# Best way to dry blanks



## bcoyne (Jan 5, 2009)

Just received some very nice, but still somewhat wet blanks. Tried the microwave at 1 min intervals, waited until the blank was cool and re-cooked. Bbut developed some cracks. Any idea's how to reduce the moisture and still turn them this week? Will soaking in alcohol work?

Thanks


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## Randy_ (Jan 6, 2009)

What kind of wood??
 
Search the forum for instructions on microwave drying.  As I remember, you need a slower; but longer process......like several cycles of 50% or less for more minutes. I don't remember the details.
 
It might help to drill the blanks so they can outgas from two directions.  With shrinkage, you may have to redrill the holes after the blanks are dry.
 
Good luck!!


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## NewLondon88 (Jan 6, 2009)

I haven't done it, but recently I have read (in here) about soaking the
blanks in denatured alcohol. The alcohol will bond with the water in the wood
and carry it away as it evaporates. I'm sure that if you do a search on
alcohol and drying you can find it.

I *don't *recommend combining this with the microwave method.


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## GregHaugen (Jan 6, 2009)

I'm a "woodturner" that is interested in becoming a pen turner.  I've used about every method available.  I've used DNA (Denatured alcohol) to dry bowls, vessels and boxes.  I recently stopped that method since there are still several variables, how much have you used the alcohol will matter, how green the wood is, what species, etc.  It will still take time for it to dry.  I switched to a "hobby kiln".  It's a freezer or fridge that has the usual mechanics gutted, that has holes drilled in the top and bottom along with a 60 watt bulb.  The Bulb heats the air, draws in through the bottom-heat rises, and out through the top.  The constant airflow dries the wood to 6% to 8%.  With increasing the wattage of the bulb, starting low and ending higher I can dry a sopping wet roughed bowl of 1" thick walls to about 7% in less than a month.  For pen blanks I'd stack the sticks alternatively so air can pass around them and through the stacks.  I'd also put endgrain sealer, anchorseal, on the end grain to help with checking.  A moisture meter is also nice to have.

A food "dehydrator" for eithr fruit or making beef jerky would work as well as long as you can control the "power" of the machine.  

These are two good options along with the microwave.  I've just learned alot of times the DNA adds another "variable" to the process.  The simplier you can keep it the easier it will be.


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## Druid (Jan 6, 2009)

Please help me out here, maybe I've just been very lucky.  I have baked blanks at a very low temperature in a toaster oven and can't recall experiencing cracks.  Of course, there are certain types of wood I would not do that with.  Is this a bad habit/process?  If so, I don't want to press my luck and need to change the process.

I also know folks who use a vacum technique to remove moisture.  The idea of soaking blanks in denatured alcohol intriques me.

Of course some of this is mute if your storage area temperature changes 20 degrees up/down or visa versa and/or measures 33% or greater humidity.  This does not apply to stabilized wood.

Cheers


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## Druid (Jan 6, 2009)

Almost forgot.... found this on AAW & it should be useful.

This site has some nice plans/ideas for building turning kilns from scratch, using plywood, blue foam, light bulbs and computer fans.
http://www.woodturningonline.com/Tur...es.html#drying

Here is a link to an article on how she uses an old freezer as a kiln http://www.cindydrozda.com/demo ha...ying box.htm

Hope this helps, I'm thinking of building one myself.


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## Jim Smith (Jan 6, 2009)

Having faced that same problem, I am trying a somewhat different yet similar approach.  I purchased (but I'm still awaiting delivery) of a Vacuum Oven off of ebay.  I was able to get it for a very reasonable price of around $26 so I thought I'd give it a try.  It allows me to heat from very low temperatures up to 250 degrees while drawing a vacuum.  I will play around with it when it arrives and let you know how it works out.  Most of the real vacuum ovens on ebay are rather expensive as they are used in medical labs, but if you look around and stealth bid at the very last second you can get lucky and pick one up for cheap.  Now I just have to find out if I boght a white elephant or a neat new tool for the shop.

Jim Smith


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## Dario (Jan 6, 2009)

bcoyne said:


> Just received some very nice, but still somewhat wet blanks. Tried the microwave at 1 min intervals, waited until the blank was cool and re-cooked. Bbut developed some cracks. Any idea's how to reduce the moisture and still turn them this week? Will soaking in alcohol work?
> 
> Thanks



Your time is too long.  Time depends on how many blanks you are "nuking".  For just a few blanks...I do it for 10-20 seconds...just to make them warm (not hot).

Microwave drying is the fastest I know.  

For even faster drying;
cut the blank, 
pre-drill the hole with smaller diameter bit.  How small depends on the wood shrinkage and warpage.
microwave
re-drill

Good luck!!!


