# boiling/steaming wood



## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

I've had a few inquire about how I stabillze some of my turned pieces so I thought I would show my setup for anyone interested.
I start ouy with a propane burner. In this case a turkey cooker. I then put the bottom of a 55 gal drum. I used to just use the drum to boil and steam but if any of the wood touches the metal it would prodce VERY deep staining imposible to remove. So now I use the barrel to boil water to prduce steam which is actually hotter than boiling water and penetrates better. I put about 5 gallons of water in the barrel which will boil for about 4 hours if I want
On the barrel I have a drum from a dryer. It is stainless steel so there is no rusting or staining if the wood is touching metal. The back is perferated which allows the steam to rise.I picked this up for $20 at an appliance repair shop. It is about 18in tall and 26in wide. Big enough to put several items in at a time,as long as there is room for steam to reach every surface.

[attachment=12649]

[attachment=12650]
inside of dryer drum

[attachment=12651]
I then cover with a galvanised garbage can lid to keep in the steam. Again no rusf or staining.
[attachment=12652]
If I have sometung tall like this 36 in high hollowforn I cover with a cheap plastic stock bucket.
[attachment=12653]

I boil for at least 1 hour on my finshed tunings and about 1 1/2 hours per inch thickness on my roughed out pieces. I have over a 90 percent sucess rate with this method.
Hope this is of some interest for at least a few of you.


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## DKMD (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks, Dean! That dryer liner is a great idea, and I like idea of steaming better than boiling. I'm sure you do this with madrone, but what other species have you had success with? Any varieties that didn't do well?

I'm thinking I should pay Kevin to send you a big old chunk of redbud... That stuff cracks like crazy!


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks Dean- pretty ingenious cooker you have there. Have you tried this on plum???


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## Kevin (Oct 26, 2012)

Dean thanks I have had success with boiling wood to a degree, but have never boiled rough or finished pieces. This gives me the confidence to know it works. 




DKMD said:


> I'm thinking I should pay Kevin to send you a big old chunk of redbud... That stuff cracks like crazy!



I did boil redbud pen blanks and posted about it here somewhere. It worked. Not a single crack in them - I still have them and they never moved a twitch after boiling. Wish I had triede some of the bigger pieces just never got around to it.


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## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

DKMD said:


> Thanks, Dean! That dryer liner is a great idea, and I like idea of steaming better than boiling. I'm sure you do this with madrone, but what other species have you had success with? Any varieties that didn't do well?
> 
> I'm thinking I should pay Kevin to send you a big old chunk of redbud... That stuff cracks like crazy!


Ive had good luck with olive,black locust,Yew,cascara,and probably a few more I cant remember now. The woods that have given me the most problem are a
the exotics like tulip,chatke cote,cocobolo,bacote. I think these woods dont have as much a moisture problem but various resins in the cells that do not resolve with boiling. maybe someone has a better method for them.
One thing I didnt mention is that the steam heat drives a lot of the moisture out of the wood and they dry in days to weeks rather than months.


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## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

Mike1950 said:


> Thanks Dean- pretty ingenious cooker you have there. Have you tried this on plum???


Works well with any fruitwood ive tried including plum filbert apricot,fig etc


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## Mike1950 (Oct 26, 2012)

dean jordan said:


> Mike1950 said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Dean- pretty ingenious cooker you have there. Have you tried this on plum???
> ...



Thanks Dean


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## firemedic (Oct 26, 2012)

This makes me wonder if I could throw pieces of crotch wood into the steam box (for bending) and steam them a couple hrs prior to slicing veneer... hmmmm


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## Twig Man (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks Dean for the pics Im going to give it a try


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## woodtickgreg (Oct 26, 2012)

Wow! What an awesome and useful post! Thank you very much for your time and effort!


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## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

Joe Rebuild said:


> Wish I could have done this to an entire Euc tree.


me to! I have boiled some after roughing out we shall see how it works


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## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

DKMD said:


> Thanks, Dean! That dryer liner is a great idea, and I like idea of steaming better than boiling. I'm sure you do this with madrone, but what other species have you had success with? Any varieties that didn't do well?
> 
> I'm thinking I should pay Kevin to send you a big old chunk of redbud... That stuff cracks like crazy!


I LOVE big chunks of wood


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## dean jordan (Oct 26, 2012)

One thing I didnt mention.If you pull a piece out of the hot steam the hot outside will dry much faster than the inside (of the wood not the form)so I ither let it cool overnight in the steamer or I dose it with cold water which will slow down the initial drying until everything is the same temp


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## healeydays (Nov 15, 2012)

Guys, 

This one came out of the blue today. Some one is closing out a convenience store and asked me if I knew anyone who could use a hot dog steamer. I know it's a bit strange, but do you guys think it might work for small projects?


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## kweinert (Nov 15, 2012)

healeydays said:


> Guys,
> 
> This one came out of the blue today. Some one is closing out a convenience store and asked me if I knew anyone who could use a hot dog steamer. I know it's a bit strange, but do you guys think it might work for small projects?



It'd be the right size for pen blanks! :rotflmao3:


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## healeydays (Nov 15, 2012)

Funny thing is they aren't as small as you think. The machine takes 7 quarts or water and if you take the wall inside down between where the dogs go and the buns go the dimensions are:
Width: 18 1/2" 
Depth: 14" 
Height: 16" 



kweinert said:


> healeydays said:
> 
> 
> > Guys,
> ...


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## woodtickgreg (Nov 15, 2012)

healeydays said:


> Guys,
> 
> This one came out of the blue today. Some one is closing out a convenience store and asked me if I knew anyone who could use a hot dog steamer. I know it's a bit strange, but do you guys think it might work for small projects?


I bet it would work, I don't see why not.


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## NYWoodturner (Nov 15, 2012)

How much does he want for it?


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## healeydays (Nov 15, 2012)

NYWoodturner said:


> How much does he want for it?



I can probably get it for under $100. Saw one on Craigslist in Maine for $50, avg around me seems to be $150


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## Mike1950 (Nov 16, 2012)

I think you should find out how hot they get?


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## healeydays (Nov 16, 2012)

According to stat sheet it is adjustable from 140° to 220°

My guess is if you crank it to the 220, the heater isn't gonna last for ever though...



Mike1950 said:


> I think you should find out how hot they get?


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## dean jordan (Nov 16, 2012)

healeydays said:


> According to stat sheet it is adjustable from 140° to 220°
> 
> My guess is if you crank it to the 220, the heater isn't gonna last for ever though...
> 
> ...


I dont think they get all that hot.i have taken hot dogs out to purchase without getting to warm. You would not want to do that in my steamer, you would burn yourself quite fast.You need a steady fast boil to keep up the heat.I dont have much experience with small pieces so someone woud have to figure out times for them.would you drill and then boil/steam?Sounds like an opportunity for a future post.


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## Molokai (Nov 25, 2012)

Thanks Dean for useful info and simple cooker-steamer design...
I will definitely go look for some more briar root and experiment with it..
I also have some freshly cut olive wood..


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