Denatured Alcohol questions

[Gunslinger]

I have ordered some denatured alcohol for drying rough turned bowls and would like your opinion.
How long should they stay in the dna (assume an 8 inch bowl 3/4 inch thick, wood medium density, not poplar and not rock maple).
After taking out of the dna, does the end grain need to be coated until drying is complete?
Do you get the same amount of warping or can it be rough turned thinner?
Thanks,
Mike Mills

 

[CrealBilly]

I have ordered some denatured alcohol for drying rough turned bowls and would like your opinion.
How long should they stay in the dna (assume an 8 inch bowl 3/4 inch thick, wood medium density, not poplar and not rock maple).
After taking out of the dna, does the end grain need to be coated until drying is complete?
Do you get the same amount of warping or can it be rough turned thinner?
Thanks,
Mike Mills

Hey Mike - cool last name

 

[DaveO]

A little info I found.

Dave

 

[Gunslinger]

Thanks for the link Dave. I had searched but did not find that site. It is great when someone runs test and keeps track of the results. Of course, just experience answers many questions so if anyone has additional comments I welcome them.

Oh, Jeff, back at ya...it has always served me well.

Mike Mills

 

[Mike Davis]

My answers in green.

I have ordered some denatured alcohol for drying rough turned bowls and would like your opinion.
How long should they stay in the dna (assume an 8 inch bowl 3/4 inch thick, wood medium density, not poplar and not rock maple).
I would leave it overnight.

After taking out of the dna, does the end grain need to be coated until drying is complete?
No, just wrap in brown paper leaving the inside of the bowl uncovered.

Do you get the same amount of warping or can it be rough turned thinner?
No, You could probably turn it thinner depending on the type of wood and how thin you want to finish.

Thanks,
Mike Mills

 

[CrealBilly]

Thanks for the link Dave. I had searched but did not find that site. It is great when someone runs test and keeps track of the results. Of course, just experience answers many questions so if anyone has additional comments I welcome them.

Oh, Jeff, back at ya...it has always served me well.

Mike Mills

It is a good lastname, isn't it?

 

[BobcatBob]

A little info I found.

Dave

I read all that and don't understand weighing a bottle of water, and then weighing the same bottle filled with DNA and then comming up with a number. What does any of that have to do with soaking a piece of wood in DNA? Another question: if the DNA replaces the water in the wood, does that mean that the DNA is always being diluted by the water removed from the wood? :icon_scra

 

[Mike Davis]

I read all that and don't understand weighing a bottle of water, and then weighing the same bottle filled with DNA and then comming up with a number. What does any of that have to do with soaking a piece of wood in DNA? Another question: if the DNA replaces the water in the wood, does that mean that the DNA is always being diluted by the water removed from the wood? :icon_scra

First question...

There is a difference in the weight of water and alcohol, if you know precisely what each one weighs and you know exactly how much you have then you can figure out how much of each one is in the bottle. Knowing how much water is in the alcohol is important because at a certain percentage of water in the alcohol it won't draw water out of the wood anymore so you would be wasting your time to soak the wood in your mixture.

Simple, eh? :rotflm:

Second question...

Yep!

See first question. :rotflm:

 

[Barbara Gill]

Dave Smith is the one who developed the denatured alcohol soaking method. It is a good idea to try and follow his guidelines as a fair amount of research has gone into developing the process. Try this link:
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_473.shtml