My next milling project UPDATED with pictures

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Oliver Springs, TN
Your probably wondering why I'm posting this in the turners section. Well I'm planning on cutting this into turning blanks. Judging from the outside, I'm hoping it'll have some good figure. It's right at 16 to 18 inches thick by more than 40 inches across at the bottom. My plan is to cut it into a square cant and cut it into blocks after that. Any suggestions on how you turners would cut this?
 

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John, I think most turners would want to turn that wood in a face grain orientation (as opposed to end grain). I think I'd essentially cut the chunk into quarters, hopefully bisecting (or removing) the pith along the way.

Something kinda like this:

Cutting John's Stump.jpg

I think I'd do it that way instead of cutting it into a squared-up cant before cutting the blanks. Quite often I find the coolest figure close to the outside of the log, so I'd probably try to preserve the outside edges so that at least some of the blanks have a natural edge somewhere on them.

You'll get some oddly shaped blanks, but they can then be individually trimmed to get multiple blanks. You should be able to get several shallow bowls, deep bowls/hollow forms, and/or spindle blanks out of each chunk. Personally, I'd want to try turning one of those 1/4 chunks into a single large piece, but if you're looking to sell blanks, then a smaller, more shippable size would make more sense.
 
Thanks guys

Vaughn, that's exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to get. I had considered cutting the pith out. I could then take the quarters and cut them down if need be like in this picture, correct?
 

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You may want to keep 1 or 2 longer for vessels which would be nice sized. You can always cut them later on if you just want......but it would be fun to turn at least one in the longer shape...........just a thought
 
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Thanks guys

Vaughn, that's exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to get. I had considered cutting the pith out. I could then take the quarters and cut them down if need be like in this picture, correct?

Yep, that's what I'd do.

If you're planning to have the blanks around for a while, it'd probably be a good idea to leave as many long chunks as possible. That way, if there's any checking at the ends as the wood dries, the ends can be trimmed off and you can still have the maximum amount of usable wood. (This applies more to pieces that are in an end grain orientation. A face grain orientation will expose long areas of end grain, so you don't have much trimming leeway if it starts checking.)

Dan's point about leaving one or more of the chunks long is also a valid one. Then the question becomes whether to have a long end grain piece or a long face grain piece. Personally, I'd probably go for the face grain orientation, but other turners (including Dan, I suspect) would rather have it going end grain.

If you're in an experimenting mood, you could do half of the stump end grain and the other half face grain. Cut it down the middle to remove the pith, then rip one of the halves and crosscut the other. Out of those four chunks, you should be able to get a variety of sizes and shapes in both end and face grain orientations. And the odd little offcuts are always good candidates for bottle stopper and/or pen blanks.
 
I have a very large block of wood like you do of Red Euc that I got from a very large trunk a few days ago. I only had time to cut it up into a large square block. This week im going to cut it into more managable size pc's for turning. Ill try to remember to take pictures and post them.

The way I would approach yours (or mine) is to make the first cut thru the pith like were talking about. This is a must anyway to get rid of the pith or relieve the stress in that area. As mentioned you could decide then to have some blanks for both long and face grain pc's

Another thought----After cutting thru the pitch..............At that point you could take one of the halfs and lay it on the flat cut face down and trim off the sides and ends - getting rid of the bad areas and checks etc....This gives you a good turning blank that you can turn to different angles and think about what it would look like as a bowl/vessel/box or whatever. This helps alot when your able to see the grain pattern like this.

Let us know..............nice wood no matter how you decide to cut it
 
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Well I have most of the stump blocked up and slathered down in anchorseal. I could cut some of the larger ones again if need be. I couldn't cut it exactly as Vaughn suggested. The throat on the mill isn't big enough to half it, so I more or less cut it into thirds. Thanks Vaughn for suggesting to not cut it into a cant. I would have lost a bunch of the figure. Here's a few shots of the before anchorseal. The first one is of the opening cut with some water splashed on to highlight the spalt/figure.
 

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That's some fine bowls and hollow forms on the hoof right there. :thumb: The wood's prettier than I thought it would be, and it looks like you got some great blanks. Well done. :clap:
 
Jeepers, Sunday I spent hours converting logs like that into firewood. There are a dozen or more remaining. I don't have a mill, but I do have a 16 inch chain saw.

If it is pretty I am going to cry because I split it for firewood. Then I will cheer because of the good looking wood that is left.

The wood has been out in the open for two years and some of it, longer. I am not sure which is which. It gets covered with plastic tarps during the rainy season.

Veddy interesting!

Enjoy,

JimB
 
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