Drying Hazelnut

[Dante_F]

Are there any specific tips/tricks to drying hazel faster? I cut a relatively straight piece today that's about 7 foot 3 inches long and 1.5-.75 inches in diameter. I will end up cutting it to somewhere along the lines of 6 to 6.5 inch feet after its done.

[stuckinthemud]

Split it in half to check its not heli twisted - a lot of hazel is twisted- seal the ends rough out the stave but leave it a little long to trim out any checks later and bring it indoors somewhere not too warm
 Hazel can be force dried but dont go too extreme

[Dante_F]

I may have left out one crucial detail, I'm trying to make a spear, so that's not really a good option. I posted in this section as it gets the most attention and the drying principles should be similar.

[stuckinthemud]

Seal the ends bring it indoors leave it somewhere not too warm, weigh it every few days and when the weight stabilizes its dry

[bownarra]

Just rough it out. Leave the ends a little long. The smaller the diameter the quicker it will dry.

[Dante_F]

How big of a concern is warping with hazel? I'm trying to keep it as pipe straight as I can

[stuckinthemud]

Shouldn't be a problem but any warp can easily be heated out once its dry

[bownarra]

How big of a concern is warping with hazel? I'm trying to keep it as pipe straight as I can

Hazel is pretty stable BUT it's not so much the particular wood species but where and how it was growing. Straight up? No problem. A branch that is growing at 45 degs to the ground.....well that's a different story
If you want it to dry quickly there is no other option than to rough it out smaller.

[GlisGlis]

Just rough it out. Leave the ends a little long

+1
if your target is a spear I'd work it green and dry later. this will speed up driying without any adverse effects
just leave small tolerance on both tips

[vinemaplebows]

Split it in half to check its not heli twisted - a lot of hazel is twisted- seal the ends rough out the stave but leave it a little long to trim out any checks later and bring it indoors somewhere not too warm
 Hazel can be force dried but dont go too extreme

Your going to be splitting a LOT of staves, which are generally small in the first place. Splitting is not necessary in all woods, and yes the wood may have some twist. Do you split limb bow wood?

VMB

[stuckinthemud]

Yes, I always cleave all my staves, yes a lot of them end up with heli twist, yes I've got pretty good at straightening staves and yes I've got much more fussy about what I fell.

[Del the cat]

For a spear, I'd just cut a shoot of the right diameter and let it dry in the round. Maybe strapped to something straight.
Del