In our corner of the country, fall is well underway: the leaves are dropping, pumpkins abound, and harvest festivals seem to be celebrated every weekend. For the woodturner, fall could mean several things; it’s a time to take stock of the woodshop and prepare it for winter and cooler temperatures. It’s also a time to slow down and think about gifts to turn for the upcoming holiday season (more on that in the coming months!)
One other thing woodturners might consider in the fall is turning greenwood projects. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced woodturner, greenwood projects can add some pizazz to your woodturning repertoire and challenge your current woodturning techniques. Read on for information about where to find greenwood, how to turn it, and the kinds of projects you could make with it.
The term “greenwood” refers to freshly cut wood that has not been dried or seasoned. Some woodturners use greenwood exclusively, while others prefer dry or seasoned wood. Greenwood has a higher moisture content than dry or seasoned wood, which means that it responds differently to turning on a lathe.
There are several upsides to turning greenwood. First, because of the high moisture content, it is softer and often easier to turn. This can be especially useful for beginning woodturners, as tools will not need as much sharpening and pieces can be finished more quickly.
If you know where to look, greenwood can also be locally found for low or even no cost, affording beginners a stockpile of blanks to practice on.
However, because greenwood is not dried before you begin turning, it is more prone to cracking and/or splitting as it dries. This drying process can be devastating if a woodturner created a piece like a bowl or platter that becomes unusable because of a large crack or a warp that makes the piece uneven.
In spite of that, greenwood is often prized by experienced woodturners who want to turn wood artistically. Because the greenwood often warps or changes shape as it dries, a woodturner can lean into the asymmetrical aesthetic and create truly one-of-a-kind pieces.
As we mentioned, one of the benefits of using greenwood is that it can be a very cheap or free source of wood, if you know where to look. Here are few of the best places to keep in mind, especially in the fall; city cleanups are underway, and many people are performing yard maintenance, which might include tree or branch removal.
Tree services are a wonderful source of free greenwood because they work with greenwood all day, every day! Most tree services have to pay a fee per cubic foot of tree they dispose of, so they are often happy to give wood away and cut down on their own costs. Contacting a tree service can be as simple as stopping to talk with them next time you see someone removing trees or branches in your area, or you can look up local tree services and call them to ask if they have policies about the disposal of their wood.
A city tree service is another entity that deals with greenwood and the removal of trees. Like private tree services, they also need to pay to dispose of their limbs or trunks they remove, so they may be willing to give you a cut of their wood. Stop and talk with the city employees engaged in the tree removal or call your local Forestry department to see if you could help them dispose of their felled greenwood.
Chasing storms while the storms are going on is dangerous and should only be done by professionals. However, following the news and following up on localized storms might yield some free wood. Obviously, if the damage is devastating, don’t go around knocking on doors (that may or may not be attached to houses), asking for free wood.
However, if the storm was not overly damaging and instead left people with some very annoying clean-up, you might just be able to show up and save the day with a place for that downed tree to go. Even better if you can offer a helping hand and show up with a saw to help hack the offending limbs into pieces and bundle them into your waiting car.
Another often overlooked forum for greenwood availability is online, using sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. People make posts advertising free firewood or even free wood blanks if they’ve had interest from woodworkers in the past. Sometimes these contacts might turn into personal pipelines if you find someone willing to contact you directly when they remove a tree or limb from their property.
Obviously, make sure that whenever you are contacting someone, whether a private or public business or individual, you are respectful of the fact that the tree in question is their property. Don’t remove trees or limbs from an area without the express permission of the tree service or property owner.
The tools necessary for turning greenwood don’t actually differ that much from the tools used to turn dry or seasoned wood. Having a bowl gouge with good edge retention is going to be your best and most-used tool when turning greenwood, especially if you are turning bowls!
Roughing gouges and other cutting tools are useful as well, depending on the piece you are making and whether you are spindle turning or bowl turning. See our previous post for a discussion of the different kinds of tools woodturners often use.
One tool that you might need when turning greenwood that is not as necessary when turning dry or seasoned wood is a chainsaw or handsaw for rough shaping logs. It is helpful to cut large blanks into smaller ones, so they fit well on your lathe without too much excess. Too much excess will mean that you have to use your cutting tools on large sections of the wood, dulling them in the roughing out process before you even get to turning your piece.
Before you begin turning greenwood, make sure that you have the necessary safety equipment. A face shield and eye protection should be worn whenever you are turning, but especially when turning greenwood. Wet wood can be more slippery and messy, which could lead to potential injuries.
In addition to the tools you’ll need for turning greenwood in the fall, you’ll also want to consider the setup of your shop. Think about how you will control the moisture of the wood, how you will approach clean-up, and how you will store projects that need to be turned a second time.
