the CA glue, the grain adds wonderful character to the bowl.
Woodturning Apricot Bowl From Green Wood
For this woodturning project, I’m having some fun with a piece of green apricot from a neighbor’s tree. No midnight wood harvesting, he asked for help and I was only too happy to salvage the wood. Now I have a small pile of apricot for a lot of woodturning projects – some large and many small.
It’s your turn. Be safe and Have Fun
Initial Weight 1710 Grams
+21 days 1609 grams 5% change
+50 Days 1506 grams 12% change
My Apple Wood Cup
This is the season to prune fruit trees.
I had to cut off a medium sized limb because of rot at the top in an old crotch. As I cut it off, I thought I might use it for a woodturning project, a small goblet.
The pith had rotted out for nearly a foot of the two foot length. But I thought it worth a try. Maybe even for a natural edge.
I cut out a section, mounted it and started turning it between centers. Turned a tenon and mounted it in a jaw chuck.
It was hard to ride the bevel. Did some shaping and hollowing.
Bad news! The rot actually extended completely through the piece. An old piece of bark had peeled off also.
Oh well. I turned off the natural edge bark and it looked a little better.
So, I painted it with wax emulsion and well see if it is worth finishing in a few months.
We’ll see.
Weight – Waxed but kept unwrapped in heated area.
+13 Days 8.6 oz
+34 Days 7.2 oz 16% change
+63 Days 6.5 oz 24% change
Walnut Wood Bowl Woodturning
Having some creative fun with this piece of salvaged walnut. The wood came from a tree in Texas where I lived some years ago. The tree blew down in a storm. I and others salvaged the walnut wood to do some woodturning and make some nice wooden bowls.
Please comment on the bowl and/or any techniques. Since I’m not a professional, I will appreciate any and all tips and suggestions. Just don’t call me names. 🙂
It’s your turn. Be safe and Have Fun