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## Druid (Jan 6, 2009)

Thought some of you might find this helpful and interesting.

Here is a photo for a homemade kiln.  This wase made from a salvaged fridge from the dump (freon removed) and uses two 60 watt bulbs.  The freezer has holes in the sides at top and bottom, and a couple of 60 watt bulbs inside at the bottom. Convective airflow is the key, and no fan is necessary. The bulbs heat the air, the hot air rises, and air is drawn in through the holes in the bottom and flows out through the holes in the top. The relationship between the number of holes (airflow volume) and size/number of light bulbs (watts of heat) can be adjusted to give a temperature inside the kiln of about 85 degrees F. This "kiln" dries wood in about 1/3 of the time that it would take out in the shop at the same air temp because of the dry-air-flow.


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## Don Farr (Jan 6, 2009)

I have had very good success with the alcohol drying process on bowls. Never tried it on pen blanks but I would think it would work very well considering the smaller size of the pen blanks.


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## John Eberly (Jan 6, 2009)

*Drying Blanks*

Denatured alcohol does work - I've used it for bowls and pen blanks.  For a pen blank, you will still need to wait from 3 days to a more than a week depending on how wet the wood is and how fresh the alcohol is.

I use a lot of figured/burled beechwood.  It shrinks and cracks in several dimensions, but the random figuring hides filling well.  You'd have to be more careful with a more evenly patterned grain.

I like to let a fresh cut blank sit for about a month.  I have put pre-drilled and rough turned blanks in the oven for 4 or 5 hours at 170 degrees F, the lowest temp setting on my oven.  They dried out well with some cracking, but turned and finished fine, stayed stable.


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## Nolan (Jan 6, 2009)

Time


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## GouletPens (Jan 6, 2009)

Here's another vote for the microwave. Cut to lenght, predrill, nuke at a very low setting (for me, 2 out of 10) for 2.5-3 minutes at a time. Use a digital scale to weigh the wood before and in between each nuking. When the wood stops "losing" weight, it's dry enough to turn. But even still, I try to use stabilized woods as much as humanly possible.


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## dgscott (Jan 6, 2009)

I bought some waxed pink ivory blanks a while ago and put them in a food dehydrator for about two days -- the wax melted off and they dried nicely in about two days without warping or cracking. The same can't be said for some burl I put in the dehydrator -- there was some warpage, but not enough to make them unusable.


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## StatProf (Jan 6, 2009)

*What he said*

I like what JFeagans said, only get a little mini fridge and put a computer fan in there with the light bulb (Fry's $5.00). Link the light bulb to a thermostat (the mini fridge can get hot). If you need a free one, just go on to a college campus at the end of the semester and hang out near a dumpster! I could get hundreds this way.

StatProf


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## Mack C. (Jan 6, 2009)

JFeagans said:


> Thought some of you might find this helpful and interesting.
> 
> Here is a photo for a homemade kiln. This wase made from a salvaged fridge from the dump (freon removed) and
> 
> ...


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## NewLondon88 (Jan 6, 2009)

mackc said:


> Don't the lights go off when you shut the door!:smile-big:



THERE IS NO PROOF OF THAT!




I still say the light stays on.. and the world is flat.


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## wdcav1952 (Jan 6, 2009)

Don Farr said:


> I have had very good success with the alcohol drying process on bowls. Never tried it on pen blanks but I would think it would work very well considering the smaller size of the pen blanks.



I do something similar that works for me.  I drink alcohol while waiting for the pen blanks to dry. 
:drink::hypnotized:


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## massman (Jan 7, 2009)

I purchased a jerky machine at Walmart about 18 months ago and use it to dry the wet blanks that I get from a particular supplier in W. Virginia. I have made over 100 pens after drying them in the Jerky machine with no problems. I usually put them in their at med temp for 12 hours, gives a nice aroma to the shop as well. The machine can hold up to 20 blanks at one time. Cost was around $30.00 the salesman at Woodcraft gave me the idea.


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## GouletPens (Jan 7, 2009)

massman said:


> I purchased a jerky machine at Walmart about 18 months ago and use it to dry the wet blanks that I get from a particular supplier in W. Virginia. I have made over 100 pens after drying them in the Jerky machine with no problems. I usually put them in their at med temp for 12 hours, gives a nice aroma to the shop as well. The machine can hold up to 20 blanks at one time. Cost was around $30.00 the salesman at Woodcraft gave me the idea.


 Do you cut/drill the blanks first, or just throw in 5" long blanks as they are?


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## rjwolfe3 (Jan 7, 2009)

Do you have a picture of that?


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