New Steady Rest arrived today - wood storage ?

Dan Mosley

Member
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1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
Picture 1 - Some burl waiting to be cut for a bowl
Picture 2 - One almost done.....finished with 4 coats of antique oil and 000 between coats..... waiting a few more days (1 week total drying time)
before buffing.

Picture 3 - Finally sold enough bowls to buy a steady rest from the theokspindoctor who cut me a good deal on one. I had a home made one i made out of oak with all thread - it worked ok but i was never really thrilled about it and found it to be a pain in rear to seat the upper and lower wheels - and putting it on and off the lathe was a equal pain.... plus it still had some wobble to it (ok i dont like anything that wobbles).....After alot of researching around i thought about making one but then decided i simply liked this one and i had raised enough money so what the heck...impressive craftsmanship
Have not tried it out yet but looking forward to the chatter going away and better cutting control on larger projects.....ill keep you updated.....but i like the looks of it so far....

Picture 4 - Unfinished project - unfinished because work interferes me completing it.....LOL maybe thats why im out there at 11pm tinkering around.

Picture 5 & 6 Wood pile - have have alot of pc's stacked up all over my garage and starting to worry about the hot summer comming if im going to lose any of these to cracking out........all have been sealed with Anchor Seal and stacked along the wall - I dont have alot of room nor do i have a storge place for them but would hate to lose any them..........i had two large pc's of wood sitting on top of my table saw (no where else to put any more) and sealed but were cracking at the pith........i cut them down the middle today and roughed them out quickly. With about a 1" diameter all around i sunk them into a pale of 1/2 liquid detergent and water (Ron Kent thing) to soak until i can get back to them to finish turn.
Anyway i noticed a couple others starting to crack at pith even with the sealer on........i will probably have to do the same.......if i cant control the cracking i will lose alot im afraid........any ideas ??? other than calling in sick to work and roughing......LOL thanks
Interesting side note: in picture 5 the trash can is about 3/4 filled with roughed out stuff that is totally coated in anchor seal and none of them have cracked yet and they are sittting in the same area as the other logs......probably due to alot of the mass being removed already and sealed.....
 

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Dan, the finished piece and the segmented one look pretty nice. The steady rest looks like a beast. Let us know how well it works on something big when you can. I'm in Phoenix, also hot and dry, and have not been able to keep wood from cracking in anything over about 3 or 4 inches thick. whether it is a log, half log or some other cut. Roughing out to about an inch seems to be the only thing that works. If you find a sealer that works, or some other drying/storage system for larger chunks of wood I too would be interested. I have heard of folks buying freezers for this kind of thing, but between cost, space, and energy use, it doesn't make sense for me.

Ken Easley
 
Great-looking steady rest, Dan. :thumb:

It doesn't get "Palm Springs hot" here, but we're close. I seem to be in a never-ending race to get things rough turned before I lose the wood. Some blanks seem to want to split no matter what I do, and others have been stable for two or more years. (Even two blanks from the same tree.) The only solution I know is to try to get it turned before it goes bad on you.
 
Vaughn - I agree but i know i wont have enough time to rough them all out that quickly due to work. I got lucky with the load that was given to me and im going to rough out as many as fast as i can and seal them up.
I am experimenting with some Ron Kent ideas i read about but i have not had a chance to try them. but ill let you know how things go.....sure going to hate losing any of this.....
 
new steady rest

You can pick up a used freezer real cheap on craigslist, or talk to the guys at your local appliance store - sometimes people buy an new freezer and want the old one, which works fine, junked. I got an old chest freezer for free this way!
 
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