Question about making 2 15" x 2 1/2" thick blanks from one 15" x 5" thick blank

[steven carter]

So a buddy of mine had a walnut tree taken down at his daughter's new house, and I got a few crotch pieces. I had a 15" diameter piece that was about 5" thick, and not wanting to waste the feather grain (I don't yet own a coring system), I decided to make 2 platters. The problem came when trying to "part" the piece in half. A parting tool will only go a little ways in before it becomes useless.... what to do? I suppose this is where an electric chain saw would come in handy, I ended up sawing it by hand and got it parted just seconds before my arms fell off :) This left me to wonder if the McNaughton or other coring tools would enable one to do this process, or if some other method would work better. Any insight would be appreciated.

Steve

[Dick Strauss]

Steve,
A bandsaw is great for this purpose if you've got access to one with enough cutting height. A chainsaw would also be good for this job. If you do try to part something this big, you'll want to have a very stout tool with a handle several feet long for good leverage using a conventional tool rest.

If you decide to turn a bowl, turn it using the bark side as the top of the bowl so that the bottom of the bowl will extend down into the "feather zone".

Take care,
Dick

[Scott Hackler]

The straight blade on the McNaughton would do this. It is essentially a giant parting tool. That being said, I would have used a bedan or parting tool to mark a cut line and make it wide enough for a chain saw.

[ray hampton]

Is wood lathe lowest speed too high to saw a blank while it are spinning on the lathe ? I use a parting tool to cut a groove for the saw then use a saw at low speed [metal lathe ] I try to use all of the saw teeth to prevent heating the saw teeth