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prepping wood for lathe work

prepping wood for lathe work (post #146961)

alexrkramer on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 15:37

General Discussion

i have never turned on a lathe but hope to soon. i recently discovered a dead black walnut tree in the woods behind my house. it seems fairly old and dry, and the wood is beautiful. is it standard practice to kiln dry big blocks before turning?

Alex, I am new to turning (post #146961, reply #1 of 4)

by sk2tobin in reply to alexrkramer [original] on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 15:51

Alex,
I am new to turning also but from what I have read it is better to turn the "green" wood to rough size (about 1/4 to 1/2") and then place it in a paper bag and let it dry before turning it to final size. There is a good article by FWW called "Turning Bowls from Green Wood" that gives step by step instruction on turning from a log. Hope this helps.

Nick

Here's another article at one (post #146961, reply #2 of 4)

by forestgirl in reply to sk2tobin [original] on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 23:17

Here's another article at one of my favorite woodworking sites, New Woodworker dot com. Note, though, that if you take all that bark and sapwood off like he does, you have to coat the whole thing well or it will dry too quickly and split like crazy. Better, IMHO, to cut in bigger chunks and store -- bugs may be living in the bark, so be careful. Store away from your regular lumber stash, and where it stays dry and has some air ciculation.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/turning/blnkfromlog.html

....

forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

If you've not started turning (post #146961, reply #3 of 4)

by forestgirl in reply to alexrkramer [original] on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 23:18

If you've not started turning yet, it might be best to preserve the tree as a log (or 2 or 3??) -- cut it to lengths you can handle and coat the ends with Anchoseal (buy online or at local Woodcraft store). I'm a newbie turner, and have scads of downed trees and limb-fall to use as a resource. Mostly, I'm cutting things to 3-4' lengths and sealing.

If you want to know how to cut up for future bowl blanks and such, there lots of material online to show you how. Tonight, my bookmarks aren't cooperating -- can't remember where I put stuff I guess -- but there's one below. More helpful, probably, would be an illustration on cutting and preserving larger chunks not cut down as much as in the following article.
http://handturnedbowls.biz/data/how_to_saw_log.pdf

forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

Alex, The approach you use (post #146961, reply #4 of 4)

by flairwoodworks in reply to alexrkramer [original] on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 00:53

Alex,

The approach you use will depend on your patience and the desired outcome. Turning wood that isn't completely dry will result in some warpage and an oval bowl, which can be desirable. The wood when green is also easier to cut than dried wood. If you want a perfectly round bowl, I'd suggest that you turn it wet anyways, but leave the walls extra-thick, then let it dry fully before remounting it on the lathe and finish-turning the bowl.

Chris @ www.flairwoodworks.com
and http://flairwoodworks.wordpress.com

- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer