Collecting wood - just lucky?

[Stiggy]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering where you get your wood from?

I bought what I thought was a green grocers apple box of oak offcuts for silly money from one of our suppliers at work - turned out to be a meter cube crate!

Some bloke who came in to buy a few fence panels who works next door brought me some joinery mahogany, oak and ash(?) as he turns as well;

Am I just lucky?

 

[NickWelford]

Jammy.

 

[markslathe]

Yes your lucky,

Yesterday whilst walking the dog,i spotted fellas cutting down a MASSIVE sycamore tree ,so thought i would pop back today to stake my claim,sadly the lot had gone :| ,

I should have gone first thing as it was at night i spotted it,but had things to do earlier today so didn't have time to go early :evil:

 

[woodfarmer]

What do you mean "Just" ??

 

[Dalboy]

You lucky man Stiggy It is just great when you get some free wood it means you can get some more turning done.

Yes your lucky,

Yesterday whilst walking the dog,i spotted fellas cutting down a MASSIVE sycamore tree ,so thought i would pop back today to stake my claim,sadly the lot had gone :| ,

I should have gone first thing as it was at night i spotted it,but had things to do earlier today so didn't have time to go early :evil:

The lesson learnt is don't put it off otherwise you miss out. Even if you knock on the door when you saw it you can arrange to return later

 

[Paul Hannaby]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering where you get your wood from?

Didn't you know, it grows on trees! ;-)

 

[Stiggy]

Got this Yew log given to me today...apparently it has been sat in the bloke's garage for almost 20 years.

He said he refused to give it away to lots of people because they just wanted to burn it.

Below the log are 3 more bits of great wood given to me by some mad bloke near Reading I met at the weekend!

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

yeah...you see when I give you yew it's already blanked and end sealed....the other log...I mean it's just taking the mickey isn't it

 

[Bm101]

When I was about 20 and as clueless as a box of retarded frogs, I helped the farmer whose land I was staying on roll a 5 foot round elm burr from a trailer down a rocky slope in North Wales to rest on some overgrown landfill and rot. When I think about that now, and I still do occasionally it nearly brings tears to my eyes.To paraphrase Platoon, 'Looking back, the enemy was us.' Some people regret taking drugs and sleeping about. I enjoyed all that. I do regret that Elm burr though.

 

[Stiggy]

yeah...you see when I give you yew it's already blanked and end sealed....the other log...I mean it's just taking the mickey isn't it

Hehehe!

He's not as nice as you mate!

:wink:

 

[Mal]

I have access to a lot of Yew, cut down in the grounds of a private school I have been working in. Apparently, it was felled about a year ago and I've had some in my garage for about 4 months now, but whatever I turn, just ends up splitting. Probably not dry enough yet? No idea how long I'll have to wait.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Mal, the rule of thumb is 1 year drying time per inch of thickness plus a year! This means for a 2 " planked green log, its 3 years drying time. So drying is precisely your problem and you need to adjust your expectation way out in time. You also need to end seal the logs with emulsion paint or pva or wax to slow down the water loss.

What happens is you turn the wood (green) and end up with a nice piece, you bring it into a warm, centrally heated room (worse thing you can possibly do) and then it loses water unevenly between the pith and the rest of the piece and the cracking and warping begins.

You need ideally to get them out of the round and blank them to reduce both their size and the amount of pith and then endseal and then sit back and relax as they will take a lot of time. I don't personally microwave but I hear it can work and you could also search for that on the forum.

 

[Mal]

Thanks Bob!
I have a log that is about 10'' diameter, so I guess I'll be able to turn it in 2022
I never knew turners had to be so patient

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Thanks Bob!
I have a log that is about 10'' diameter, so I guess I'll be able to turn it in 2022
I never knew turners had to be so patient

Well this is precisely why the logs need to be cut into blanks. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that a log of that size left in the round will in fact never dry in the middle. So the trick is to either cut them into smaller blanks or for bowls you can rough turn them when green leaving think walls (say about an inch for arguments sake) and then wrap them in newspaper and store somewhere cool for 6 months after which you remount and finish turn them. The rough turning being to remove the bulk of the wood to accelerate drying time. It's not an exact science but it's a commonly used method.

With planked spindle blanks you either need to wait for them to air dry according to the formula already discussed or kiln dry them or microwave.

 

[Jacob]

http://www.walesoncraic.com/man-uses-piece-of-wood-he-put-in-garage-in-1982-because-it-might-come-in-handy-in-the-future/

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Now that's funny

 

[Rhossydd]

I never knew turners had to be so patient

You'd better believe it.
Once you start to get into acquiring interesting newly cut wood or buying properly thick timber, you have to realise that managing wood for turning is a seriously long term proposition.
I've got thick blanks cut over twenty five years ago waiting for their turn under the lathe bench.
What's also scary is seeing how cheaply I bought timber in the late 80s, some of which is practically unobtainable now.

Then you get the dilemma of "Is this project worth that bit of rare and valuable timber for ?"

 

[alexf]

I have access to a lot of Yew, cut down in the grounds of a private school I have been working in. Apparently, it was felled about a year ago and I've had some in my garage for about 4 months now, but whatever I turn, just ends up splitting. Probably not dry enough yet? No idea how long I'll have to wait.

I find that using Yew branchwood, no matter how long I have stored it, cracks will appear when the finished article is brought into the house. Now I just work with this. I finish the turning without polishing and make sure I still have a chucking point, bring it into the house and leave it for a week. Sure enough, cracks will appear. I then fill the cracks with superglue and either brass, copper or bronze powder and sandpaper the finished product. I can now polish and finish it without it cracking any more.

 

[Mal]

I have access to a lot of Yew, cut down in the grounds of a private school I have been working in. Apparently, it was felled about a year ago and I've had some in my garage for about 4 months now, but whatever I turn, just ends up splitting. Probably not dry enough yet? No idea how long I'll have to wait.

I find that using Yew branchwood, no matter how long I have stored it, cracks will appear when the finished article is brought into the house. Now I just work with this. I finish the turning without polishing and make sure I still have a chucking point, bring it into the house and leave it for a week. Sure enough, cracks will appear. I then fill the cracks with superglue and either brass, copper or bronze powder and sandpaper the finished product. I can now polish and finish it without it cracking any more.

Thanks all, some great tips here, loving all the help

 

[Wuffles]

When I was about 20 and as clueless as a box of retarded frogs, I helped the farmer whose land I was staying on roll a 5 foot round elm burr from a trailer down a rocky slope in North Wales to rest on some overgrown landfill and rot. When I think about that now, and I still do occasionally it nearly brings tears to my eyes.To paraphrase Platoon, 'Looking back, the enemy was us.' Some people regret taking drugs and sleeping about. I enjoyed all that. I do regret that Elm burr though.

I love this post, made me smile.

When I moved into the place I am in now, I bought the house (and the equipment that couldn't be moved easily) from a wood turner. He charged me for the lathe and tools, but left me a very large pile of decent sized lumpbs of timber in the corner of the stable.

I've since added to that pile and not used the original ones, but it does make me smile when I read things like the post above - it wasn't long ago that I'd have burned them on a bonfire being totally clueless about their value, both in terms of usability but cash too.