Free wood

[Eugene Wigley]

I got lucky. My business partner had a gum tree that was leaning over his house and needed to be cut. The tree forked just as it came out of the ground. Each of the forks were about 22" at the base and 80' to 90' tall. We cut it down so it would not fall on his house in a storm. I hauled everthing about 11" and bigger home and put it under a metal shed. I hope to get some practice at turning larger bowls with this. I tried to rip some of it with my chainsaw. That was a no go. Looks like a great time to invest in a new saw. Hmmm...yep. Perhaps a Stihl 650 is the answer. I will post a pic of the wood below. Thanks for looking.
105619

[Pete Jordan]

Nice Gloat Eugene!
I think the new saw will do you well!

[David Drickhamer]

Nice haul Eugene. Make sure you seal the ends so it doesn't check. Looking forward to seeing what you make with it.

[charlie knighton]

I tried to rip some of it with my chainsaw. That was a no go


when ripping i imagine that the shavings filled or clogged the saw, green wood is very bad for that, most likely a new chainsaw will clog up also,you might want to just split a few with a maul and bit down the middle and anchoseal the ends to see how that works, after the wood dries a little you will still have a problem but not nearly as bad ripping with chainsaw

that is great turning wood enjoy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats on the wood and yep a Stihl 360 would do the job.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Eugene -congrats on all the wood! Sealing it should keep you busy for awhile!

[George Clark]

Eugene,

I scored some Sweet Gum from a tree that came down in a windstorm. My first attempt at turning it was a bowl about 10 inches in diameter that I turned green to completion and finished with 4 coats of pure tung oil. I was pleased with the way it turned out; distorted of course but no cracks. I'd post a picture but it is one of the few turnings I've sold.

Just a thought, but you were trying to cut long grain and not end grain with your chain saw weren't you?

George

[Jeff Nicol]

Eugene, Looks great from here in the great white north! Rain, sleet,snow coming down right now so I am off to bed if I can sleep. I cut wood today but for the woodstove so my bad shoulders are not happy! A pain pill and into LA LA land!

Show us your results!

Jeff

[Richard Madison]

Eugene,
Good advice above. At risk of repetition, seal the endgrain asap. And lacking chainsaw capability, split some of the big pieces w/ wedges and sledge hammer.

[alex carey]

great haul.

I love getting more wood. Gives me that warm fuzzy feeling.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Great gloat. Free wood is my favorite kind!

[Scott Conners]

A lesson I learned the hard way: don't cut all the wood into blanks all at once. Seal it all up and cut a few blanks, then go turn them. You'll quickly learn what is good and what is bad to do when cutting the blanks. I lost a few of the best pieces of wood by making errors cutting the log up, and wished I had saved some full pieces for other shapes and projects.

[Jim Kountz]

Something else that might help is how you go about ripping the blanks in half. When you split wood generally you stand the chunk on end and go down through it from the top. Well when chainsawing it, lay it flat and cut down through it longways like you were ripping a board in half kinda sorta. Know what I mean?

[robert hainstock]

Something else to think about! (Vortex here), get another chain, and have it sharpened for ripping. Use it for splitting blanks and you will be a happy camper. :)
Bob

[Richard Madison]

Hey Bob,
Is a ripping chain made differently (tooth spacing or whatever), or are the teeth just ground differently? Have seen them mentioned but have never actually seen one.

[Bill Embrey]

Go to Harbor Freight (we all hate having to do that :)) and get their little electric chainsaw sharpener... I got mine on sale for like 30 bux. Get a new blade for your saw and keep it for regular cutting. Grind a new angle on the old blade of 0 to 5 degrees and you should be able to rip cut through about anything. I rip Black Walnut with a 14" Remington Electric chainsaw in my shop using a blade I re-ground with no problems at all.