Cutting up a large log?

[Jon Rista]

I picked up a bunch of wood late last year, from an arborist friend of my parents. He has MOUNTAINS of wood...10-12 feet tall some of them, mountains. He has mostly pine, cottonwood, and a few other native species for Colorado, but he also had some more interesting woods. One was Weeping Willow, and I nabbed a pretty nice sized log of it. It had been drying, oh, quite some time, probably a couple of years...so its got some cracks. I have never cut up a log this large into blanks before...and I am honestly wondering how to proceed. I had hoped to use some of it for a vase, but, I am thinking that might not really be an option with the cracking, and I'd like to get the most out of the wood that is available here, so I am wondering how it could best be diced up.

Dimensions are about ~9-11" D x 31-35" L. It is relatively light weight, so I don't think there is much moisture left, but I can't say that with certainty, there may still be some in the core. One end is a bit angled, the other relatively flat. One side has an area where the bark was torn off before the tree was cut down (not sure how much figure might be in that area, hoping some!)

 

[Kevin Jenness]

Now that's what I call "crappy wood". A small log of stringy wood with heavy end checking, stained sapwood and one face damaged. A challenge to get something good out of, and an opportunity to test your gouge technique.

I would start by cutting back the ends to eliminate major checks. You may end up with a nub. To make a vase of any size you will have to incorporate the pith, which will probably check more unless (posssibly even if) you saturate it with ca glue. You may be able to get some bowl blanks 3-4" x 7-8" or so. There could be some interesting figure around the branch stubs, but they are close enough to the end that they will probably be badly checked. Or, you could turn the entire piece checks and all and fill them with brightly colored plastic. Have at it!

 

[John K Jordan]

I agree it will be a challenge and you might not get much useful wood. I cut up a freshly green weeping willow a storm took down and the wood isn’t great, soft and a little stringy. (but maybe similar or better than cottonwood, I don’t know.)

If your bandsaw will handle 12” you can use it, maybe with a chainsaw to make a flat spot for the bandsaw table or use the plywood method. My video on processing wood with a bandsaw may help. (It’s in the Tutorials/Tips section.) I’ve cut up plenty of log sections that big and bigger.

I’d also start cutting back on the end and see how deep the cracks go. If the visible cracks go away at some point beware of invisible cracks: cut off an additional thin slice, say less than 14”, and see if it breaks apart when bending it a little.

If cracks are deep or all the way down the length, but with a little solid wood between, I’d personally cut it into spindle blanks. You’d have to experiment with turning any pieces you get to decide if it’s worth it. If the wood gets significantly better as you remove the ends, before bandsawing it usually makes it easier to crosscut the log into two or more shorter lengths.

Of course, if you like to turn things with cracks, maybe there will some with enough solid wood to do it safely. No way to know without cutting into it.

Well-established advice is to turn green wood (log sections) as soon as possible after cutting down the tree. Wait too long it often degrades too much to be useful.

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

Seriously, burn it. Weeping willow doesn't have any real great qualities to begin with. Stringy, and not very attractive. You could make 2 or 3 nice things in the time you'll spend trying to salvage anything from this log. If he has that much wood available, I'm sure you can quickly find many better pieces to work with.

 

[Jaramiah Severns]

Totally agree that this is better off as firewood. My father-in-law recently cut down a weeping willow that he’d planted with my wife when she was young. Thought it would be nice to create a keepsake bowl from one of the logs. What a mistake. Super soft, tear out everywhere no matter how often I sharpened, not a particularly pretty wood…the least fun I’ve had at the lathe in long time.

 

[DON FRANK]

Cut a foot of the end and see if the punk and cracks disappear. If not cut another foot off. There could be a center section that is salvageable but I'd bet against it.

 

[Don Wattenhofer]

I would say firewood except that it isn't any good as firewood.

 

[David Wyke]

My son had a weeping willow come down in a storm a couple months ago. Nice size tree but I had never turned it. Cutting it up green it looked stringy and when I cut some dry limbs it was very stringy. I hauled two dump trailers of it off and decided it wasn’t worth turning. Dumped it at the farm and when it dries out may use it for kindling, I think it would burn like a piece of paper when dry.

 

[hockenbery]

you might be seeing a pattern in the answers.

If you cut 4” off each end you might find a crack free blank in the middle- unlikely - but in a saw cut you get the answers.

