Noble Fir

[Richard Madison]

Neither great turnings nor great photography, but you get the idea. Not being one to pass up a chance to turn a different kind of wood, my eyes fell upon the trunk of the '08 Christmas tree as I dragged it out the door. Rough turned fairly thin on 1-3-09, bagged for two months, and exposed on a shop shelf for a couple weeks, the wood did not crack, split, or do anything irritating. Just a couple tiny cracks at some knots and minimal warping. My sweetie says she is getting a bigger tree next Christmas.

The largest one is about 4" x 5" tall, w/ lacquer finish. Comments welcome.

[Ben Gastfriend]

Wow. Those are some nice turnings, especially for fir. When I tried that last year I didn't have much luck. The forms all look great and the woodburning adds so much. Great job.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great job Richard. Really nice turnings.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Richard - those are all really nice! I like the contrast between the light colored wood and the burned design! Nice to see another use for the old Christmas tree!

[Don Carter]

Richard:
I remember reading your post on the saving the Christmas tree trunk. They are just great. And a great idea! Love the turning work.

All the best.

Don

[Mark Patoka]

Looks good. We still have our Christmas tree trunk lying out in the yard. I may try turning something from it but don't like dealing with the sap.

[curtis rosche]

now i know what i am going to do next time i have to "trim" the pine trees along the drive way. i might need the chainsaw THIS year! ha ha ha.

[Richard Madison]

Thanks to all for your comments. The wood was not particularly wet, especially considering it had been sitting in a pan of water for about three weeks. And was not sappy or sticky, partly due, I suppose, to being cut in the dead of winter. Overall I was pleasantly amazed. Was lucky to get it (Noble Firs are expensive by my standards), but my sweetie got an excellent discount on this one. Thanks again.