I rough cut the bowl blank being sure to leave generous material for later final cuts, following a 10% rule, whereby I left at least 10% of the original dimensions to allow for distortion in drying.
The Persimmon cut extremely rough, almost chunky, unlike any other wood I have turned, although I admit that I do not have extensive experience in green wood turning. I found a significant degree of spalt to be present, not uncommon in a wood this wet and soft. In addition, there was an easily discernible ribbon of fibrous material that was extremely tough, quite unlike anything I have ever seen. It is almost as if a ribbon of a different species was growing within this tree, or as though some fibers decided to grow in the opposite direction from the majority, or even as though there was a bit of root embedded in the sapwood. Again, I have never encountered anything like it and I do not know if this is a characteristic of Persimmon, having never worked with the wood before, or it I just got “lucky” in this particular piece. I imagine I will know more as I proceed to the final cuts and finishing.
I rough cut this bowl blank back in March 2016 and it is now November 2016. I thoroughly coated the blank in Anchor Seal and set it aside after allowing the Anchor Seal to dry. Eight months later I find that there is some small amount of surface white mold on the blank but I do not notice any marked distortions or checking at this time. The blank has lost over one pound of water weight in the eight months it has been drying and I have taken weight measurements roughly monthly to check its progress toward being dry enough to finish. The blank has stopped losing weight and I intend soon to work it again. If it shows signs of continuing high levels of moisture I can always re-coat it with Anchor Seal and allow it to dry more, or if it seems dry I can proceed to finish it.
I have read recently that even wet woods can be cut to final thickness and finished with Shellawax. It is reported that the Shellawax will slow drying to such a degree that even notoriously difficult to dry, without checking, tropical hardwoods can be successfully treated with this method, so I may try that approach if needed. That would be convenient as I often use Shellawax as a final finish regardless. And no, this report does not come from the makers of Shellawax, but instead from an exotic wood dealer located in the very dry high desert areas of Colorado who has used this method extensively and with success on some very rare and very expensive pieces.
I will, of course, provide an update on the final finishing of this piece once I complete it, hopefully within the next month or so. If interested, and how I hope that at least one person is interested, stay tuned.
As always, I wish all my readers a great experience in whatever their wood working interests happen to be and to those who like working with lathes especially, do a good turn today!