Willow in general is tough turn for newbies. It is soft a prone to tearout and fuzzing up it you try scraping it.
A sharp tool and light cuts it can be turned.

Your piece fresh cut might have made a couple of nice NE bowls with interesting rim contours
Looks well past the use by date.

 

[hockenbery]

but he also had some more interesting woods. One was Weeping Willow, and I nabbed a pretty nice sized log of it. It had been drying, oh, quite some time,

Colorado has loads of various nonnative hardwoods planted in communities. Look for fresh cut logs that haven’t dried and cracked.

you might be seeing a pattern in the answers about the willow log.
That blank looks unsafe to turn.

If you cut 4” off each end you might find a crack free blank in the middle- unlikely - but in a saw cut you get the answers.

Willow in general is tough turn for newbies. It is soft and prone to tearout and fuzzing up it you try scraping it.
A sharp gouge and light cuts it can be turned.

Your piece fresh cut might have made a couple of nice NE bowls with interesting rim contours
Looks well past the use by date.

 

[Richard Coers]

As Crocodile Dundee would say, "That's not a large log", THIS is a large log.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

Walking through Scotland on the Great Glen Way, came across this timber yesterday. Think I can get a piece in my carry-on bag?

 

[Jon Rista]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like the only thing its going to be good for is a decoration. Which I think, is what I'm going to use it for. I will be xeriscaping part of my yard, maybe this year, probably next. I'll toss this in there as a decorative piece. Sounds like that is the only use for it!

 

[Jim Grieco]

You could also try your hand at power carving with this log
On a side note, if you do not know already, cottonwood is a nice wood for bowls and hollow forms

 

[Richard Coers]

You could also try your hand at power carving with this log
On a side note, if you do not know already, cottonwood is a nice wood for bowls and hollow forms

Except for the cow urine smell!

 

[Jon Rista]

You could also try your hand at power carving with this log
On a side note, if you do not know already, cottonwood is a nice wood for bowls and hollow forms

Oh, I don't know if I have the time or patience to carve it.

I do, however, have a lot of cottonwood. The guy with the wood mountains, had a small hill just of cottonwood. I have turned a bunch of it, but I still have plenty left. Some people really hate cottonwood, but I find it turns well, turns fairly easily, and takes on a really nice sheen when finished.

Except for the cow urine smell!

Where are you getting your wood??

I have turned a fair amount of cottonwood, I can't say it ever smelled like anything's urine. Its interesting the things different people smell when turning various woods. On another forum, someone started a thread about, it was either padauk or purpleheart, that smelled like cow manure? Other people chimed in saying the same wood smelled nice or even sweet. People had all their stories about what different woods smelled like...

I've turned some wood, unknown to be perfectly honest, that smelled pretty bad...the poo of some kind of creature. I only got a couple whiffs, as I generally try NOT to smell any wood, wood dust and me don't mix at all, so I'm always wearing a respirator. Still, its interesting how woods can smell good or horrid, depending on the person.

For the most part, when I smell wood, it smells like wood... Its pretty rare that I think wood smells different. I think mostly fruit woods, are where I smell something, and its usually a sweet smell (sometimes semi-similar to the fruit, but often just a sweet smell that is quite different from the smell of the same tree's fruit.) Padauk doesn't smell like anything in particular really, but, its dust causes SEVERE problems for me. Purpleheart sometimes smells slightly pungent, but again, I have a harder time with its dust. Yellowheart has sometimes smelled a little sweet. There are a couple of woods that I think smell, a little putrid? I had some random cutoffs of wood from a bin and I don't know what kind of woods they were...but, given they were cutoffs and who knows where they came from, I honestly wonder if the putridity was natural to the wood....or, perhaps, some other environmental saturation factor that seeped into the wood?

 

[John K Jordan]

its interesting how woods can smell good or horrid, depending on the person.

Everyone I know loves the smell of Sassafras while turning. (Root beer was traditionally made using an extract of Sassafras.)

We have a LOT of Sassafras here, grows like a weed, some trees are tall and trunks 18"+ diameter.
The wood is fairly coarse grain, not as dense as cherry or walnut.
The wood has a nice "ring", sometimes used in guitars and dulcimers; I've made music boxes from Sassafras.

JKJ

 

[Jim Grieco]

Its interesting the things different people smell when turning various woods.

Funny you say this - I swear Bubinga smells like popcorn when cutting/sanding!

 

[Brian Gustin]

Where are you getting your wood??

