Woods That Don't Core Well

[Jonathan Harvey]

Well I have some very green Manitoba maple and was trying to core it last week with no success. Very very stringy which made coring impossible. The second the cutter would touch the wood it could clog which would stop the cutter. I've cored manitoba maple before but the tree was on the ground for almost a year thus much drier, so I think this one will have to sit for awhile before I try coring it again.

What other woods have you encountered that you have a hard time coring?

[Reed Gray]

The softer woods usually aren't that much of a problem. I prefer them to some thing harder like Black Locust or Osage, but then the problem is solved by going slowly.

Which coring system do you have? If it is the McNaughton, it is fairly easy to open up the kerf a bit. More difficult to do that with the Oneway.

Did you sharpen first?

robo hippy

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Reed. I don't have problems softer woods. I don't like doing hard woods. I have the oneway system and have not had no real problems.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Thats really odd guys. In the last six months alone I've cored at least 150 maple bowls so I though I had the hang of things (I guess I don't) I have no problem coring the maple, nice ribbons come off the cutter and everything but not with the manitoba maple. The second the cutter would touch the wood, the fibers of the wood clog the face of the cutter and it just won't penetrate the wood. My cutters are super sharp so I'm not sure whats going on. I passed it off to being the wood and the fact that the water was pouring out of it it was so wet, but I guess it's me. Any idea what I might be doing wrong? I'm using the oneway system.

[Tim Rinehart]

Just a thought...not sure if it would affect the results with that wood you're having difficulty with, but Oneway redesigned the tip profile slightly to improve how it worked. May not make a difference, but if your tip, viewed looking down on it, is NOT angled, it is the old grind.
I suspect you can get info on Oneway's site to verify if needed.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Just a thought...not sure if it would affect the results with that wood you're having difficulty with, but Oneway redesigned the tip profile slightly to improve how it worked. May not make a difference, but if your tip, viewed looking down on it, is NOT angled, it is the old grind.
I suspect you can get info on Oneway's site to verify if needed.

I am using the new angled cutters. I still think it was the extremely soaking wet wood. I'll find out for sure in the next couple of months as the MC drops in the log.

[Reed Gray]

Jonathan,
The only thing I can think of is maybe your tips aren't as sharp as you think they are. Just honing them won't do much, and a coarser hone (220 grit or coarser) would work better. I never did like sharpening the Oneway tips. If I used it, I would have a dedicated flat disc, rather than the grinder.

robo hippy

[Ryan Baker]

If it's jamming up with the shavings, you could back off the cutter more frequently in order to break up the shaving and give it a better chance to clear the kerf. Not a lot more you can do with the Oneway. With the McNaughton, you can easily open up the kerf as necessary.

Softer woods are usually easier for me too. I cored some honey locust the other day, which was not fun but doable. The only thing I haven't been able to core was one particular piece of fairly dry ash, where I just couldn't get through the last inch to save my life. Still don't know what the problem was with that blank. I've done other ash blanks. Just gave up on that one.