Turning Green wood

[technium]

I havent yet got my workshop built yet but have been offered a couple of logs for free to practice turning on and was after some advice.

Is turning this newly cut logs ok or is it likely to damage the tools?

How long should you leave freshly cut logs until they are no longer classed as green and how is the best to store them until being worked on at a later date

The logs apparently are about 6" - 8" diameter and about 24" long, are these only suitable for spindle turning or could I use them to practice bowl turning? if so how do I cut them, do I slice them so 6" round disks or slice down the middle so 3" x 24" and then cut the 24" lengths into maybe 6" chunks?

thanks in advance

Colin.

 

[CHJ]

Green wood won't damage your tools, you might want to take care of any wet sap that contaminates your lathe bed and chuck in case the water content promotes rust.

There is a cutting guide in relation to turned forms on my Server.

Slicing across a log to form 'rounds' is about the last thing to do as regards wood selection for turning, more or less guarantied to form splits and cracks.

 

[technium]

Thanks mate thats some great info, and good as I didnt really know how the wood bowl was made from the blank, so I would of cut the wood the wrong way.

thanks again

Colin

 

[Dalboy]

Green wood is great to turn but as Chas stated the water can play havoc with metal parts. I have been converting wood for turning which is green I tend to cut it into rounds making sure the centre is not incorporated within the blank I then seal using emulsion paint left over from decorating and wrap in newspaper which sticks to the paint. I store these with sticks in between to allow for a flow of air.
Sometimes I will turn them green leaving them a good 10% oversize seal the outside and leave that will speed up the drying process.
Even though I do everything above I still loose some through splitting but very few

The link that CHJ pointed you too is very useful.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Turning green wood is fun, great thick long shavings flying over your shoulder, however you will lose a few and end up with some interesting shapes when they dry. I have a good book called "turning green wood" … can't remember who it's by but you'll find it on Amazon.

 

[woodpig]

"Turning green wood" is by Michael O'Donnell. I turned some green willow once just for fun, never again, I got soaked! :lol:

 

[Dalboy]

"Turning green wood" is by Michael O'Donnell. I turned some green willow once just for fun, never again, I got soaked! :lol:

Didn't your mum tell you about Willow she is wet and soppy :lol:

 

[technium]

Thanks all, some good info. I obviously dont have the chance to turn it yet but I will get the logs and keep them ready for when I get to use them.

thanks all. I will also look for that book you mentioned.

 

[Bigbud78]

Thanks all, some good info. I obviously dont have the chance to turn it yet but I will get the logs and keep them ready for when I get to use them.

thanks all. I will also look for that book you mentioned.

Get the ends seals ASAP, preferably as soon as it cut down. Slowing down the moisture loss will help stop the cracking

 

[Honest John]

I was talking to Mark Sanger at one of his Axminster demo days recently. Mark turns most of his wood green, and turns a good deal of it to finished size. The turnings are soaked with Lemon Oil when about half completed, and continually re wetted as final size is neared.the Lemon oil is very thin and soakes right through. It is Marks reasoning that the lemon oil slows down the drying process and prevents excessive movement. He told me that he has very few failures by using this process. When totally dry any finish desired can be applied on top of this. I haven't tried this myself but I intend to give it a go. I have turned a good deal of green wood by using all the usual methods, part turning, microwaving, etc, and have had some good results, but also a good deal of failures/disasters. I intend to explore this technique further because green wood is easily and cheaply available from a variety of sources. It just grows on trees !

 

[CHJ]

Try soaking it in white spirit, slow to evaporate out of the wood and somewhat cheaper than Lemon oil.

