Mico wave drying of wood

Microwave at low power. Have the bowl in a towel. There will be sap and waters coming out. Old towel or shop one.

The wood is as plastic when hot. Go slow and look for light steam.

It is hard to say in wattage - I think ours was a 600Watt tank that died after 30+ years. So 2-300 watt would be safe.

If only drying - cook some and if you see much steam - stop and allow to cool - work slow - it can split - it can change shape.

I did bows when 2or 3 x thick in the rims - mostly roughed out.

I also did it with finished bowls and when really hot - slowly squeezed them and bound them in non-circular shapes. Sand before!!

Mart> Hi,

Hi Randy,

When I cut green wood I seal it with Anchor Seal, but almost anything will do paint, wax, varnish. Then when I am ready to turn the piece I rough the item ou and soak it in denatured alchol. The alchol replaces the water in the wood; then when you remove it it evaporates much faster with out the cracking. I soak the wood for aprox 1 week for 1 inch of thickness ... you can soak longer without problems. Then remove the item drain it and wrap it in brown paper bag and let it sit for a couple of weeks.