Drying wood with microwave?

[Hugh]

I let mine cool completely before nuking it again. The idea of the paper sounds great, it would absorb the moisture. Mine sometimes stains when nuking. So I'll give the paper a try next time. Also, I've put wood in the microwave to make sure there are no living insects in the wood. Got the idea if there were, that should be the end of infestation?????

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by Hugh

I let mine cool completely before nuking it again. The idea of the paper sounds great, it would absorb the moisture. Mine sometimes stains when nuking. So I'll give the paper a try next time. Also, I've put wood in the microwave to make sure there are no living insects in the wood. Got the idea if there were, that should be the end of infestation?????

And....Lunch! lolMobster

[papasar]

Never tried wood but I did dry basil with a very scary result. Dried small batches and watched over it with no problem. Tried a bigger batch and stepped outside to talk to the mailman. Went back in to find 3 rooms with heavy smoke from the ceiling down 3 feet. Scared the heck out of me. The fire was contained in the oven. Never tried the "quick" method again.
Don't know about wood but seems to me you gotta keep an eye on it.
Bill K.

[Bradk]

I have dried spoons and small bowls in the microwave with good success. I have tried it both plain and with wrapping them in paper and placing it in a bag. My feeling is that wrapping and placing it in a plastic bag adds nothing except to illustrate that moisture is being removed. Here is my technique.

I place the spoon/bowl directly in the microwave and microwave on high for about a minute. The exact time depends upon the mass of the object, less time for small items and more for larger. I use the temperature of the object as my guide. It should not get so hot as to be uncomfortable to handle. In any case, I never go over 90 seconds. That's it for the day! The next day I repeat the process and so on for about a week. You can usually tell by feel when it is dry but if you have a small scale (I use a postage scale) you can weigh it. When you get 2 or more days with the same reading it is dry.

I believe it is necessary to wait at least a day between microwaving in order to allow the wood to relax to it's new moisture content. When you remove moisture from the wood you create stresses it the wood and if they become severe, the wood will split or crack. This is especially true if the wood is highly figured. Waiting a day between microwaving has worked for me, but if I would ever have checking (cracks/splits) I would reduce the microwaving time and lengthening the time between heatings to every other day.

[sebastiaan56]

Ive had good success with microwave drying. My only comments to add would be to use low power perhaps the defrost setting. Go slowly, and let it rest between bouts of drying. If there are unreleased tensions in your timber they will come out whether you microwave or air dry. Thinner sections are easier to dry. Ive turned bowls to 1/2 inch and then microwave dried them before finishing. I havent been brave enough to try thinner sections. 1 inch sections crack.

I must add that this is using Australian hardwoods, I expect northern hemisphere timber to behave differently.

[Willie Werning]

Great info folks! ...I was just recently told I could also quickly do the same in a kitchen oven. 200 degrees over night. Has anyone had any experience with this? How big a piece can this be done too? What else or how can this be done safely? I have about a dozen 10" diameter by 36" plus long aromatic cedar logs I can't wait to start carving on. I'm entertaining the thought to trim these pieces down to the sizes I plan to work with and start drying a few pieces with the above mentioned method. Good Idea? Bad idea? Tell me what I need to know! Please!!!

Willie Werning, Dayton, Ohio, 12-20-2009

[Dicky]

I have done it and would take Rick's advice to heart. I still have a scorched piece of sugar maple and feel that the sugars in the wood may have been a factor. I switched to Aspen, took it a little slower and it worked great. BTW the scorched Maple is bone dry. The other advice is don't get caught.