My first turning stock score...

Greg Cook

Member
Messages
2,882
Location
Tokiwadai, Japan
During the storms we've had recently, among the trees that were blown over were 4 ~ 5 cherry trees my neighbor had planted at the edge of their large yard. The 56mph gusts we had blew them over, and my neighbor decided they were history...so he cut them up. I saw it, stopped by and asked if I could have the larger wood (trunks and larger limbs). "Sure, take anything you want" was all I wanted to hear.... So, tomorrow I going to pick up what looks like some I can use for turning.

Here are just 2 pieces I brought back for pics. I'm surprised how heavy the wood is, but I'm used to getting cedar at my local lumber yard "dumpster".










I want to try turning it green for practice, and learning DNA bath techniques, which I believe is the alternative to a long drying time. If all works out, some simple bowls and maybe some pens.

Since I'm a total newby to this, any comments, advice, tips will be welcome.

Thanks, and more pics to come tomorrow.

Greg
 
Thanks, Don,

However, I would like to turn it as soon as reasonable.... We may be moving later next year, and I would like to make some things right away, or before Summer. Any hints on working with it now, along with what is necessary to keep it from cracking as much as is possible?

Greg
 
Last edited:
Greg,
I moved from California to AZ last August. I brought some eucalpytus with me in August. It is aeging rather well and actualy developing a nice spalt (if thats the proper way to say it). I was lookiing at it today trying to pic a piece to turn. LOML thoght I was crazy for moving a bunch of wood but I know better..:D
 
Congrats on a good find. Since you asked for advice...and pardon if you already know any of this...

For bowls and such, you'll have less potential for cracking if you cut the pith out of the logs. The pith is dark part at the center of the
tree's rings. There's a main one running through the trunk, and also secondary piths at each branch. (I dunno if 'main' and 'secondary' are the correct terms, but that's what I call 'em.) In general, if you cut an inch or so out of the center part of the log lengthwise, you'll remove the pith. Something like this (sorry for the crude sketch):

Split Log.jpg

So far in my limited bowl turning experience, almost every crack that I've had show up was the result of not cutting the pith out. (Of course, cracks can be incorporated into the whole look of the piece, too.)

On smaller diameter stuff like branches and upper trunks, some folks have success turning with the pith in the wood, but most recommend centering the pith in the piece, which apparently evens out the stresses and reduces the potential for cracking. I've done this with weed pots and little vases, with decent success. Since the wood's free and apparently plentiful, I'd say try all sorts of things, and you'll see what works best for you.

Once you've rough turned it, soaking for a day or two in denatured alchohol does indeed seem to help dry it out more quickly. I simply got a gallon of DNA and a 2-gallon plastic bucket with a snap-on lid at the local hardware store, and I can fit two or three pieces in the bath at once.

If you haven't seen it yet, I do recommend Bill Grumbine's Turned Bowls Made Easy video. Lots of tips and tricks to be had, even if you don't follow his exact procedure. (Heck, he's among the first to say there is more than one 'right' way for many things on a lathe.)

And don't be afraid to ask questions. If we don't know the answers, we'll be glad to make some up! :laugh2: Have fun with your haul!
 
Vaughn,

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look at getting the video, and post more pics, maybe with a particular piece. I've got to go to HD for some stuff, and will pick up a bucket and the alcohol. Oh, and your drawing's very good...thanks.

I think this is gonna be fun, but totally new and different...

Greg
 
Greg, you are going to love turning that cherry. Maybe it's just me but the smell of cherry is one of the better wood smells there is.

Along with the good advice you've already received,I'd also reccomend you watch Bill's video....I did, several times but I am a slow learner:huh: :D
 
Way to go Greg, now you are REALLY going to be hooked when you start roughing out them green bowl, that is just WAY too much fun :D

You want to go here.......

Wonder Wood's Turners Corner <-Bill's site.

Cutting the blanks from logs is fun, but can be hard work, make sure you have a good base to cut on, some slabs from previous bowl blank cutting works well, but you don't have that at first, so throw down some junk 2x4 or something, nothing dulls a chain like trying to dig holes in the dirt with it, which I'm sure you are aware of ;) :D

Like Vaughn says, cut about a inch out of the middle, but to save you some back ache, there is a way to do it.

All better shown here, but excuse me if I try my hand at explaining it....

First, you want to cut your log into lengths that are just a tad longer than the diameter of the log, if you have a log that has a diameter of 14" cut it to 16", unless you can cut the log really straight and square, if you can do that, make it 15". Cutting it to 18" is just a waste of wood, DAMHIKT!! :rolleyes:

Now take your chunk of wood and lay it on it's side, with one end pointing towards you. Now cut on either side of the pith, so you have about an inch of waste in the middle, try to cut straight, as this will end up being the top of your bowl. Do not cut all the way through, this just makes for a lot more work, leave at least a couple of inches at the bottom so it remains in one piece.

Now you have the two inside cuts done, move to the two outside cuts. These cuts will become the bottom of the bowl, so again, try to make sure the inside and the out side cuts are parallel. Again, do not cut all the way through.

OK now you have a round chunk with four cuts almost all the way through it (see A in the pic below). You finish the outside cuts, then the inside cuts, this is a whole lot easier to do as the chunk usually stands up on it's own all the way to the end.

log_cutting.jpg
With the pith being the brown dot in the middle.