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Micks book on turning green wood is excellent he is probably the best exponent of this aspect of the craft an important thing to remember is to keep the wall thickness of bowls at an even thickness this will help prevent differential drying and failure of a project .Also don't just turn one thing turn a few ,turn one and it goes wrong 100percent failure ,turn two and one goes right 50percent success etc etc etc.Another good technique is to sand wet as well using wet and dry paper I think this is covered in Micks book.You can turn end grain bowls with great success from wet or green wood to a finished product ,try to use straight grained timber without knots until you have had plenty of practice don't be too precious with your timber and enjoy turning without the danger of the dreaded dust!Hope this helps and treat yourself to Micks book.

 

[mpcpba]

Any further advice appreciated on this as I am a newbie to green wood too!
I have several lengths of green sycamore and beech aquired from a friendly tree surgeon. Dia from 150mm to 400mm and from 300 to 800 mm long.
Firstly I have used PVA to coat any cut ends. Is this likely to work and reduce splitting to an acceptable level or should I use something else? I don't fancy paint as it surely might stain the bark and make it impossible to do a natural edged bowl?
Secondly should I spend the time now to cut the bigger ones into split down the middle log sections and then coat in PVA or is leaving them 'in the round' likely to be ok for a few months?
And finally I have just turned my first rough bowl blank (leaving it thick sided initially). Some mention was made of soaking it in white spirit or microwaving it to speed up drying time. Does this really work as both sound fraught with challenges! Also what might the best ambient temperature be to promote controlled but brisk bowl blank drying - internal garage, house or airing cupboard?
There seems to be a lot of conflicting info around so any help appreciated!

 

[CHJ]

.... Also what might the best ambient temperature be to promote controlled but brisk bowl blank drying - ..

The latter phrase is an oxymoron as far as wood drying is concerned, unless you have a lot of experience with drying and have gone through the 'That Doesn't Work' experience over a couple of years the best thing you can do is place the item in temperate conditions in its own little micro climate (to even out the air moisture content around it) and forget about it for several weeks or months.

If you find the right spot in your home/workshop you may be lucky and get it dry in a couple of weeks Example.

Note the wrapping of the outside to slow external moisture loss and place bowls upside down on a wire cake rack or wood strips.

 

[mpcpba]

Good tips Chas - many thanks. I'll persevere with the PVA and try leaving some logs whole and some splt and see what happens.
Many thanks for the links to your web pages on which I see you have also placed a lot of other very useful stuff.
I'll try a few different ways with a few different logs / blanks and see what works well- just case of suck it and see
Cheers
Malc

 

[Dalboy]

This is how I store my green blanks. I use either Watered down pva glue or emulsion paint and news paper to seal the blanks. I also mark each blank with the date and weight just for record.

Starting with the logs as collected

Some I had to seal before going any further awaiting bandsaw blade even though still sealed even for a couple of days to prevent/reduce the chance of splitting

Some of the blanks I turn and seal the outside only

Others I cut into rounds these I seal all around the edge and then stack in stick to give a good air circulation

The roughed blanks in stick as well

Any spare pieces which are good for boxes or spindle work are end grain sealed and stacked this rack need to be sorted.

These are all stored undercover with a good through supply of air.

Even a shed made from pallets without filling the gaps and a solid roof makes a good store

 

[mpcpba]

Thanks Dalboy.
Do you mainly turn green bowls side grain or end grain? I have started cutting my green logs down the middle to turn side grain bowls (grain at right angles to lathe bed) as that seems to be mostly recommended. But there is more lost wood that way than just cutting a 'disc' and turning that.
Just wondered whether the bowl loss due to splitting is likely to be a lot worse using log 'discs'?

 

[CHJ]

...Just wondered whether the bowl loss due to splitting is likely to be a lot worse using log 'discs'?

Yes, by a factor an order of magnitude at least.

If you want to see how rapid a piece of drying wood will split, cut a green log into a disk, dependant upon species you may be able to watch it open up in real time.

 

[Dalboy]

If you want to see how rapid a piece of drying wood will split, cut a green log into a disk, dependant upon species you may be able to watch it open up in real time.

Try cherry that will split very easy.

I have just looked at a rough turned bowl in my pile and in less than a month it has gone out of round by 10mm