Segmented Turning Wood Selection

[John Abt]

I'm interested in starting to learn to turn segmented bowls. I came across a great deal on kiln dried walnut, ash and cherry and began to wonder what preferences in woods that others have for segmented pieces.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

John,
I have had good luck segmenting all of those choices. Cherry is one of my favorites for any kind of turning. The craftwood at Woodcraft is a good source of thin colorful woods for accents in your early segment work. A little pricey but very conveinent.

Enjoy segmenting, it is a whole different challenge than turning solid bowls and platters. Segmented rims are a cool addition to solid pieces.

Frank

 

[Walt]

Just about any dried hard wood (8%) works really good, some soft woods. The three you have will do nicely. Good luck and have a blast.

Walt

 

[George Balock]

Be Careful Sanding!

John,
When selecting woods, be carful with the relative hardness of hte woods adjacent to one another. If there is too much difference in hardness, the softer wood will sand off faster than the harder wood. Good Luck
George

 

[Richard Baker]

In Support of Segmented Turning

First you get to build something. Then you get to turn it. What could possibly be more fun.

 

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

John,
The woods that you list will of course work. Of the three, ash would be my least favorite because of its extreme open grain. The previous posts give some good info. In addition, try to combine woods that have good contrast in color. Two dark woods such as walnut and purpleheart, even though they appear different, over time, will further darken and there will be very little contrast - all your "segmenting" will be unappreciated.
Malcolm