If you do the four cuts, you get the result, B which is two bowl blanks that are similar in size and shape.

The thing is, I've almost never found really round logs, they are usually some what oval shaped and or the pith is almost NEVER right in the middle, so if you cut up C the way it is sitting, you get on larger blank and one smaller one, this might be what you want, or you could rotate the log around so that it is more like D, and again, you get equal blanks.

In some cases the pith is WAY off center, and the log is not even sort of round. In E if you cut it his way, you end up with one blanks of use, again this might be good, depends on what you want, but again, if you rotate the log and cut, then you get F, two fairly balanced blanks.

Now if you want to do Natural Edge (NE) Bowls, then don't do the outside cuts, and then the inside cut surfaces actually become the base of the NE bowl.

One more thing, the "Waste" in the middle can be sawn up on your bandsaw for pen blanks! :thumb:

Good luck, stay safe with that chainsaw and............ take pics ! :D
 
WOW, Stu, great explaination...thanks a bunch! I'll get the load, take some pics and make some initial cuts and post my "progress"...:D

Frank, I'll search for that too..

Steve, I'll see if I can attach some "aroma" to my pics...(aka Emeril's "Smell-a-Vision") :rofl:

Greg
 
Thank Mr. Bill Grumbine, I learnt if from him!!

Can't wait to see the log haul pics :thumb:

I also cannot wait to hear back from you when you turn some of them green blanks the first time, I know I was grinning like an idiot for a week afterwards..............:rolleyes:

It is fun, but get one of them coal shovels for clean up........... and no, I'm not kidding :D

Cheers!
 
Looks like only 3 trees went down...:dunno: It was still a shame, they were very nice, and the neighbor was looking forward to a very nice lanscaped yard.

However, I hope to at least make something out of the beauty of the trees...

The trees were along the front of the very large front yard, and open to the 56mph gusts we had during the storm.


One of the downed Cherry trees, cut up.


The first trunk load, including a 40" or so trunk


Some of the smaller stuff


If I had the time, and did more smoking, the twigs would be great for smoking meat, fowl or fish...
 
Last edited:
Looking good, Greg.

Be sure to seal the cut ends with something. And soon. Like tonight, if possible. Otherwise, they'll start to crack and eventually become useless for the lathe. Anchor Seal is probably the best, but even old paint seems to work for me. I'm still using up a couple partial gallons of paint and primer the previous owner of our house left behind. I just slather it on nice and thick, and I've not had any problems with cracks (knock on wood).
 
Well, here's the pile... Certainly not a "Stu stack" of hundreds of bf, but I hope to get a few bowls and a lot of experience out of it. And....it was free and close by.





I should also be able to do some cutting on my "new to me" band saw with the new blade. I already have some ideas on a fence. The Wood Slicer blade should arrive next week.

Vaughn, the trees were cut a couple of days ago. Should I seal all the ends, even small limbs, ASAP? I will be moving the wood to a covered dry space in the morning. Hopefully the snow will be melted enough to allow me to haul them in the trailer/tractor combo to a good storage spot.
 
...Vaughn, the trees were cut a couple of days ago. Should I seal all the ends, even small limbs, ASAP? I will be moving the wood to a covered dry space in the morning. Hopefully the snow will be melted enough to allow me to haul them in the trailer/tractor combo to a good storage spot.
Personally, I'd seal all the ends, even the little ones. Maybe someone here with more experience will have a better suggestion, but that's the approach I'd take.

BTW, I moved this thread from the Off Topic forum to here in the General Woodturning Q&A forum. I put my 'wood haul' thread in the Woodturning Show & Tell area, but since yours has a good string of questions, I figured it fit here. ;)
 
OK, I'll get to sealing them in the morning...

Now....

What do I do with these? Some special cut, turning technique to make a fabulous piece...or stick a plaster squirrel on them and set them on the front porch? :huh::dunno::rofl:






And thanks for moving the thread here. :thumb:
 
Last edited:
I'm sure there's a right way and wrong way to get the best out of those clusters like that. I don't know what the right way would be, but I'd probably stare at it a while and start cutting away the parts that don't look like a bowl, until it was eventually in a shape that could be put on the lathe. The grain in the middles of those will be all over the place, which is a good thing, but I think it's impossible to avoid having any pith. In those cases, I'd just go for it and plan to patch any cracks with epoxy coffee. I think there's great potential in those pieces. :thumb:
 
Interesting! There are still a couple of them at the neighbors I didn't pick up as I wasn't sure if there were any good. I hope others also jump in with comments/advice...I'll pick the others up tomorrow.

I guess this guy might have to go it alone after all....:rofl:

View attachment 2733
 
Last edited:
Been a busy little beaver I see :D

Great haul Greg!

I cannot get anchor seal here, what I use is part white carpenter's glue, too parts water, mixed up, I keep a pot of it with a paint brush sealed into the lid, so I can just take the lid off and start painting on sealer.

It is messy, but I would bet, so is anchor seal.

Warm the water up before you try to mix the glue in, helps a lot.

Cheers!

PS Seal anything that has a pith in it. :D
 
Top