Apple-Whats Left and Whats Roughed Out

[Baxter Smith]

Last week I brought back a load of Apple from Maine and had visions of multiple 12 inch bowls. A more experienced turner would have seen the folly in that when they cut the wood.:)

Because they were limbs, the pith was much further to one side than the other. Most of the pieces had some shake and a somewhat shattered look to them radiating out from the pith. I suppose that went with being an old tree and from having been blown over. Here are a couple I started to turn but then gave up on and didn't botter to cut up.
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Ended up giving up on others but then cut them up to turn something smaller.
These are the ones I have done. Anchorsealed some of them and didn't bother with others. Took them all out of their bags for the picture.
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After turning this one yesterday I figured it was quitting time!
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Here are the leftover pieces from the week. Put anchorseal on the cutoff or cutup parts during the week. Cut up a couple more today that I had given up on. They are now in the box in picture 2. Will get back to them sometime.
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A friend picked up 8 bags of shavings today for her horses. Said she paid 6 dollars a bag for shavings. Offered to pay me something for them. And to think I turned down my first sale! Nice to know something you turn has value!:D

[David Gilbert]

Baxter,

I also have some apple to turn that was cut about 18 months ago. I Anchor Sealed the pieces as they were cut. I turned one of the pieces last night and the wood still seems pretty wet. You mentioned that you "Took them all out of their bags for the picture." Specifically, how do you store your rough turned bowls?

Thanks,
David

[Roland Martin]

Apple is Apple I guess. It looks like you're still going to get a decent return for your trip. I really love the character of apple, and from the pics, there will be character. I'll be waiting patiently for your creations.

[John Keeton]

I could hear the "crack" from here on that piece in pic #3!! It certainly is pretty wood, however.

You are a bowl factory, Baxter!

[Dick Strauss]

Baxter,
I'm sorry to see all the cracks. Your thick tenons are killing you! Try going with a much thinner tenon and slightly thinner walls so that the wood can move and you'll improve your odds.

Take care,
Dick

[Steve Schlumpf]

Fresh Apple is notorious for checking - as you have found out. Looking forward to seeing the survivors!

Remember - this is a learning opportunity and it is ONLY wood! Have fun with it!

[Baxter Smith]

Baxter,

I also have some apple to turn that was cut about 18 months ago. I Anchor Sealed the pieces as they were cut. I turned one of the pieces last night and the wood still seems pretty wet. You mentioned that you "Took them all out of their bags for the picture." Specifically, how do you store your rough turned bowls?

Thanks,
David
I have only been turning bowls for a few months David. The ones I turned in January and Feb I put into paper bags immediately after turning and left them on the concrete floor in the unheated part of my pole barn. The temps pretty much stayed between 20 and 40 degrees. The 5 or 6 I finish turned thin 1/8 to 3/8 were kept in bags for at least 6 weeks have done fine and have not checked since taking them out. Still keeping them in the shop where it is not as warm as the house. The ones I rough turned from 1/2 to 1 inch I have not opened up to see. I am assuming they are ok. Some of them I anchorsealed and some I did not. If the temperatures were warmer it might be a different story.


Apple is Apple I guess. It looks like you're still going to get a decent return for your trip. I really love the character of apple, and from the pics, there will be character. I'll be waiting patiently for your creations.

Roland, the apple was just a side benefit of the trip.:) It is pretty and nice to turn.


I could hear the "crack" from here on that piece in pic #3!! It certainly is pretty wood, however.

You are a bowl factory, Baxter!

I didn't hear the crack John, just watched it drop off!:) Wasn't a crack in it at the time! (Other than the one I put there) Sitting overnight sure changed things!


Baxter,
I'm sorry to see all the cracks. Your thick tenons are killing you! Try going with a much thinner tenon and slightly thinner walls so that the wood can move and you'll improve your odds.

Take care,
Dick
Thanks Dick. Less than half the bowls/plates in the picture actually have tenons. The picture of the one I didn't finish I was turning between centers. Was going to make a recess but kept going deeper and deeper. Couldn't escape the shake on one side or the checks on the other so gave up. I finish turned to about 3/8 two of the NE type plates. The rest were left at about about 1/10 of the width.


Fresh Apple is notorious for checking - as you have found out. Looking forward to seeing the survivors!

Remember - this is a learning opportunity and it is ONLY wood! Have fun with it!

