Bedside Table

[binks]

My next project is hopefully going to be a bedside table made from a 350mm log complete with bark. This will be set upright, have a vertical slice taken from the front to make a door and then hollowed out to create an internal cupboard space. It will also have a separate top fitted afterwards.
Am I 'barking' or does anyone think this is possible? I know when turning green wood you can part-turn and then leave the item to season faster and then come back to finish it. I was going to do the same and partly remove the internal wood and then leave it to season some more and then remove further still as I am concerned about the wood drying out and splitting/moving (which I know it will do but hopefully I can reduce the severity).

Also, bearing in mind that I am looking for a 350mm 'ish diameter log, what wood would you choose for attractive bark etc. ?

 

[custard]

My next project is hopefully going to be a bedside table made from a 350mm log complete with bark. This will be set upright, have a vertical slice taken from the front to make a door and then hollowed out to create an internal cupboard space. It will also have a separate top fitted afterwards.
Am I 'barking' or does anyone think this is possible? I know when turning green wood you can part-turn and then leave the item to season faster and then come back to finish it. I was going to do the same and partly remove the internal wood and then leave it to season some more and then remove further still as I am concerned about the wood drying out and splitting/moving (which I know it will do but hopefully I can reduce the severity).

Also, bearing in mind that I am looking for a 350mm 'ish diameter log, what wood would you choose for attractive bark etc. ?

I think you've watched The Hobbit once too often!

The bark will drop off as the wood shrinks beneath it, the log will split as it dries, the door will badly warp (a slice taken off the side like that is the least stable cut you can get), and hollowing will be hours and hours of drudgery.

But hey, that's just my opinion. Press on, win a Guild Marque, and prove me wrong!

Good luck!

 

[blackrodd]

+1, As above.
A better title may be "barking up the wrong tree(s)"
If I had to have one, I'd make it out of seasoned timber, stretch with Expanded metal lath, and replicate the bark with modeling plaster and tint, lighter, stronger and stable.
Rodders

 

[binks]

hmmmm! Back to the drawing board then! I was going to make a coopered unit originally then the thought of a log with bark.....well the rest you know! Back to the original plan then.
Thanks for the input guys. Sounds as though it has saved me a lot of time and wasted effort.

 

[Qwercus]

I've made rustic bird boxes by splitting the log into four segments and then sawing a quadrant from the centre portion of each segment. The four sections are then carefully glued back together, leaving a square cavity inside the log. It's a bit rustic but the birds don't seem to mind, also I've never used logs anywhere near 350mm diameter, six to eight inches is about the norm. Best of luck anyway.


What is the definition of a dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac?.

Someone who lies awake at night wondering if there's such a thing as a Dog.

 

[Rob Platt]

get some silver birch enough for a couple of tables quarter them then take the meat out of the quarters and let them dry slowly for a year or so.
Its not cost you much and you may well end up with useable pieces that you can put back together and make your bedside table from. You may end up making something else instead. Keep the wood you cut out and dry it at the same time.
it may work it may not. I have made quite a few pieces this way over the years.
good luck
all the best
rob