So they have stopped bulk pick up here in phoenix a while back. Now it is by appointment only. I used to be able to go around to the areas that were scheduled for pick up, and come home with all types of wood. Now i cant do that, and i am running out of my supply. Buying turning blanks is expensive. Where do you all find your wood at.
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Finding wood
- Thread starter Michael Scussel
- Start date
Make friends with a couple of tree services. You'll have all you can handle.
Tree service guys. Use the beer economy if necessary.
Yup the tree guys are your best friends 
Tree service, by all means. My neighbor has a sideline tree service. Scored some Bradford pear this spring.
Edit: Does your county or city have a parks department? Sometimes they trim trees or cut up downed trees.
Edit: Does your county or city have a parks department? Sometimes they trim trees or cut up downed trees.
Besides the tree services, you might check with the local road maintenance people. I stopped when I noticed some trimming trees on the highway right-of-way and told them what I was looking for. I had a good place for them to dump so they started bringing me good logs. (Besides woodturning, I have a sawmill.) Eventually I got more than I could use and asked them to stop.
I also contacted several tree service companies. When taking down useful trees they would call me and I'd come with a trailer if it was wood I wanted. They would load chunks or logs on the trailer (A boom truck can work as a crane). Again, I started getting more logs and chunks that I could use.
Around here, of course, there are many great tree species - cherry, oak, walnut, maple, persimmon, cedar, sweetgum, holly, ash, bradford pear, etc. (I have such trees on the ground now.) Don't know what's common and useful in your area. One friend drove her station wagon from somewhere without good hardwoods just to haul some back.
I also contacted several tree service companies. When taking down useful trees they would call me and I'd come with a trailer if it was wood I wanted. They would load chunks or logs on the trailer (A boom truck can work as a crane). Again, I started getting more logs and chunks that I could use.
Around here, of course, there are many great tree species - cherry, oak, walnut, maple, persimmon, cedar, sweetgum, holly, ash, bradford pear, etc. (I have such trees on the ground now.) Don't know what's common and useful in your area. One friend drove her station wagon from somewhere without good hardwoods just to haul some back.
John K., we live in a termite's paradise. I have different types of wood, too lazy in days gone by to label them. Now it's a wild guess.
Some times the city will have a "log dump" where you are allowed to dump logs, and a permit is used to absolve the city from litigation. Locally, we had a business open up called "Slaberinth" where the tree services can dump for free, and the owner sells logs and slabs. If you give a tree guy one bowl, they love it. If you give them 2, they call you when they are taking some thing down you might be interested in. If you give them more, they swing by your house with log sections. Most of the time, cut into firewood lengths. Chainsaw and hand truck, don't leave home without them....
robo hippy
robo hippy
I've known serious woodturners who would have a small swing hoist (crane?) mounted in corner of their pickup truck bed to load heavy chunks.
Most people are glad to give away whole logs - keeps them from having to deal with cutting, moving, disposing.
I used to haul trailers full of logs this way:
- load the excavator or tractor onto the trailer and drive to the tree site.
- use the equipment to load the logs.
- leave the equipment at the site and pull the trailer home with the logs.
- unload the logs somehow at the farm.
- drive the trailer back to fetch the equipment.
What a pain.
An easier method to load cylindrical logs is to haul the trailer to the site along with two sturdy ramps and a long length of chain. Use "parbuckling" to roll the logs onto the trailer. Surprisingly easy - far easier than lifting big chunks of wood by hand. Sometimes I can roll the log up the ramps pulling the chain by hand, sometimes with a vehicle. I use a couple of 10' lengths of 4x4" steel i-beams for ramps. (Note there are several variations of parbuckling, some easier than others.)
If you come to my place for wood I'll hold the logs off the ground for cutting up chunks, then load the pieces into your vehicle/trailer. Or load into the dump trailer and haul it you your place. If you live close enough.
JKJ
JKJ, great ideas. My lathe is only 12X16 so I'm limited in what I can use.
Ah, spindles, boxes, goblets, ring keepers, lots of things! I used to turn on a Jet mini (would haul it places) and love to turn smaller things.
Just for fun, most of the things in these pics can easily be turned on a small lathe.
(Except for the shovel handle and the french-style rolling pins!)
Every time I process wet log sections into turning blanks I make a bunch of blanks for spindle turning, squares 1" and smaller, up to 3-4" - the thin squares dry quickly too! (It's rare that I turn wood that's not completely dry.)
JKJ
So many turnings, so little time. Concentrating on things to display at the local antique and crafts venue.
I get a lot of wood off of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, all for free
In my younger days, I didn't need a crane to lift things up. I may have to change that now that I am "older".... Or is that "seasoned"
robo hippy
robo hippy
Funny people know i do woodwork and they occasionally give some, i then return the kindness by making something for them. Recently recieved some 100 year old Boxwood. So I took apiece and made a shoe horn for the donor. But if you live in a big city it's a little harder . My two cents
I like your thinking!
Is there a lot of woodturning in your are, clubs and such? In my travels around Italy, mostly in the north but on occasion down to Rome, I've encountered very few woodturners. We have friends in Merano, north of Bolzano. The furthest west I've been is Milan to visit a friend in uni there. Two girls from Merano came to visit our farm, each for a month in the summer (in different years.) I gave them both woodturning lessons and they made things to take home!
This friend from Merano made a bowl from Eastern Red Cedar as part of her 2nd lesson. (The first lesson was spindle turning)
Here she is turning the far inside with the lathe in reverse, Hunter Hercules tool.
This girl from Merano made the ring keeper on the far right from some wood a friend brought to me from Australia. Small world! Wonderful people everywhere!
I found one guy in a shop in Venice that had some turned things in his window. In "talking" to him (I don't speak the language) I showed him pictures and gave him some finger tops. He got excited and wanted to show me his lathe. It was a Dewalt drill clamped to the workbench with a nail in a board for the tailstock. I so much wanted to send him a Jet Mini lathe.
In Merano, we visited an after-school organization that had a variety of activities for teens. The director said they could get a lathe and wanted me to think about teaching remotely over the internet. I teach a lot but I couldn't imagine being effective without physically being there.
The only other woodturner I met was in the mountains near the northern border - he had a fairly large lathe, used scraping tools, and turned furniture parts. He showed a stack of photos of his work - everything was pine.
JKJ
Nice reading your experience. I am 1 hour nw of Milan. In truth there was a large old saw mill about 25k away They have been winding down for the last 2 years ( sadly) but periodically I would go and buy a load of wood, now have probably 10 years supply. But still try to find the odd burl, or y branch . I am not so proud and will try and turn anything into something useful . Happy travels, when in this area let me knowI like your thinking!
Is there a lot of woodturning in your are, clubs and such? In my travels around Italy, mostly in the north but on occasion down to Rome, I've encountered very few woodturners. We have friends in Merano, north of Bolzano. The furthest west I've been is Milan to visit a friend in uni there. Two girls from Merano came to visit our farm, each for a month in the summer (in different years.) I gave them both woodturning lessons and they made things to take home!
This friend from Merano made a bowl from Eastern Red Cedar as part of her 2nd lesson. (The first lesson was spindle turning)
Here she is turning the far inside with the lathe in reverse, Hunter Hercules tool.
View attachment 87737 View attachment 87733
This girl from Merano made the ring keeper on the far right from some wood a friend brought to me from Australia. Small world! Wonderful people everywhere!
View attachment 87734 View attachment 87735
I found one guy in a shop in Venice that had some turned things in his window. In "talking" to him (I don't speak the language) I showed him pictures and gave him some finger tops. He got excited and wanted to show me his lathe. It was a Dewalt drill clamped to the workbench with a nail in a board for the tailstock. I so much wanted to send him a Jet Mini lathe.
In Merano, we visited an after-school organization that had a variety of activities for teens. The director said they could get a lathe and wanted me to think about teaching remotely over the internet. I teach a lot but I couldn't imagine being effective without physically being there.
The only other woodturner I met was in the mountains near the northern border - he had a fairly large lathe, used scraping tools, and turned furniture parts. He showed a stack of photos of his work - everything was pine.
JKJ