# Mesquite??



## Old_Chipper (Mar 30, 2009)

Just about finished building my lathe. I haven't did any turning for over 40yrs. Have a big Mesquite tree that needs to come down. Will have lots of good turning stock! 
I need your advice, do I cut it now and dry the wood or wait and turn it green. 
Should I seal the ends to stop the splits? What about the bark, do I remove it before drying? or turning?
Thanks


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

Old_Chipper said:


> Just about finished building my lathe. I haven't did any turning for over 40yrs. Have a big Mesquite tree that needs to come down. Will have lots of good turning stock!
> I need your advice, do I cut it now and dry the wood or wait and turn it green.
> Should I seal the ends to stop the splits? What about the bark, do I remove it before drying? or turning?
> Thanks


Harry:

There's something called Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) that you soak green wood in and then let it dry. It's supposed to dry check free and quite quickly. It dissolves resins in wood leaving the structure of the wood pristine. Well, that's the rumour anyway.

Turning Green Wood

I found this article looking for supporting information on PEG and this popped up. Give it a read, it might help.


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## BernieW (Sep 12, 2006)

If it were me Harry I would wait and cut the tree when you get your lathe finished. When cut I would cut it in lengths I could handle and seal the ends with anchorseal or green wood seal. When ready to split the log make sure you cut the pith out of it. The center pith is where cracks start. I remove the bark during turning. That slows the drying process down. PEG is some awful expensive stuff to dry wood with IMHO. I use Denatured Alcohol to dry mine. I have excellent luck with it and haven't lost a bowl yet that had cracked beyond use.

Here is a good article on using it.

http://alcoholsoaking.blogspot.com/


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