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Joseph Handy
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 Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 6:39 am Post subject: sources of wood |
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Sorry to post two in a row, but I am looking for suggestions for finding
inexpensive wood to turn.
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire wood
with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
How about softwood throw aways from my local big box lumber store?
Any other ideas?
Joseph |
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Dave Balderstone
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:13 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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In article <1221ankcfpcrt81@corp.supernews.com>, Joseph Handy
<claypot@localnet.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire wood
with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
|
It's your best wood to learn on.
I periodically post a message on my local newsgroups offering to take
down small hardwood trees, which has netted me some nice fruitwood.
Walking the dog and bicycling with eyes open has got me some beautiful
box elder burl and elm by just ringing a doorbell. Especially after a
windstorm...
And noting the tree service trucks in the neighborhood and not being
shy to ask has netted crabapple, willow, elm and ash. |
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Darrell Feltmate
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:19 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Joseph
Firewood is great stuff. Check out my website under roughing a bowl.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS Canada
www.aroundthewoods.com |
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Moshe Eshel
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:33 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Throwaway wood from lumber stores and furniture makers is how I
started, a great resource for seasoned! wood to be used on small or
even large (depending on your luck) turnings.
Also everyone else above me is also correct... I now get a lot of my
wood from neighbors cutting down or fallen trees. |
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Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:22 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Joseph, once you get the hang of looking for it, wood is everywhere. I
have guys that work with me bring me stuff all the time. A piece of
this, a piece of that, and pretty soon you have more than you can turn.
In addition to the sources mentioned above, I have also had great luck
with the 4X4 skids that wind up under all sorts of heavy things that
need to be moved with a forklift. I look it over carefully to make
sure there are no fasteners or anything that has been ground into the
wood, but have never had a big problem with anything I have picked up
over the years. I have found maple, poplar, white oak, red oak,
sycamore, and many kinds of wood I can't identify that make great tool
handles, Christmas ornaments, small bowls and vases, etc. A local tool
importer here in town regularly throws away pallets that have mahogany,
and some other kinds of unknown exotic looking stuff used as skids.
Wood is wood. The source doesn't matter as long as you are careful
when using it to make sure it is not one of those super allergen trees,
or something that has been treated with rot or bug resistant materials.
Robert |
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George
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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"Joseph Handy" <claypot@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:1221ankcfpcrt81@corp.supernews.com...
| Quote: |
Sorry to post two in a row, but I am looking for suggestions for finding
inexpensive wood to turn.
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire
wood with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
How about softwood throw aways from my local big box lumber store?
|
Look at your firewood before burning. Sometimes you get lucky.
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Bit-Large-For-The-Stove.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Linseed.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Profile-Oil.jpg
Gratitude is important. As you gain a reputation for wanting oddball pieces
of wood, you must remember to repay in the appropriate coin. Can be a piece
of work from "their" wood, a six-pack of the favorite beverage, or taking
the farmer who skids for me and his wife out to Red Lobster for dinner and
not flinching when he ordered chicken.
Then you can come home as I did one snowy day, to discover a 16 inch 8 foot
cherry log beside the drive. Remained a mystery for four months until I got
a Short Of Breath - love the dispatcher shorthand "old, SOB" comes over the
pager - call to an acquaintance's house. Between vitals, we chatted in the
back of the rig. It was he who delivered the log. |
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Joseph Handy
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Great ideas. Thanks!
So green wood remains stable after turning? It won't shrink and crack?
One last question, what's a skid?
Joseph
"George" <George@least> wrote in message
news:44213fca_3@newspeer2.tds.net...
| Quote: |
"Joseph Handy" <claypot@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:1221ankcfpcrt81@corp.supernews.com...
Sorry to post two in a row, but I am looking for suggestions for finding
inexpensive wood to turn.
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire
wood with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
How about softwood throw aways from my local big box lumber store?
Look at your firewood before burning. Sometimes you get lucky.
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Bit-Large-For-The-Stove.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Linseed.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/?action=view¤t=Profile-Oil.jpg
Gratitude is important. As you gain a reputation for wanting oddball
pieces of wood, you must remember to repay in the appropriate coin. Can
be a piece of work from "their" wood, a six-pack of the favorite
beverage, or taking the farmer who skids for me and his wife out to Red
Lobster for dinner and not flinching when he ordered chicken.
Then you can come home as I did one snowy day, to discover a 16 inch 8
foot cherry log beside the drive. Remained a mystery for four months
until I got a Short Of Breath - love the dispatcher shorthand "old, SOB"
comes over the pager - call to an acquaintance's house. Between vitals,
we chatted in the back of the rig. It was he who delivered the log.
