Follow up to the load of ASH I picked up...

Chuck Ellis

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6,997
Location
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Here are a few of the bowls I've turned so far...
a couple bigger bowls and then cored the center out to make smaller bowls... so far no problem with cracks or splits in the bowls... hope I don't jinx them by bragging ...
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This one is 11 1/4" diameter and 5 inches high at the rim... (I don't measure how deep the bowls are)... finished with sanding sealer and wipe on poly as most of my bowls are.
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This the the number 2 bowl cored out of the one above... it's 9 1/2 by 2 1/2 and same finish.

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This is from the other half of the log... my wife likes rims on bowls, so I put one on this bowl... 11 1/2" dia by 4" high.
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This one is the second bowl out this blank... it's 9" diameter by 2 3/4" high.... I could have cored a third bowl from both blanks, but chose to stop at just two... the third bowl is usually pretty shallow and not much over 6 or 7 inches diameter...

This is nice wood to turn and while it's still green, I can microwave it a little and reduce the moisture by about half. Seems pretty stable.
 
Looks like you're having better luck with your ash than I did with the ash I got ahold of a few years ago. I have heard of turners using a microwave to dry out wood, but I always considered that a bit harsh on it. Each to his own. I prefer DNA and/or some time in my kiln. To me there's no need to rush the wood. Rushing it always came back and bit me.
 
Nice ones, Chuck! Rims give arthritic fingers something to hold on to. My missus likes 'em too.:thumb:

Yeah, my love has had atrial fibulation since her 20's and after she had her stroke and a blood infection that led to open heart surgery, the doctors put her on a medication to stop the fibulations, but gave her a tremor in her left hand which along with the arthritis we all seem to develop as we age, makes it hard sometimes for her to hold a smooth bowl... the rim really helps her.
 
Looks like you're having better luck with your ash than I did with the ash I got ahold of a few years ago. I have heard of turners using a microwave to dry out wood, but I always considered that a bit harsh on it. Each to his own. I prefer DNA and/or some time in my kiln. To me there's no need to rush the wood. Rushing it always came back and bit me.

Since I don't have a kiln and the big bowls won't fit in my DNA bucket, the microwave is my best bet... I usually run in 3 minute cycles every 30-40 minutes, two or three cycles, then let them sit for a day or so... seems to work for me. I've only had a couple warp, and they were walnut, and the warp wasn't extreme, so didn't affect sales.
 
Nice work, Chuck. :thumb:

The big load of ash I got my hands on a few years ago was already partially dry, but it still turned pretty easily with sharp tools. And it was very stable for me. I ended up turning it all to finished size, and had no movement or cracking issues at all.
 
Chuck, those are nice bowls and I do like rims. I guess I'm gonna have to try some ash again. That ash I got ahold of just cracked like crazy. Out of the 4 logs I brought in I think I got 5 bowls out of it and that was all. But as as they always say the wood varies with it's environment. The tree I got ahold of came from Fort Worth instead of out in the horse county so no telling what all was in the dirt. Kilns are actually rather inexpensive to build. Mine's about 4'x4'x7', has 3 drying racks in it. Looks like a piece of junk but works well. Uses 4 brooding lamps for the heat. I'm going to build me a new one soon that is a bit smaller. This one's been moved around a lot and is showing it. Oh, well. Mine was mainly built with scrap lumber.
 
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