I'd ask the same of him - but I'd wonder if it was sourced from barnyard trees... some trees can pick up the smells of surrounding environment especially if it is from groundwater - Many years ago when I was a kid, there was a pine tree on our property that was growing in an area where septic system was leaking (near the leach bed) - when it was finally cut down, the whole tree while it was being cut up stank to high heaven, not like any pine you ever smelled...

 

[Jon Rista]

I'd ask the same of him - but I'd wonder if it was sourced from barnyard trees... some trees can pick up the smells of surrounding environment especially if it is from groundwater - Many years ago when I was a kid, there was a pine tree on our property that was growing in an area where septic system was leaking (near the leach bed) - when it was finally cut down, the whole tree while it was being cut up stank to high heaven, not like any pine you ever smelled...

I wonder if ground water is also how the manure smell can get into the wood? A guy over on the IAP forums insisted his wood (pretty sure it was purpleheart) smelled of cow dung. I think I asked if it had been sourced from a manure pile, but, I guess ground water from cow pastures sucked up by the roots, is probably a better explanation.

 

[hughie]

Well if the wood is valuable, in the past I have sealed the bottom end, stood it up right and filled with a very slow setting epoxy resin. I have one that take 2-3 hours to off it works just fine, no bubbles all good. But this one? I think the consensus my be right.

 

[Scott Hargrove]

Oh, I don't know if I have the time or patience to carve it.

I do, however, have a lot of cottonwood. The guy with the wood mountains, had a small hill just of cottonwood. I have turned a bunch of it, but I still have plenty left. Some people really hate cottonwood, but I find it turns well, turns fairly easily, and takes on a really nice sheen when finished.



Where are you getting your wood??

I have turned a fair amount of cottonwood, I can't say it ever smelled like anything's urine. Its interesting the things different people smell when turning various woods. On another forum, someone started a thread about, it was either padauk or purpleheart, that smelled like cow manure? Other people chimed in saying the same wood smelled nice or even sweet. People had all their stories about what different woods smelled like...

I've turned some wood, unknown to be perfectly honest, that smelled pretty bad...the poo of some kind of creature. I only got a couple whiffs, as I generally try NOT to smell any wood, wood dust and me don't mix at all, so I'm always wearing a respirator. Still, its interesting how woods can smell good or horrid, depending on the person.

For the most part, when I smell wood, it smells like wood... Its pretty rare that I think wood smells different. I think mostly fruit woods, are where I smell something, and its usually a sweet smell (sometimes semi-similar to the fruit, but often just a sweet smell that is quite different from the smell of the same tree's fruit.) Padauk doesn't smell like anything in particular really, but, its dust causes SEVERE problems for me. Purpleheart sometimes smells slightly pungent, but again, I have a harder time with its dust. Yellowheart has sometimes smelled a little sweet. There are a couple of woods that I think smell, a little putrid? I had some random cutoffs of wood from a bin and I don't know what kind of woods they were...but, given they were cutoffs and who knows where they came from, I honestly wonder if the putridity was natural to the wood....or, perhaps, some other environmental saturation factor that seeped into the wood?

The pecan wood from my yard here in southeast Georgia smells very much like cow manure until it's well dried. The African blackwood I've turned smells a little like black licorice. The local olive wood I've turned smells sweet and vaguely fermented, like wine.
Many woods have a fairly distinct smell, like yellow pine, oak, or sassafras, but as you say, most woods smell like... wood.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

The most pungent description of wood I have read said ipe smells like the devil's throne room. Can confirm.

 

[Dean Center]

Jon, I know you don't like the idea of crossing Denver, but the Rocky Mountain Woodturners have a wood lot where they collect and distribute locally harvested trees, as does the city of Boulder. Landscape trees, like walnut, honeylocust, ash, maple, etc are irregularly available. You might contact the city forestry department in Aurora or other suburbs you'd be willing to travel to, to see if they also have a lot or yard with wood that can be taken home. Local arborists are another good source for hardwoods. (Too bad the tonier suburbs are so new in your area--no 100 year old trees coming down)

One native Colorado wood that is easy and pleasant to turn is aspen. If you get an old tree, it can be very pretty, and it is substantially less stringy than other members of the populus genus.