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George
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:12 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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"Joseph Handy" <claypot@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:1222nnmgl5t8fc7@corp.supernews.com...
| Quote: |
Great ideas. Thanks!
So green wood remains stable after turning? It won't shrink and crack?
One last question, what's a skid?
|
If you cut it thin, it will distort, but it'll seldom crack, unless you're
_really_ dry. Tent with some newsprint to bring it down slower. Keeps
things damper underneath.
This piece, as you can see by the initial picture, was a chunk of firewood
split a year ago, so it was pretty dry to begin with.
Skidding is the process of getting the cut logs out of the woods. Nowadays
they no longer skid them along the ground, which I suppose was the origin of
the term, rather lift them with beasts like this, or larger.
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/LTASinfo.nsf/ReferenceLookup/Log_timber_skidder.pdf/$file/Log_timber_skidder.pdf |
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mac davis
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:43 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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On 21 Mar 2006 21:22:26 -0800, nailshooter41@aol.com wrote:
| Quote: |
Joseph, once you get the hang of looking for it, wood is everywhere. I
have guys that work with me bring me stuff all the time. A piece of
this, a piece of that, and pretty soon you have more than you can turn.
In addition to the sources mentioned above, I have also had great luck
with the 4X4 skids that wind up under all sorts of heavy things that
need to be moved with a forklift. I look it over carefully to make
sure there are no fasteners or anything that has been ground into the
wood, but have never had a big problem with anything I have picked up
over the years. I have found maple, poplar, white oak, red oak,
sycamore, and many kinds of wood I can't identify that make great tool
handles, Christmas ornaments, small bowls and vases, etc. A local tool
importer here in town regularly throws away pallets that have mahogany,
and some other kinds of unknown exotic looking stuff used as skids.
Wood is wood. The source doesn't matter as long as you are careful
when using it to make sure it is not one of those super allergen trees,
or something that has been treated with rot or bug resistant materials.
Robert
|
Sort of adding to Robert's comments... as people find out that you're a turner,
wood opportunities appear magically...
Other people's dead trees or fallen wood are our treasures.... *g*
Mac
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm |
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W Canaday
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:51 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 20:39:48 -0500, Joseph Handy wrote:
Joseph,
Learn to identify species as quickly as you can ... once you put the word
out that you are looking for interesting wood to work with, it'll come to
you faster than you can turn it.
At this moment I have a dozen (or more) pieces of tamarind heartwood 3" x
6" x 42" in my basement ... most of them as curly as it is possible to
hope for. Those are actual measurements ... not so-called 'nominal' sizes.
A Brother in my congregation brought me a short sawed off hunk and asked
me if it would be okay to burn in his fireplace. Before I even knew the
species, I looked at the grain and felt the heft and told him "Sure, you
can burn this in your fireplace. But if you do, I'll have to kill you.
Don't worry ... you'll thank me later." (It helps if both persons are
firm believers in resurrection.)
It seems they are used in crates shipped from Brazil by a large automotive
company. He brings me the whole crate, I have to disassemble it. (and yeah
.... tamarind can definitely hang on to a nail!)
At about the same time, MY company started getting 1 x 3"s of the same
wood used as spacers between wheels.
Can you say "ultimate workbench"? I thought you could. Tamarind is LOTS
stronger than oak.
A lady living nearby has offered me 4 black walnut trees, with the largest
being about 30" diameter and the others in the 18" range.
In the year and a half that I have been turning, I have been 'gifted'
cherry (huge stump), pearwood (whole tree), walnut (large chunk),
ash (whole tree), maple (3' dia. limb from wind damage), apple (whole
tree), box elder ((large sections), tamarind (slabs) and birch (whole
tree) so far. I probably left a couple species off.
In fact, my storage space now requires that I be selective in what I
accept!
If you're hungry for wood, let others know that you are looking ... and
then get busy making room for it!
Bill |
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Brent
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:23 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Yes, I'm getting to the point where I have to turn down offerings from
neighbors, friends, and family because I've got so much. This is the
beauty of turning verses other types of woodworking - just about any
part of the tree can be used.
One suggestion if you haven't already - buy a good chainsaw and proper
horse ot hold logs while cutting. Borrowing a chainsaw got to be a bit
tiresome, when I had so much wood to cut.
