3/21/2005 03:21:00 PM|||Badger|||

Last month my Mother dropped a very nice present in my driveway. A load of trimmings from a pear tree. The branches were 2" - 4" in diameter, about 2 feet long and freshly cut! I've been telling her about this wood turning hobby, and showing her some of the pieces I've made (she keeps trying to take them home for some reason), and she's now scouting for wood for me. Fortunately for me she lives out in a rural area that is a heavy apple orchard community. I've already raided her firewood pile a few times for some good chunks of applewood, and she's going to look for some of the freshly cut stuff for me.

The first thing I made with the new pearwood load, was this hammer/mallet. The handle is about 12" long, and the head is fairly slender. It was mostly an experiment in how the green pearwood feels under the chisel, and how it seasons. The wood is wonderful to work, and it made some really nice long curls of shavings as I cut into it. This mallet was made from a single branch (it had an "L" shape to it, so I cut the head out of the thicker short arm, and the handle out of the thinner long arm. I just did it freehand, with no planning or thinking and thus I sort of messed up in the top of the handle. It really wants a shoulder of some kind to butt up against the mallet head which I didn't make, but I'm not really worried about since this was an experiment. I'm planning on making a couple of these and sending them back to my mother as thank you gifts to the people who give me to work with.

Because of the screw up on the handle, and the head not being super secure I decided to experiment a little with some quick drying techniques I'd heard about. I popped the mallet into the microwave, and hit it for one minute wrapped in a paper towel. The effect was profound, the water in the wood boiled out, and soaked the towel. The wood was hot to the touch, and noticably drier to the touch once it cooled down. There was no cracking, warping, or discoloration really.

After it had cooled down a little, I decided to try it again, and put it back in for one minute. This time the wood was again drier after it cooled, but the handle cracked a little near the head, and there was a small crack in the end grain of the mallet head. I think if I did it again (say if I were in a hurry), I'd probably hit for 30-45 seconds once only, and then let the drying take place a little more naturally, over time. I think that would speed up the process a little, without too much risk of damage.

-- Badger

|||111144841228986466|||Hammer Time...