# Turning Green Madrone!



## oregonburls (Mar 25, 2013)

If you don't have any experience with Madrone you should read this post.
Madrone is a very self destructive wood. It shrinks 18%. Wow. That's a lot of movement. Green Madrone does not have a shelf life without cracking unless you submerge it in water, boil it or pressure cook it. You will not get away with just anchor seal. You will be disappointed every time.

Tip # 1: I love the warping and shrinkage of the Madrone. If you can get spindles of green straight grain, you can turn some nice handles and what ever you put in them be it a knife or a gouge when that handle dries it is lock in for years of use.

With green burl turning I love it because you never know what you are going to end up with. Madrone is so far the funniest wood I have turned. First of all it smells wonderful. Either you are going to get cotton candy or water melon smell and long ribbons of wood.

If you turn a vessel out of madrone you would want to turn it as thin as possible, less than 1/4” or I like 1/8 thick. You can turn madrone very thin.
[attachment=21405]
After you turn your project just wet sand it to 1500 -2000 grit and let it go. I will be dry in about 2 weeks and if you get it down to 1/8” walls, it will move like crazy and it is finished.
[attachment=21406]

Have fun!:teethlaugh:

Tip #2

If you have fruit tree burls or burls like madrone there are two ways you can semi-stabilize the burl.
1. Pressure cook the block:
a. I have a friend in New York who gets 12×12 x 6 blocks of Madrone and when he gets them the first thing he does is throws them in the pressure cooker for one hour.
b. Let the water cool down until you can comfortably take the blocks out with your hands. Then re-wax them until ready to turn the block.
c. Rough turn and watch it. You may have to pressure cook it again.
2. When you get your block
a. Rough turn the block to about 1 ½-1” walls.
b. Then for every 1” you boil for one hour.
c. Set it on a shelf and wait for it do dry.
d. It may move a bit but you can turn it out and finish

Pressure cooking retains more of the natural color of the wood.
Boiling takes it out and blends the color.

The cool thing is that either way you get a dye that you can soak your T-shirts in and dye them. LOL!

There are times where this will not work. If the burl does not want to be tamed it won’t. So another process is to turn it to about 1/8” walls, wet sand to finish and let it go. Madrone will twist and distort. This is my favorite way.

Tip #3

More clarification on pressure cooking the burls:

Pressure cookers (Canning Pressure Cookers) are set at 15 psi. Please make sure that if you use a pressure cooker that it is modern, meaning that you have the rubber plug that will pop off if you get too much pressure. So you have the weight that regulates the pressure and the rubber plug.
[attachment=21407]
Also, you do not want the burl to be sitting on the bottom. The pressure cooker will come with a bottom grate or riser. This is what I use to keep the burl off the bottom.
[attachment=21408]
You do not want the burl to rest in the water but rather steam the block. This is what helps to stabilize the burl and keep the color.

So in my 36 quart pressure cooker I will put about 4” of water in the bottom. Yes it is hard to avoid some of it getting in the water.

Either way waxed or fresh you just place the block in the cooker. I would imagine that if you use the wax blocks you would not be able to dye T-Shirts but never tried it.

Cautions: Don’t let the pot run out of water and make sure the safety button is in place correctly.

The first time I did this I was a bit apprehensive because I had never dealt with pressure cooker. But now it is old hat.

Enjoy! And if you have any more questions just let me know and I will do my best to answer you.

Greg Dahl


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## barry richardson (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks for the info! Sounds like a lot of work though.... Unless you just turn it thin and let it go, which is probably the path I would take.


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## oregonburls (Mar 25, 2013)

It is a lot of work but I think it is worth it. Madrone is beautiful. I know there are other pretty woods but Madrone smells like Cotton Candy or Water melon. Great air freshener. :rotflmao3:


barry richardson said:


> Thanks for the info! Sounds like a lot of work though.... Unless you just turn it thin and let it go, which is probably the path I would take.


