I was interested at the February meeting when Ollie Burke presented a lovely roughed out spalted beech bowl that he said was only fit for the fire. Somebody suggested giving it the washing up liquid treatment. When I got home I began to make some inquiries and, thanks to Fran Morrin, was directed towards an interesting website – www.ronkent.com – that gave me the basic information on this technique. Maybe others would be interested.

Ron Kent describes setting out to find “something that might soak in, harden, and become part of the wood, bonding the fibers more firmly while also imparting a lubricating quality” to the wood. “It had to be transparent and non-staining.” By chance he tried concentrated liquid dishwasher detergent and it worked wonders. Initially he simply diluted one part detergent with one part water and rubbed it into the roughed out blank. He describes the benefits. “First there is the advantage of stabilizing the wood; a great deal less "moving" and warping, both while working on the vessel and after it is taken off the lathe. A second favorable difference shows up in cutting. The shavings are a delight! Clean, long, cohesive ribbons, both for fine trimming and for the macho adversarial plunge-cuts that characterize my favored rough-shaping "technique". It feels almost as if the wood has been lubricated and allows the edge of the tool to slide smoothly through the cut. I never did figure out what "conditioning" means, but whatever it is, I’ll bet detergent does it!”

On the same website Leif O. Thorvaldson describes his experience of the technique. “One fateful day, browsing on my computer … I encountered a very lovely website by Ron Kent (http://www.ronkent.com). He had some beautiful Norfolk Pine turnings -- very thin -- and used some unique finishing techniques. All very nice, but what struck me was a technique he had developed for stabilizing and conditioning wood. He had tried the expensive route, but was looking for something under $50 per gallon. To make his story short, he found that Costco's house brand (Kirkland) liquid dishwashing detergent mixed with an equal amount of water provided hitherto unavailable qualities in both conditioning and stabilizing of wood for almost immediate turning and finishing I went to Costco and purchased four half gallon containers of the magic elixir along with a sturdy plastic storage bin of sufficient size to hold the mixture and some bowl blanks. Upon arrival at home, I emptied the detergent into the container and added an equal amount of water. From then on, I would take primarily green wood and rough turn in one day, soak overnight, and finish the next day. Sometimes I didn't finish it on the second day and left it mounted on the lathe overnight and sometimes for a several days. Surprise! They didn't crack! I have since taken green wood, rough turned it, soaked it about four hours and then finish turned it and finished it in one day. In the six to eight months I have been using this technique, I haven't had one bowl crack. A few had a bit of movement, but it was very slight. I have used the following woods: black walnut, vine maple, maple, oak (kiln dried), yew, honey locust, fruiting cherry, birch, plum, apple.” As I write this article (or rather copy it from Ron Kent’s website!) I have tried the soaking process using washing-up liquid and so far have had excellent results. I’d be interested from other turners who have tried the technique.

———Michael McGee