Steve, I noticed checks when I was cutting the tree up but I guess it was wishful thinking that they wouldn't go deeper than where I had cut. Yea right! Didn't have any cracking problems with the Apple I cut at Christmas and this got anchorsealed even faster. Oh well, I know where there's more!:)

[Bernie Weishapl]

Baxter I just about gave up on apple. It seems when I rough turn it no matter what I do it just cracks. Looks like you got some good pieces out of yours and still some to go.

[alex carey]

good stuff, im really looking forward to that large platter on the bottom right of pic 2.

[James Combs]

What about fire wood size apple logs that have been lying in a wood pile for quite a while. What kind of shape should I expect them to be in. I happen to have a friend that has a pile of it.

[Brian Effinger]

Wow, you've really been busy Baxter. And don't worry about the bad ones - a bad day at the lathe beats any good day in the office! :)

Brian

[Baxter Smith]

Baxter I just about gave up on apple. It seems when I rough turn it no matter what I do it just cracks. Looks like you got some good pieces out of yours and still some to go.

I didn't have a problem with cracking while turning Bernie. A lot of this stuff was cracked when I split it into halves. I wish I knew why. I am wondering if the season its cut has something to do with your success. I would think that winter would be the preferrable time. I know a lot of these cracks were there when it was cut. There is still plenty of small solid pieces to get some bowls out of. I just ran out of ambition!


good stuff, im really looking forward to that large platter on the bottom right of pic 2.
You may see that one before too long. Its one of two I turned thin. I had planned on making a crotched winged bowl when I had cut the piece from the tree. After I split the piece in two I could see that wasn't going to work. By the time I had turned through the cracks this is all that was left. Put CA in some knots. Will see how they do.

What about fire wood size apple logs that have been lying in a wood pile for quite a while. What kind of shape should I expect them to be in. I happen to have a friend that has a pile of it.
Cut the ends back a few inches and you will find out. You may get lucky and they will only have split in one spot and you can use that location to split them all the way. I would definitely go and see.

Wow, you've really been busy Baxter. And don't worry about the bad ones - a bad day at the lathe beats any good day in the office! :)

Brian

Its been fun and a few were big enough to have to turn outboard. That in itself was a learning experience. Guess that will force me to become ambidextrous!

[Dick Strauss]

Baxter,
The one good thing about cracked apple is you've now got lots of chips and chunks for doing some smoking/BBQing.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

It looks pretty good Baxter, wasn't that tree blown over ??, and sat like that for a year or more ???
Whatever the cause, you can't undo the splits that are there when you cut the wood up, it's seldom that all wood is good in a tree, and what you have there looks nicely colored.
Just remember sealing the wood only extends the short time that the wood will stay like it is without splitting, blocks just don't keep, pen banks are about all you might keep from splitting, well maybe a wee bit bigger ;-)), but no big blocks for any length of time.
I have glued one or two pieces that I thought were worth keeping, that had shake in it, but did this as soon as I had cut the wood, before the splits opened up, you can see these splits but usually you have to take a very close look at how far they go, and as you've seen they can virtually circle the tree, anyway happy turning, looking forward to some finished pieces

[Baxter Smith]

Baxter,
The one good thing about cracked apple is you've now got lots of chips and chunks for doing some smoking/BBQing.
Dick, unfortunately I have succumbed to the ease of the gas grill.:)


It looks pretty good Baxter, wasn't that tree blown over ??, and sat like that for a year or more ???
Whatever the cause, you can't undo the splits that are there when you cut the wood up, it's seldom that all wood is good in a tree, and what you have there looks nicely colored.
Just remember sealing the wood only extends the short time that the wood will stay like it is without splitting, blocks just don't keep, pen banks are about all you might keep from splitting, well maybe a wee bit bigger ;-)), but no big blocks for any length of time.
I have glued one or two pieces that I thought were worth keeping, that had shake in it, but did this as soon as I had cut the wood, before the splits opened up, you can see these splits but usually you have to take a very close look at how far they go, and as you've seen they can virtually circle the tree, anyway happy turning, looking forward to some finished pieces

The tree had been down for a while Leo and although I noticed some cracks, I was too busy cutting and dreaming of big bowls to worry very much.:D

The color is good and most of the heartwood had lots of little eyes which should add to it.
I will get back to turning the rest of it soon. Have some small cherry burls and some small plum limbs I want to get to as well.

[Joe Wiliams]

Dick, unfortunately I have succumbed to the ease of the gas grill.:)

You can still smoke-roast on a gas grill... wrap your chips in some aluminum foil, a couple layers, poke a bunch of holes in the top and place on top of the flame:) I usually make up a bunch of pouches and replace as each one is done.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Joe! I will give that a shot.