 

[Jon Rista]

Jon, I know you don't like the idea of crossing Denver, but the Rocky Mountain Woodturners have a wood lot where they collect and distribute locally harvested trees, as does the city of Boulder. Landscape trees, like walnut, honeylocust, ash, maple, etc are irregularly available. You might contact the city forestry department in Aurora or other suburbs you'd be willing to travel to, to see if they also have a lot or yard with wood that can be taken home. Local arborists are another good source for hardwoods. (Too bad the tonier suburbs are so new in your area--no 100 year old trees coming down)

One native Colorado wood that is easy and pleasant to turn is aspen. If you get an old tree, it can be very pretty, and it is substantially less stringy than other members of the populus genus.

Where is Rocky Mountain Woodturners? I don't mind making a trip every so often. Its more the need to drive every day, that I try to avoid. I have a good amount of honeylocust...picked some up after arborists cut down several, oh, several years ago now. I would love a good source of Walnut, though...one of my favorite woods. I like the darker woods. Ash is ok. Lot of it in my neighborhood, and I grab what I can whenever someone has one cut down. Maple is also plentiful around here, although...they don't seem to die very often. The ones within my area are, maybe 30 years old or thereabouts...so they are still pretty much just beginning their lives. If they aren't killed by people spraying herbicides and such, they could last another 50-100 years I think. Imagine the wood from old trees like that.

I've turned a bit of aspen. Its a wood I enjoy. I only had a few chunks of it, though...it would be nice to get more. I like the nature of the heartwood to sapwood transition...its not just a hard seam, it seems to be more like a....splat shape. If that makes sense? I've always liked that about aspen.

 

[hockenbery]

Where is Rocky Mountain Woodturners? I don't mind making a trip every so often.

They meet I Loveland. I’ve been fortunate to attend a few of their meetings.
They have some of the best turners in the world as mambers.
Freindly talented sharing

Home - Rocky Mountain Woodturners

A chapter of the American Association of Woodturners devoted to education, resources, and ideas about the craft of woodturning

www.rmwt.org

 

[John K Jordan]

The ones within my area are, maybe 30 years old or thereabouts...they could last another 50-100 years I think. Imagine the wood from old trees like that

We've got a lot of old trees here. I measured some on my property over 11' in circumference and have see larger when wandering around forests. About 20 years ago a long horizontal limb died on one such tree and when I cut it off I counted about 100 annual rings. You probably know how rings grow in reaction wood:



Then, some years later the whole tree came down. Here's the top. Took me a while to clean up. Too bad I don't turn big stuff.



JKJ

 

[Jon Rista]

View attachment 75208

That thing was a giant!

 

[Steve Tiedman]

@John K Jordan that tree is (was) a widowmaker, for sure.

As for willow, I've never turned it. Seeing how easily it comes apart in Midwestern storms, I figured it must be a pretty weak wood, so I never bothered.

As for stinky turning wood, back in my early turning days as I developed into a pen turning specialist (haven't made one in over 15 years now), I came across a small chunk of green-toned lignum vitae. Holy smokes! Wood Database says the odor is perfume-like, and maybe others would agree, but I could not stand that odor at all! Admittedly, most perfumes and colognes will chase me out of the room, so maybe it was a similar reaction. I think with the one pen I made, I may have allowed several days of open air exposure to allow it to mellow some, and maybe wiped it down with mineral spirits, too. Finish was likely a 1:1:1 ratio of poly varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits, that seemed to have sealed it up.

Lignum Vitae | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

 

[John K Jordan]

tI came across a small chunk of green-toned lignum vitae.

I love that stuff!

I’ve turned and milled the true lignum vitae (green/brown), the Argentine lignum vitae (a bit more brownish green), and the related Verawood. All are waxy/oily, hard and heavy. True lignum vitae is getting hard to find, as is the Argentine, listed as endangered, and very expensive. When buying either, verawood is sometimes substituted - what I have has more of a yellowish green color. They are difficult to tell apart from the side grain, but easy from the end grain.

I still have a good stock from a dozen years ago, some pieces large. I save them for special uses.

I’ve turned things from these and up close the tiny patterns in the wood are unique and fascinating. Lignum vitae is so hard it’s not easy to turn - the genuine stuff is on the Wood Database list as the 2nd hardest in the world:

Top Ten Hardest Woods | The Wood Database

www.wood-database.com

I’ve never applied any kind of finish. I’ve also used them for mechanical parts when I didn’t have the right chunks of steel or aluminum. Easy to machine on the mill and metal lathe.

I don’t find the odor objectionable, although distinctive.

JKJ