Question for the group.

I turn green wood to finished dimensions in one pass - goblets, if from a wood prone to warping/cracking get boiled for an hour when I'm done

It's your choice. If you turn a piece long grain before it's dry, it'll at minimum oval a bit, if you run into some weird grain it might even give you a crooked-stemmed goblet. Before I got smart and started elevating the damp goblet bottoms I used to get perhaps 50% splits down there, but now I'm not too concerned, wood being abundant and time at the lathe always a pleasure.

If you want to dry things out, get the heart out of the log, even rough turn cylinders to throw on the shelf to dry. Wax the ends to prevent checking and get back to them when you can. As long as you don't abuse them with too-rapid drying, like open heated air in winter, they do fine.

Question/clarification, George.. By elevating the goblet bottoms, do you mean dishing them out like on a glass goblet?

If so, I found the same thing, by accident, of course.. I also thin the base more than I used to, after a couple cracked and I had to re-attach part of the base..

mac

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That, and elevating on stickers to keep the base losing moisture from the downside as rapidly as from the up.

Both make sense, if you think about it. Curving in to the center allows the edge to contract without splitting, and even drying keeps that check from forming up top and growing to a split.

Damn, I never thought about the end grain! I've been sitting them on a shelf to dry, on their base of course.. Even worse, the shelf is Formica.. DUH

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing