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Sawing wood for turning?

John Torchick

John Torchick

Joined
Jan 24, 2010
Messages
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Location
Cleveland, Tennessee
I keep thinking that there was something on the forum or in the magazine giving guidelines for cutting logs for blanks. Anyone know of this? Maybe something on Youtube? Had loads of wood that need turning. Thanks.
 
I have a bunch of videos up on You Tube, mostly about bowl turning. This includes chainsaw and bandsaw prep of logs for bowl blanks... There are others as well....

robo hippy
 
Reed's video is good. If you have access to a DVD by David Ellsworth or Glenn Lucas, and maybe others, they include a raw woodcutting demonstration in the bowl turning videos. Al Hockenberry probably has a video and John Jordan probably has on a DVD something about deciding how to cut the raw log to get the grain or piece you want.
 
Again, thanks for the information. I have some log sections of some Osage orange, walnut, sassafras, etc. that need to be turned. My wife asked the other day, "What are you going to do with all this wood?" We all know that a woman's question is interpreted as a command.:oops:
 
robo hippy said:
If your wife was a quilter, she wouldn't have to ask....(what you plan to do with all that wood)

robo hippy
Click to expand...

I think your quote also applies to knitters, which, fortunately, my wife is. I don't talk about her yarn stash and she doesn't talk about my wood pile, or my two lifetimes worth of dried bowls waiting for 2nd turning or sanding. We both seem to have strong urges to acquire more.
 
Thanks, John Jordan. My shop is small and has been "dedicated" to a remodel project which is almost done. Cleanup and back to sawing and turning!
 
Cutting a log into bowl blanks leaves a turner with a quandary. I do not have a lathe large enough or slow enough to handle some beautiful large blanks. So there is a pallet in the barn filled with super large bowl blanks One crotch black cherry piece that could be a shallow 24 to 26 inch bowl.
 
PXL_20210311_205820317.jpg
The setup shown is something I came up with to be able to cut down the center of the offset pith of a 12" diameter log on a bandsaw with a 12" capacity. This gives a nicer cut that is more controllable and faster then free handing with with a chain saw.
The jig was made from a 3x 3 birch skid planed down to 2 1/2 square and cut a few inches longer then the log to be ripped, then ripped diagonally. The left hand V block is permanently attached front and back to cross pieces. The open sided jig is placed on the band saw table and the right hand V block is held in place with construction screws thru the slotted holes.
The jig is pulled to the front of the saw table till the rear cross piece is up to the back of the blade, the log is placed into the jig , the fence is adjusted and the cut is made.
 
Interesting set up Don. I have pondered a sled that would do some thing like this. Most of the time, I will stand them on end and cut. The bandsaw dust collection does not like all the hair balls that form when ripping down the pith. I have knocked the bark off, using an axe, and making it at least half way flat, then running it through, generally with a chalk or pencil line down where I am ripping so I am not crossing the pith. I had thought about a half sled so I can push all the way through, but it would require dogs of some sort to keep the log from tipping..... Now, I am going to have this sled on my mind for a long time....

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
Interesting set up Don. I have pondered a sled that would do some thing like this. Most of the time, I will stand them on end and cut. The bandsaw dust collection does not like all the hair balls that form when ripping down the pith. I have knocked the bark off, using an axe, and making it at least half way flat, then running it through, generally with a chalk or pencil line down where I am ripping so I am not crossing the pith. I had thought about a half sled so I can push all the way through, but it would require dogs of some sort to keep the log from tipping..... Now, I am going to have this sled on my mind for a long time....

robo hippy
Click to expand...
The jig was a spur of the moment type thing that I only spent about 1 hour designing and building so I am sure that it could be improved. The biggest improvement would be coming up with a quick way to open the right side chock block to get the jig onto the saw table.
 
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