My Wood Gloat

[Rob Cunningham]

Last weekend a storm came through and took down a section of my neighbor's Sycamore tree. Most of it fell in our yard.( Just for reference, the fence is 8' high). We talked and he said he was having someone out the next day to take care of it. I told him I might be interested in some of the wood, he said no problem, take what you want. I went through the fence Saturday morning and got a small load of some of the larger diameter stuff. There is still a section that need to be cut into shorter lengths that I'm going to take off his hands. These pieces are 8"-12" diameter and about 14"-18" long. I sealed the ends with Anchorseal.
Is it OK to leave them outside or should I bring them into the shop out of the weather?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rob - congrats again! First the 2 lathes and now lots of wood to go with them! How cool is that?

I have left anchorsealed wood outside - in the shade - and had no problems. Only left it there about a month before I could start roughing things out but the anchorseal held up.

[Todd Burch]

I would think you would want to split each piece in two to take the internal shrinkage stresses off. That way, you control where the split is, versus getting a random star-shaped shrinkage split. I would do this. Is this done commonly?

Todd

[John Fricke]

From what info I have absorbed here it seems standard practice is:

Best option is to leave logs long if possible to reduce waste and cut off one end and keep sealed.

2nd best option is to cut to desired length plus a few inches for inevitable checking than cut the pith out of the center and seal ends. There seems to be some debate over whether it is worthwhile to seal the side grain after splitting lenthways. I take the approach that anchor seal is relatively cheap vs losing prime wood.

[Rob Cunningham]

I don't have a chainsaw, yet, and they won't fit on my bandsaw. I think I"ll leave them in log form with the ends sealed for now. My Dad has an old 2 man saw but that seems like a lot of work.

[John Fricke]

If a new chainsaw isn't in the current budget, I would think you could go to a tool rental place and rent one for a couple of hours pretty cheap. You can cut a lot of blanks in an hour or two.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats Rob on a nice haul. Two lathes now wood, that should keep ya busy.

[Mark Norman]

Looks like you should be in the market for a chain saw:) You will need it to feed the raw materials the lathes are wanting:D

Sycamore has a unique structure to it and is great wood.

[Dan Forman]

If they remain outside, keep any sun off of them. Even with Anchor Seal, they will crack if in direct sun. Best bet would be to find someone you know with a chain saw, and offer them a bowl for cutting up your logs. There is a small learning curve for chain saw safety. If you are serious about turning, you're going to have to put a chain saw into your budget. Nice looking woodpile.

Dan

[Christopher Fletcher]

If a new chainsaw isn't in the current budget, I would think you could go to a tool rental place and rent one for a couple of hours pretty cheap. You can cut a lot of blanks in an hour or two.
You can get a 14" electric craftsman for about $100+. IMHO, better than renting something for near the same cost. Atleast you will get a few uses out of it, plus it will get you familiar with what your needs are in a gas saw when the time comes.....and it will come sooner than you expect :-)

[Jeff Nicol]

For me with the amount of wood you have there you should be able to make them into any shape that you would want to turn in the future. But first the chainsaw is a must when you become a Vortex inspired woodturner! Seal the ends first and like already said keep them out of the sun until you get access to a saw. Once you get a saw that will cut the chunks into usable blanks think about what you want to turn and make the blanks accordingly. But also leave some whole for when you are ready to tackle a large HF! So beg, borrow, or buy a chainsaw of some type and you won't regret the purchase, as soon as all your friends find out you have lathes you will be be inundated with new material and will need a way to take care of it! Have fun and great looking wood, I have never turned Sycamore, but I really like the dark center and light sap wood!

Jeff