When working with wet wood, you will need to find a way to control the moisture in your shop, especially as you prepare for winter. If you have not already, invest in a humidifier that can help keep the humidity in the shop at 35% RH, which will help prevent drying and cracking. (If the humidity in your shop goes above 35% RH, a dehumidifier might be a better choice for your shop to help prevent mold growth.)
Another consideration when turning greenwood is the mess it makes. While greenwood produces less dust because of its moisture content, it does produce more shavings. Wet shavings can be difficult to work around, so plan to stop and clean your workstations and floors more often than normal.
There are two ways to turn greenwood projects: once-turned or twice-turned. Once-turned projects refer to the process of turning a project into its final form while the wood is still green, then allowing it to dry. Many people apply oil or finish during the drying process to help prevent warping and cracking in a once-turned project.
Twice-turned projects are ones that are roughly finished, allowed to dry, and then re-mounted to the lathe to turn the bowl, platter, or spindle to its final thickness. This process can also help avoid cracking and warping in the final products, as any cracks or uneven places can be sanded or cut off when the piece is on the lathe a second time.
Whether you decide to once-turn or twice-turn your greenwood, you will need to have space to store your greenwood projects while they dry. Plan ahead and make sure you have some shelves, benches, or storage cabinets to place your pieces, making sure the pieces will receive sufficient airflow.
We’ve mentioned several times now that greenwood is more prone to cracking and warping as it dries, so you might be wondering: how can I prevent damage to my finished pieces during the drying process? Is it really worth using greenwood? Here are a few ways to dry your greenwood projects that can help stabilize them so that they don’t crack and warp.
One way to dry your greenwood pieces is inside a brown paper bag. The goal of this method is to allow the piece to dry in a controlled environment where moisture will be slightly retained as it evaporates from the wood, which prevents the surface from drying out faster than the rest of the wood.
To use this method, simply place your bowl or other project inside a brown paper bag and tape it shut. After a few weeks, you can remove the project and let it continue to air-dry for weeks or months. Most of the moisture will be gone after the first few weeks, reducing the likelihood of cracking.
You can also use cardboard boxes or wrap your project in brown paper if you don’t have any paper bags available. Many woodturners also say that Tyvek works well for this purpose.
Another way to dry greenwood projects is using denatured alcohol (DNA). Soaking pieces in denatured alcohol will allow the alcohol to displace the water in the cells of the wood. Since alcohol evaporates faster than water, the project will dry more quickly.
Leave the piece in the denatured alcohol for at least 24 hours and then place it in a bag or wrap it in paper for a couple of weeks. Once the piece no longer smells like alcohol, it’s dry!
Perhaps the fastest and most reliable way to dry greenwood projects is in a kiln if you have access to one. Because a kiln is like a large oven, the heat encourages the water in the wood to evaporate at an even pace across the piece.
Microwaving your greenwood projects might sound odd, but the idea is the same as a kiln. Microwave your smaller projects on high for 20-30 seconds and then wait for 30 minutes for the project to cool completely. Then pop it back in for another 20-30 seconds.
You will need to repeat this several times until the moisture has all evaporated. You can tell when it is finished by weighing it in between each drying session. If the weight doesn’t change after three or so drying sessions, you can assume the piece is dry.
If you are using wood that is particularly prone to cracking, it might be a good idea to seal the ends before using any of the above methods to dry the piece. This is especially helpful for twice-turned projects.
Use a product like Anchorseal and liberally paint the end grain of a rough-turned project with the sealer. Most of the moisture is lost through the end grain and not the side-grain, and it is this uneven moisture loss that can result in cracking.
Once the bowl is dry, you can turn it again to its final shape and size, hopefully without any cracks or structural issues.
Some other tips include storing your greenwood projects out of heat or direct sunlight and managing the moisture in the air where your projects are drying using a humidifier or dehumidifier.
Remember that you can always air-dry greenwood and see what happens, especially if you are looking to create natural-edge bowls or other pieces that are purposefully asymmetrical or artistic.
So now that you know what greenwood is, where to find it, how to turn it, and how to dry it, your final question might be: just what should I turn? Here are three ideas for things to start on this season:
The first recommendation is, of course, to turn natural edge bowls. You can also try your hand at other natural-edge or artistic projects, even if you haven’t done so in the past, allowing them to warp into unique shapes as they dry. When your blanks are free, it is often easier to experiment without the guilt of wasting wood.
You might also lay in a supply of rough-turned blanks to finish turning this winter. It can be hard to find wood, especially greenwood, during the winter months, so take advantage of any windfalls you come across and rough-turn a stockpile of wood blanks that you can finish at your leisure this winter when things get slow.
Spoons and utensils, or other small objects, are also good things to use greenwood for, as these smaller projects don’t require as much drying time, and may not even need to be dried fully in order to use them. Because they don’t have a flat surface, you are less likely to notice any warping, as well.
Whatever you decide to turn, your greenwood projects will lead to new experiences for you and are sure to delight anyone you give them to!
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