Also, your better half would appreciate if you kept logs in a somewhat
systematic piling. Having wood just 'thrown' around in the backyard
has yielded several complaints. |
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Arch
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:27 pm Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Hi Joseph,
I'm known by this ng as a COC (crotchety ole coot) so I'll mention an
occasional problem about 'gift wood': the super nice person who brings
and keeps on bringing in ever increasing quantity, trash wood.
You accept the well meant gift graciously, although later you are forced
to think up excuses why you haven't turned any of it yet.This results in
even more 'gifts' while the donor basks in the pleasures of giving.
What to do? The growing stack requires guilty stealth trips to the
bonfire, but eventually, you'll get caught and your friend's feelings
are hurt.
Some turners will argue that no tree grows that is useless for
woodturning and with enough time spent and talent used up that is
probably true. I know that "only God can make a tree", but some "fools
like me" have come to believe that there _are some timbers that just
aren't worth the effort of preparing and turning.
For those who have come to agree, I suggest that it's best to explain
this to your kind and generous friends up front. Of course, we thank
them profusely for their kind and generous gifts of firewood. :)
Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter
http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings |
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Gerald Ross
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:59 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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Joseph Handy wrote:
| Quote: |
Sorry to post two in a row, but I am looking for suggestions for finding
inexpensive wood to turn.
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire wood
with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
How about softwood throw aways from my local big box lumber store?
Any other ideas?
Joseph
A neighbor rebuilding a house cut two large maples last week, one 2 1/2 |
ft. diameter, one 4' diameter, partly hollow. I dulled two chainsaw
blades cutting what I could and had to leave the rest for them to haul off.
--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA
Everywhere is walking distance if you
have the time. - s.w.
----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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Lobby Dosser
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:46 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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"George" <George@least> wrote:
| Quote: |
"Joseph Handy" <claypot@localnet.com> wrote in message
news:1222nnmgl5t8fc7@corp.supernews.com...
Great ideas. Thanks!
So green wood remains stable after turning? It won't shrink and
crack?
One last question, what's a skid?
If you cut it thin, it will distort, but it'll seldom crack, unless
you're _really_ dry. Tent with some newsprint to bring it down
slower. Keeps things damper underneath.
This piece, as you can see by the initial picture, was a chunk of
firewood split a year ago, so it was pretty dry to begin with.
Skidding is the process of getting the cut logs out of the woods.
Nowadays they no longer skid them along the ground, which I suppose
was the origin of the term, rather lift them with beasts like this, or
larger.
http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/LTASinfo.nsf/ReferenceLookup/Log_tim
ber_skidder.pdf/$file/Log_timber_skidder.pdf
|
They often put poles in/on the road to stabilize it as here:
<http://www.historicphotoarchive.com/caps7/00630.htm>
And the current lifting equipment is called a Log Skidder.
Skidding was done when they couldn't get the rails close enough for
highline loading, or pre-railroads. |
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Prometheus
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:46 am Post subject: Re: sources of wood |
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On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 20:39:48 -0500, "Joseph Handy"
<claypot@localnet.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
Sorry to post two in a row, but I am looking for suggestions for finding
inexpensive wood to turn.
|
The first green wood I turned, I got from walking in the county forest
and cutting up trees that had fallen over trails with a bow saw and an
axe. Not all of it was good to turn, but a lot of it was- and it
helped clean up the roadway for others. I'm sure any local parks or
other similar things in your area would be more than happy to have you
help them clean off the paths if you talk to the right people about
it.
| Quote: |
I have an uncle who lives in a rural area and would probably share fire wood
with me. Would green, roughly chopped wood, work?
|
Sure it will, I've turned a bunch of that too- though I still have a
hard time turning oak. That stuff cracks like crazy and likes to
throw splinters at me when I use it. I only mention it because it's
such a common firewood where I live.
| Quote: |
How about softwood throw aways from my local big box lumber store?
|
That'd work fine too- there's no rule against gluing scraps together
to make a blank. You can even use plywood, and it gives you an
interesting striped effect. Do a search for segemented turning, and
you'll see that there is a lot of really nice stuff made out of glued
up odds and ends.
My best stuff has come from asking tree removal people if I can take a
couple of chunks from trees they're cutting down. Half the time,
they're hauling pieces out of a backyard with a wheelbarrow, and are
only too happy to let you have some of it because it's that much less
they have to cart over to the truck. If you ask nice, and have the
equipment to take care of it, they'll even let you have the whole tree
for nothing. A lot of that wood just goes in a chipper. The second
best is going around the neighborhood and looking for downed trees
after storms- the city will pick them up, but homeowners are usually
perfectly happy to let you chop them up, take some of the wood and
move the rest onto the curb for them.
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