Wood for the job?

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SimonT

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Another question guys, I have an old turner freind who I visited for some beginners tips and advice (and to purchase chisels!!!!!!) and was blown away by his knowledge and photos of gallery pieces and previous work ( which is displayed in the del mano exhibition this month).

Any ways my question is he said you need two things!

1) the right tool for the job
2) the right wood for the job

This got me thinking what types of wood suit which projects best? I know as a rule you can turn any wood for any job but I was keen to hear others opinions on this as I am still pretty new and this wood spinny stuff lol

I currently have some lilac, cherry, mahogany, oak, and some fresh walnut chopped down from a freinds approx 3 months ago ( my freind assures me that is only good for 2 things also, the better of the 2 being the fire pit lol) any suggestions on projects for these would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Simon
 
I find cherry very versatile for bowls & goblets as long as it isn't likely to split. If it is splitty, then the workpiece has to change to suit the timber.
Oak I use for just about anything. Mahogany I have only turned a few times for shallow dishes or finials. Lilac, I have never turned.
 
Was told lilac is lovely to turn, so I'm really keen to have a go once it's dried a little more, I've basically roughed it out and sealed the ends for use later.

Thanks for your input by the way Tasmaniandevil ! I have prepared some walnut blanks as they were so wet and have left them for now.

Forgot to mention, I have some lovely plum burr, I took down for a neighbour 2 years ago and was amazed when I split it and rough turned a bowl blank (praying it doesn't split) its lovely wood, I was going to upload a picture but for the life of me can't figure it out ( I've read the how to Info) so will have to wait for now but thanks again.
 
The best thing you can do is look at what other people have made, note wood and form, get hold of any wood you can and produce as many pieces as possible, they don't have to be masterpieces.

This will give you lots of practise at turning, it will give you personal experience as to how they handle and which are not worthwhile, and time to sort out which finishes you prefer to use and after a while you will find a turning niche that you are comfortable with.
 
Lilac is very nice to turn, smells vaguely like lilacs too! Pretty much any hardwood will prove OK, they all have differing characteristics, smells, ease of finishing etc.

Unseasoned softwood is probably best avoided though, the resin can make a right mess, and are often tricky to finish too as the sandpaper gets clogged.
 
I practised on oak quite a bit, largely because of its abundance. But it's also very variable in appearance which I quite like as its always surprising you, lovely and hard and takes a finish well.
 
Well to me the right wood is what gets used to complete the piece I choose for grain pattern, contrast and texture(I don't always get it right).

This is how I see what is meant by "The right wood for the job" is when you turn a fine finial the wrong wood would be a very open grain type, you will select a fine or close grain piece for it.
 
I quite like the idea of turning small bits with 'unusual' woods like lilac and some of the other deciduous bushes
 
SimonT":1p9zi1y2 said:
Was told lilac is lovely to turn, so I'm really keen to have a go once it's dried a little more, I've basically roughed it out and sealed the ends for use later.

Lilac is a lovely wood to turn - very fine grained and will take small details - also good for thread cutting. Only thing wrong with it is that it's difficult to dry without splitting and doesn't normally come all that large unless you are very lucky.
 
SimonT":39poy7mx said:
This got me thinking what types of wood suit which projects best? I know as a rule you can turn any wood for any job but I was keen to hear others opinions on this as I am still pretty new and this wood spinny stuff lol

Your friend is right in that you shold select a suitable wood for the job in hand (with the possible exception of "art" pieces) as different woods have very different characteristics.

Kitchenware (eating plates, bowls, boards, spoons, rolling pins etc) were usually made from beech or sycamore as these are woods that will not "taint" food with a smell or taste. Beech is a bit harder and heavier than sycamore, so might be better for a rolling pin, with sycamore better for a large salad bowl as it would be lighter in weight to carry.

Small detailed pieces such as small boxes, jewellery, shawl pins, chessmen etc are usually made from hard, close grained wood which will take fine detail like box, lilac, hawthorn, damson, holly or exotics like African blackwood.

Tool handles were often made from ash as it is resilient and less likely to snap than a wood like beech with is more brittle.