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## Steelart99 (Mar 25, 2013)

So I have a large and small cap coming from you and I know that the small cap has been pressure cooked. What can I do to/for the large cap if I can not get to turning it right away? Would boiling it help? Leaving it to soak in water until I can get to it? Any other options?
Thanks
Dan


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## oregonburls (Mar 25, 2013)

Hi Dan, It depends on what you would like to do with the large cap. If you would like to turn it thin and let it go. I would just soak it in water and bleach to keep the bacteria from growing. That will keep it until you need to turn it. If you want it to hold shape... I would boil it and seal it. or you can keep it in water until you are ready to boil or pressure cook it. 
Hope this helps. let me know if you have any other questions.
thanks
Greg


Steelart99 said:


> So I have a large and small cap coming from you and I know that the small cap has been pressure cooked. What can I do to/for the large cap if I can not get to turning it right away? Would boiling it help? Leaving it to soak in water until I can get to it? Any other options?
> Thanks
> Dan


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## Mike1950 (Mar 25, 2013)

Steelart99 said:


> So I have a large and small cap coming from you and I know that the small cap has been pressure cooked. What can I do to/for the large cap if I can not get to turning it right away? Would boiling it help? Leaving it to soak in water until I can get to it? Any other options?
> Thanks
> Dan



Not to interrupt your great thread but Dan if you look under Dean Jordan- He is also from Oregon and he uses a similar method for large pieces. thanks Greg for the lesson in steaming.


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## Steelart99 (Mar 25, 2013)

I'm unfortunately unable to do any turning at all for several months and I live in a "high desert plains" in Colorado so I know I need to do something. I might just immerse the piece for now until I can get it into boiling/pressure cooking in 4-5 months. Thanks for the ideas.
Dan



oregonburls said:


> Hi Dan, It depends on what you would like to do with the large cap. If you would like to turn it thin and let it go. I would just soak it in water and bleach to keep the bacteria from growing. That will keep it until you need to turn it. If you want it to hold shape... I would boil it and seal it. or you can keep it in water until you are ready to boil or pressure cook it.
> Hope this helps. let me know if you have any other questions.
> thanks
> Greg
> ...


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## oregonburls (Mar 25, 2013)

yes keep in under water. but remember to keep bleach in it. It will turn colors if you don't. Soaking it releases pressure also.


Steelart99 said:


> I'm unfortunately unable to do any turning at all for several months and I live in a "high desert plains" in Colorado so I know I need to do something. I might just immerse the piece for now until I can get it into boiling/pressure cooking in 4-5 months. Thanks for the ideas.
> Dan
> 
> 
> ...


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## NYWoodturner (Mar 25, 2013)

Good info Greg. Thanks for sharing. Sneaking in the microwave for a couple of minutes is one thing, but I dont think I could ever get away with stove top Pressure cooking  I'm going to have to look for bigger one for the shop ~ Scott


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## DKMD (Mar 25, 2013)

Great tips! I think the magic of madrone is in the thin turnings that warp and distort like crazy. I turned a hollowform from piece from Greg a year or two ago then popped it in the microwave... I loved the texture and wrinkles... My wife called it 'the scrotum':rotflmao3:.


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## hobbit-hut (Mar 26, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Great tips! I think the magic of madrone is in the thin turnings that warp and distort like crazy. I turned a hollowform from piece from Greg a year or two ago then popped it in the microwave... I loved the texture and wrinkles... My wife called it 'the scrotum':rotflmao3:.



Now that is darn right funny. I got a crotch feather piece from Greg of madrone. New art gallery opening in April in downtown area. I have a piece of IRW as part of a local artis sculpture go in there. I can just see the look on the owners face when I show him a scrotum. :rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3: I'll try to do it with a straight face. Hey Bob you want to see my scrotum. :rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3:


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## Kevin (Mar 26, 2013)

hobbit-hut said:


> I got a crotch ... from Greg ...





DKMD said:


> I turned a ... piece from Greg a year or two ago ... called ... 'the scrotum'



I'm not sure about this Greg guy or not, selling all this X rated wood here.


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