Is there anyway to make this work?

[Jonathan Harvey]

This hunk of wood is about 18" round by 12" deep My issue is that it is almost totally punky soft wood thus I have no clue how i can get a tenon on there. In fact it's so soft that I could not even mount it between centers.

The pictures show how beautiful it could be but I don't see how I can make it work. Do you?

Am I destined to cut this up into pen blanks???

All Thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

[Burt Alcantara]

Throw it in the fireplace.
As John Jordan likes to say, "Life is too short to turn crappy wood."

[Steve Schlumpf]

I agree with Burt 100%! I have done the save the wood routine and it is just not worth the effort!

[Jeff Nicol]

Salvage a pen blank, or bottle stopper blank and toss the rest! You would spend $50 on CA to get it stiff enough to turn!

Jeff

[Tim Cleveland]

I agree with every one else that you should probably just throw it away. If you really want to turn though, you might try using a glue block.

Tim

[Bernie Weishapl]

Punky wood burns good. It is not worth the effort.

[Mark Norman]

I think it would burn beter than it would turn...

[David Walser]

I'm afraid I agree with those who suggest tossing the blank into the burn bin. However, if the wood has sentimental value (or for any other reason) and you really want to save it, here's my recommendation:


Soak in Minwax High Performance Wood Hardener. Wood Hardener essentially surrounds the wood fibers with plastic, helping to stiffen and strengthen them. This product will harden the punky wood and MAY allow you to turn it successfully. It penatrates fairly well, but I don't think there's anyway it will soak into the middle of the blank. Which means, you may have to stop turning from time to time to resoak in Wood Hardener. If you go this route, I suggest putting the blank in a covered container and pouring the Wood Hardener over it. Then cover the container. (The fumes can be quite strong.)
Soak in thinned glue. Another alternative is to make up a mixture of 50% water and 50% yellow wood glue (Tightbond). This may be a bit cheaper than the Wood Hardener method discussed above, but I don't think it'll penetrate as well nor do I think it provides quite as much strength as does the other method.
Use CA glue. With either Wood Hardener or thinned glue, you may need to additionally strengthen spots here and there as you turn. For such spot treatments, I'd recommend CA glue (thin, medium, and/or thick depending on circumstances). The CA glue is quicker and, I think, does a better job of stiffening the wood. The problem is it costs a lot more than the other agents discussed above.

Good Luck.

[Jim Underwood]

One of our recent demonstrators said that he had a roughed out piece that just wouldn't stop tearing out when he tried finishing cuts. So he soaked the whole piece in some sort of oil finish (Watco, I think) until it sank to the bottom. Once it sank, he knew it was soaked through. Then he let it dry good, chucked it back up and it turned like butter.....

[Brian McInturff]

I've turned a couple pieces like this before. One I used a couple quarts of Minwax Hardner. The other I tried my best to not get any tearout. I did it both times as an experiment. In the end I realized it just wasn't worth it. Crappy wood when turned looks like "Crappy Turned Wood".

[Rasmus Petersen]

Bandsaw into bottelstopperblanks, penblanks and the like.. Else BURN BABY BURN...

I have acually uesed Danish oil for strengthening, but when its this rotten i would cut it up or burn it..

[sascha gast]

ok, so I'll agree with what most say, don't turn it.

but what keeps you from carving a bowl out of it?
just use a ball mill and have at it. what's the worst, a few hours of fun and lost of dust, so have at it and show us what you can do off the lathe.
i wouldn't burn it, just free hand it, tons of fun

who says a bowl needs to be perfectly round

[Norm Zax]

No one used this word so I will.... Dangerous!
Forget for a sec the price of discarding or saving with costly materials. Would you like to see the chuck flying at you at a few dozen mph just because some fibers caved in at the contact point? That would be my first concern.
Turn safely ... and enjoy.
Norm

[alex carey]

Forget using it as one piece, turn it into something else.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Thanks Guys. I knew in my heart that you guys were right, but I'm running low on wood and though maybe someone might have some sort of tip to save it. I know that it's not worth it. on a plus side I'll have pen blanks and stoppers coming out the wazoo. :)

[robert hainstock]

I have a big chunk of maple setting in a corner of my shop. It has been there for ten years or more. It is totaly punky, and hasn't been burned yet as I have no way to do that. It sux, but that is life.. :eek::eek::eek::eek:
Bob

[curtis rosche]

you could do it with epoxy. i just bought a gallon of epoxy for $35

go to google and type in Klear Kote. it should be the first link. its from some wholesale crafts store or something like that. $35 for a half gallon of resin and half gallon of hardener. $55 for a gallon of each to make 2 gallons. its a clear finish epoxy. i read somewhere that it penetrates because it is thin consistancy

http://store.creative-wholesale.com/Home/tabid/118/List/0/CategoryID/309/Level/1/Default.aspx?SortField=Free3%20DESC,ProductName

[Jonathan Harvey]

Too late :) I've already got it cut into 2" slabs. I'm thinkg that once it dries I may be able to get some platters out of it and if not some amazing stoppers and pens so really it didn't end up being a total waste.

Thanks again guys ;)

[Mike Meredith]

There's always more wood. It grows on trees.