Oak & ash being coarser grained and available in large pieces were often used for furniture, with oak prefer for outdoor work as it doesn't rot as quickly. Oak was also favoured for candlesticks as it is quite difficult to set light to oak heartwood with a candle flame.

Coarse grained woods are not really suitable for for long thin things, either - the coarser grain structure makes them weaker in thin section than finer grained woods. Some woods are more "whippy" than others in long thin sections too, and some woods easier to turn than others. Oak will blunt your tools and abrasives very quickly, birch & sycamore are quite soft and tear-out easily so needs sharp tools for the best finish, and boxwood is quite happy with even serious abuse from a scraper on it's end grain!
 
For small pieces such as miniatures and jewellery, garden woods such as aforementioned lilac, acacia, laburnum, stag horn, etc are all worth getting your hands on and as many gardeners prune trees and shrubs back it is often easy to get your hands on smaller pieces. Also keep your eyes open for hedge cutting and blackthorn, hawthorn and hazel as they can all be useful for the smaller work. I have a 'bank' of small branches down to about 10mm which can come in useful for finials etc and at that size usually dry without splitting IME.

Pete
 
paulm":b7jf6lgg said:
Some great advice in the posts above, a very useful thread !

Cheers, Paul

Agreed paul, very useful info and thanks for all your replys. For some reason my last post thanking you all didnt work? Bit your suggeations are great!!

Oh and an additional note my lilac split (as you saif it would :( ) so, now looking at ways of storing, sealing roughing out blanks and boxes, its a steep learning curve but ill get there . . . .eventually! Lol
 
SimonT":188biaht said:
paulm":188biaht said:
Some great advice in the posts above, a very useful thread !

Cheers, Paul

Agreed paul, very useful info and thanks for all your replys. For some reason my last post thanking you all didnt work? Bit your suggeations are great!!

Oh and an additional note my lilac split (as you saif it would :( ) so, now looking at ways of storing, sealing roughing out blanks and boxes, its a steep learning curve but ill get there . . . .eventually! Lol
Search around on here Simon there really is a wealth of threads and information about controlled drying of timber for turning although it is rather well distributed in numerous threads. You know it occurs to me that there is a book waiting to be written from consolidating posts on this forum...a sort of...the collective experience of...

So who is both retired and able to write? :)
 
Spindle":23pcnfmy said:
Ahh! - But who could take on separating the wheat from the chaff?? :roll: :wink:

Mick

Peer review would have to be the method I guess.....actually a wiki approach would probably work. Wiki because the records give users multi-access edit rights so one document could just evolve. It's probably only practical for the topics that keep re-occurring (like sharpening, wood drying, finishing etc). But it strikes me that if that technology were available through the forum it would enable that kind of information resource to be developed. Just thinking out loud really :)
 
One of the main restrictions on trying to provide an all embracing guide is that natural wood drying is so very dependant upon the very local environment that the wood is stored in.

Localised humidity and air movement in any given situation is down to almost macro level for differences in effect.

It's not just continent but country and county for starters, then there is altitude, prevailing winds etc.

Having even considered the above national variations there are rural and metropolis differences and going down to individual properties weather exposure characteristics.

This is before you consider humidity levels and changing weekly, daily, hourly conditions in individual gardens or sheds etc.

What works well for me at 200mtrs in open Cotswold countryside with wood stored in wooden clad shed with free air movement and subject to high summer temperatures may well be totally different to a rack in a sun sheltered back yard or garage in the middle of Birmingham.

Apart from taking some obvious precautions to try and even out the moisture loss I think it very much depends on most individuals finding a method that works for them by trial and error, as frustrating as the first few seasons of 'mistakes' can be.

If you ever have the pleasure to visit a well established old fashioned wood yard you will find the best quality wood destined for slowest possible drying regime under cover from the elements, buried at the back and the bottom of the stacked timbers where its localised humidity is as even as possible and densest. And part of the cost of acquiring such is the work and effort in retrieving it and re-instating the stacks.
 
JimB":jg6vz2ym said:
Burning walnut! Wash that man's mouth out. :D

Walnut does smell nice when being burnt.. Kim is correct, oak does not make good kindling.

I tend to lookout for knotty gnarly bits, that way people look at the wood and not the turning :)
 
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