Hi, I recently salvaged a 7 foot x 16 inch ash log which is 70% hollow…in a taper. I’ve drilled out a 30mm hole 1m long to connect with the natural hollow. This is going to be a mammoth didgeridoo. I’ve chain sawed the upper 3/4 of the trunk to make it more manageable to move around. The instrument will need to have about 1cm thick walls max to resonate, even thinner maybe. What do you reccomend re leaving it to dry before the fine work begins?
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Just a guess, but I'd recommend 1"-1.5". That's what bowl turners usually aim for, I think. Thin enough to reduce drying stresses, thick enough to remove slight surface checks if they occur.
Be sure to coat the end grain, and keep it out of the sun. You want it to dry slowly enough that drying stresses are reduced, but quick enough not to mold or rot. Not in a hot attic!
If you didn't remove the pith when you bored the hole, you are likely to have trouble with checking around the pith.
Thanks. As the wood it came from was all cut down due to progressive Ash die back disease I was thinking I might just burn the inside briefly to kill off any spores..a good idea or go down a more chemical route...not sure. Wonder how long it will take to be workable?
I'm no expert on that disease. I doubt it affects dry wood, but you don't want to be blowing spores around any living ash trees.
The choices I have are to pop it into a concrete garage with a metal door to season or to leave it off the ground in a polythene used for growing veg. Otherwise the only other option is off the ground under a tree in the shade outside.
Someone once asked Leo Fender why he made his guitars out of ash. Leo replied...."Had some!"
;) That's very much the case here too...saw a hollow log, been playing didgeridoo for 30 years, thought I'd make an English one.
https://youtu.be/ksu326VChvI
https://youtu.be/G9nSxGvgAew
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