How to process logs for turning

[wood chipper]

I am being given some myrtle wood and maple logs and would like to know what is the proper way to process them for wood turning blocks and spindles.
And should I have them dried or seal them in wax? Any help on this would
be greatly appreciated. Wood Chipper

 

[Whit]

Hi,

How to process and/or store your logs depends a lot on what you plan to do with them. You mention "turning blocks and spindles."

As a general statement, I would leave the logs as long as you can and still be able to handle them. I would seal the end-grain with Anchorseal or some other green wood sealer. If stored outdoors, I would stack the logs on pallets (usually available free - I get mine from my local Ace Hardware, among other places) and cover them with a tarp of some sort, allowiing air to circulate. Try to locate you wood pile where it doesn't get direct sunlight, if possible.

Since I turrn almost exclusively green/wet wood making bowls, hollow form vessels and such, I don't feel competent to tell you how to dry your wood for spindles. For bowls and such turned green, however, you have a number of choices. For example, you can turn bowls to their finished shape and dimensions, you can rough turn and later re-turn them, you can boil them, microwave them or whatever. Personally I turn them wet to final shape and dimension and welcome the warping I get. And yes, I ocassionally get a crack but if I avoid the pith and keep the wall thickness very consistent I lose less than 1 percent to cracking.

When I'm ready to make a bowl blank, I cut off any cracking on the end of the log, then cut it off at about the same length as its largest diameter (don't forget to reseal the end of the log you're not going to use that day). Next I decide on how I am going to open up the log whether bowl, natural edge bowl, vessel or whatever, and rip it accordingly making sure I will not have the pith in my finished piece unless, for some reason, I want it. I also look at what will be the grain orientation, and so forth.

About the last thing I do outdoors with the chain saw is knock the corners off my bowl blank so I've got a rough octagon. This simply speeds up the roughing and reduces the shavings I have to haul out.

I know there's lot more to be sasid, but I hope this is of some small help.

Whit

 

[dkulze]

Morning, wood.

There are a couple of ways to process the logs. If you're looking for milled billets, just halve the logs, cutting out a slab from the center that includes the pith and about 5% of the thickness of the log to each side of the pith. Mill the remaining wood any way you want and coat the ends with Anchorseal or any other wax emulsion sealer (you can get it at the local woodworking store or most commercial mills). You can then take the slab you've milled out and cut out the pith, leaving two half slabs. In case it's not obvious, the whole point of this is to remove the pith and some surrounding wood. This will go a long ways to preventing cracking.

The second method for processing the wood is to leave it in log sections that are as long as you can resonably handle, coating the ends with Anchorseal. You'll lose a percentage of the log on the ends over time to cracking but you'll keep the log in whole form and it will remain uncracked for a fair bit of time (a few weeks to a few months, depending on the wood).

The final comment I'd make is about turning green or letting dry. Green wood tends to turn easier than dry but, if you turn green, the wood will move and warp as it dries. This can be either a feature or a problem. If you want to end up with true round pieces, turn to about 10% of the largest measurement of the piece, coat the whole darned thing with anchorseal, and let dry. Then remount and turn true to the final thickness. Otherwise, turn to final thickness and do all sanding while still green, then let it move and see what you get. Personally, that's my favorite way of doing it.

Hope this helps.
Dietrich

 

[wood chipper]

Thanks

Thanks for the help guys and I will do as you say. I am new to wood turning so all in put is greatly appreciated. Thanks again. Wood Chipper

 

[Gary]

Green wood???

Here is a link to a black walnut bowl that was turned from a log about 2 months old.

http://www.woodturner.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=597

It did not crack, but it did warp; especially in the area of a knot/bark inclusion (???)