OO wood gloat and problem

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
An e-friend from a penturning forum came by the house yesterday with this nice load of Osage Orange wood. He and his wife came from central Missouri. They said they were taking a ride to see fall colors but I think he really wanted to give this wood to me. Very nice folks and I enjoyed the visit. He was impressed with my shop and how large :confused: it is compared to his. Felt good that someone liked my little sawdust factory. The back of his little pick-up truck raised about six inches after we dumped this off. But, the problem is, the chunks are just plain too heavy for me to lift. I have friends who will mill it into 6" blanks for me. But, how the dickens do we lift it to the bandsaw to do it in the first place? No, that's second place. Four of the five probably weigh 200 lbs each and I can't get onto my pick up in the first place. Chainsawing OO with the grain will be an exercise in futility. Double so trying wedges and sledge. Might have to break out the old blackpowder splitter. Right now :dunno: But, fer certain, fer sure, there are a bunch of pen blanks there and quite a few nice bowl blanks.
 

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Take a wedge and sledge hammer, break them up into smaller pieces and then send som UPS to me.
 
Chainsawing OO with the grain will be an exercise in futility.

Frank,

I have just cut a big Elm block into slabs with my chainsaw. I lay them on their side and rip them from the bark side into the heart (instead of standing them on their end and cutting down through the block). The saw works well like that even without a rip chain. Just take your time and let the shavings fall away so that the clutch/chain housing doesn't clog up.

I hope I interpreted your post correctly.

cheers eh?
 
Frank,

I have just cut a big Elm block into slabs with my chainsaw. I lay them on their side and rip them from the bark side into the heart (instead of standing them on their end and cutting down through the block). The saw works well like that even without a rip chain. Just take your time and let the shavings fall away so that the clutch/chain housing doesn't clog up.

I hope I interpreted your post correctly.

cheers eh?

Thanks. I understand, and that is probably what I'll do. Except, elm isn't Osage Orange. Not quite like mud and granite but close. ;)
 
Frank...you have my sympathies......well...maybe not. I like turning OO but it sure can be hard! Of course all of the OO I've turned was dry.
 
Thanks. I understand, and that is probably what I'll do. Except, elm isn't Osage Orange. Not quite like mud and granite but close. ;)
Frank, I've done the same with red eucalyptus...cutting straight into the end grain is fruitless, but if I turn the log sideways and cut lengthwise through the bark, my poor tired Poulan buzzes right through, spitting out long curly chips. And having turned both woods, I'd put the red euc in about the same hardness category as the osage orange.

Nice haul, and I'll bet you get a lot of good stuff out of it. :thumb:
 
I will pass on the little chainsaw blade lesson that I learned from Bill Grumbine yesterday.

First, the rip blades are designed for mills, and have significantly higher kickback risk on a handheld saw.

Instead, for ripping, use a skip-tooth blade. Bill had great success with this kind of blade cutting vertically from top to bottom.

This was the first time I have used a chainsaw, so please verify my information before putting it to use in case I misunderstood something.

The log section was cut like Vaughn described - not cutting from end grain to end grain, but from bark to bark in a rip fashion.
 
I will pass on the little chainsaw blade lesson that I learned from Bill Grumbine yesterday.

First, the rip blades are designed for mills, and have significantly higher kickback risk on a handheld saw.

Instead, for ripping, use a skip-tooth blade. Bill had great success with this kind of blade cutting vertically from top to bottom.

This was the first time I have used a chainsaw, so please verify my information before putting it to use in case I misunderstood something.

The log section was cut like Vaughn described - not cutting from end grain to end grain, but from bark to bark in a rip fashion.


I'll be trying that. I'm hoping if I can get down, at least, a couple inches the wedge 'n sledge method will work from there.
 
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