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Buried “treasure” (not!)

Lou Jacobs

Lou Jacobs

Joined
Jul 18, 2018
Messages
1,286
Likes
2,690
Location
Baltimore, MD
Website
loujacobswoodturning.com
I was walking in the neighborhood on Saturday and found a neighbor having an arborist taking down a 14” sugar maple. Got to talking and he was happy to let me have as much as I cared to take away. I came back with the car and took home 8 pieces which yielded 18 bowl blanks between 9” and 12”. Today I was rough turning and came across this grown over nail. I tried gouging it out, but after breaking off the end a couple of times with a vice-grip, it became clear that it wanted to stay where it was. I believe the stain up near the rim of the blank is the other end of the nail.3E712E06-6EBD-4A08-AC96-BA44A9354A39.jpeg I got through most of my pile today, with about 5 pieces left to rough turn tomorrow. All the rest have been smooth, sweet-smelling turning. I gave him and the arborist each a bowl from my finished work, and promised the neighbor a couple of bowls when I finish turn his maple in a few months.
 
You must be pretty talented to get that nail positioned that way. My guess is you have not turned the inside yet so you could cut the wood away starting at the exposed end until you can get the nail out of there, then modify the bowl form enough to clear away the damaged wood.
 
Talented? Not sure how you figure that Don. Tongue-in-cheek maybe? I was completely unaware of the nail until I started feeling the click, click, click of the gouge hitting it. You’re right, I have not turned the inside yet, so I may be able to carefully turn away most of the wood covering the nail, then chisel it out, then finish and move to the inside. (I just had an image of the nail slowly being uncovered, and suddenly launching itself out of the blank. What a way to go, killed by a nail thrown from my turning! I’ll keep the lathe speed slow, and myself out of the line of fire.). The bowl will wind up quite a bit smaller than originally envisioned. Hmmm, Just started thinking if there’s a way to leave the nail in, as a curiosity....nah, I’ll just get to it after I finish roughing the other pieces in the batch.
 
Lou Jacobs said:
Tongue-in-cheek maybe
Click to expand...
That would be it!
As far as getting the nail out of there I didn't say anything about further turning to expose it.
The safest method would be hand tools like expendable bench chisels.
A method that may work would be to drill with say a 3/16" twist drill (not a brad point) a series of holes along the expected path until the drill hits the nail and if it slides off to one side adjust the next hole accordingly. The holes will make the chiseling that much easier.
 
Lou Jacobs said:
I was walking in the neighborhood on Saturday and found a neighbor having an arborist taking down a 14” sugar maple. Got to talking and he was happy to let me have as much as I cared to take away. I came back with the car and took home 8 pieces which yielded 18 bowl blanks between 9” and 12”. Today I was rough turning and came across this grown over nail. I tried gouging it out, but after breaking off the end a couple of times with a vice-grip, it became clear that it wanted to stay where it was. I believe the stain up near the rim of the blank is the other end of the nail.View attachment 35296 I got through most of my pile today, with about 5 pieces left to rough turn tomorrow. All the rest have been smooth, sweet-smelling turning. I gave him and the arborist each a bowl from my finished work, and promised the neighbor a couple of bowls when I finish turn his maple in a few months.
Click to expand...
Firewood!!!....don't waste your time. OR - take it back under warranty and get a replacement. :D
 
Lou Jacobs said:
You’re right Tom. I wasted my time yesterday and got the nail out. By the time I had cut away the iron sick wood under it, I’ve got about a six inch bowl for my trouble, and another few cubic feet of shavings to get rid of. I would have been better off tossing it immediately.
Click to expand...
Yep. Had you tossed it in a fire, the nail would have been much easier to remove.
 
Lou Jacobs said:
You’re right Tom. I wasted my time yesterday and got the nail out. By the time I had cut away the iron sick wood under it, I’ve got about a six inch bowl for my trouble, and another few cubic feet of shavings to get rid of. I would have been better off tossing it immediately.
Click to expand...
A concave outside contour may have worked plus introducing you to a different form then you are used to, but it is still valuable practice and those extra shavings make good garden compost or paths.
 
I have chiseled out around them before, leaving room so I don't hit the nail, and then use vice grips. If you have V10 or M42 HSS tools, the nail won't ruin the tool edge, but you will need to sharpen again. If you ever run into a lead bullet, they don't make any noise at all.

robo hippy
 
Thanks for this Robo. I was curious that there were no nicks in the gouge. You’ve explained. I’ve never hit a bullet. Most of my wood is from urban/suburban trees, and in spite of what some people think of Baltimore, no bullets yet. I’ve been in sawmills where they have collections of boars with random metal inclusions including bullets, fence material, and even grown over maple sap spiles.
 
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