Lets talk crotch

[Ken Hill]

I went out this afternoon and cut into 4 or 5 crotch pieces and got to thinking if I was getting the orientation right in the bowl. I have them turned so the crotch is visable on the interior and or exterior just for a difference to see what I prefer, but is there an "accepted" way to orient these rascals?

I was graced with some absolutley insane grain structure and feathering that should be just incredible when finished. I rough turned 3 and will do a few more tomorrow but figured I would get the skinny on what ya'll think.

I also have afew extra blanks if anyone wants a few.

[Harry Robinette]

Ken
Most guys turn crotches as natural edge so the flame is in the bottom of the bowl. If you turn it the regular way you'll turn all the flame away.Hope this helps.

[David E Keller]

I think most do as you've done and Harry suggests... Put the feather on the bottom of a bowl. For hollow forms, most place the feather at the top of the form. Looking forward to seeing what you found!

[Ken Hill]

I think John told me at some point I would get tired of turning away good wood LOL! I didnt take away anything but will pay real close attention to how I cut the blank so I have some wood to remove and not start hogging out the feathering.

David, one piece has feathering, spalting you name it, I was even able to leave some sap wood for contrast. Surprised me really.....saws are sharpened and ready to go find more tomorrow to work off supper.:D

[Johnny England]

Hey Ken I've been thinking about a crotch and kinda looking for one. I don't want to be greedy as I have already asked for some wormy wood and now you come up with crotch. I would be glad to pay you for a nice crotch if you could fit it in a flat rate box. BTW what part of WV you in?

[Ken Hill]

I'm in the eastern panhandle, sandwiched in between Berkeley Springs and Martinsburg

I have the hickory cut and sealed and will begin getting everyones shipping info early next week. Please remind me and I will box up a piece of this crotch as well. What size lathe are you running?

[Johnny England]

I am in Johnson City, TN. My wife has family in that neck of the woods, but we don't get up that way much. I got an old Delta 46-450. It's a 12 inch with a gap bed to 16 I think. I have an outboard set-up for it just haven't needed it yet.

[Ken Hill]

I have family in Johnson City LOL. We are spread out all over Tennessee.

I will get you a good sized piece and let you cut it to what you see in the wood

[Greg Bender]

Ken,
first off, where did you find this seemingly endless supply of killer wood? You seem to post about new wood every day. What kind of crotch wood do you have? I ask cause I've had no luck with hickory so I did not want to ask about something I would not put to good use. Have a Merry Christmas.
Greg

[Ken Hill]

I logged a piece of my property last year, so I have a few pieces here and there to choose from

These are White Oak crotches

I turn Hickory all the time, what issues did you have?

[Jim Burr]

I'm in!! I never refuse blanks! My BIL came over today for Christmas. He is a professional furniture maker in Stockton Ca and is the one I pin blame on for starting my turning work. He spent the day in the shop with his hand on the big Jet. I gave him a chunk of olive and his eyes lit up! We'll be up there in a couple weeks and I have my eye on some claro planks he has racked...2"x12x4' and some buckeye burl blocks on the top of the lumber rack! He wants me to toss the little Jet in the truck and work on some utility stuff...I see a trade in the future!

[Baxter Smith]

Ken, I brought home 3 white oak crotch halves from your place last November. Roughed out 2 platters to about 1 1/2" in thickness, and turned this one thin. Left a small place for a cup of dip in the center. All 3 started to crack along the edges and took some CA to stop it. I still have not gotten around to finishing any of the three. Took these pictures with my cellphone on January 17th (after about 6 weeks of drying).
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If you turn one thin, you might want to plan for how your going to make it sit flat a little better than I did.;):)
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[Ken Hill]

Baxter, thats why I leave 3/4 to 1 inch on my bowls, this stuff loves to move!

[Dan Forman]

You don't have to do natural edge to get the figure in the bottom of the bowl, but it takes a really large crotch to get a good sized bowl out of it. Often they will make nice platters or shallow bowls such as a candy dish.

Dan

[Bob Bergstrom]

I always look for crotches with equal size limbs coming off the main trunk. The bowl will only be as large as the smaller limb.

[Greg Bender]

Ken,
my Hickory does what Baxter's White Oak did. "It's melting" is a comment that comes to mind. It seems to warp more than anything else I've had the opportunity to turn. I have had some interesting pieces but there are other woods that I like much better. Is White Oak more enjoyable to turn than Red Oak. Dry Red Oak did not end up so nice for me. A lot of chipping and in the end ,alot of sanding resulting in a very plain looking bowl.If it is better then I would love to try making a platter out of some WO crotch. Do you ever get any Box Elder up there. If so ,I would love to buy some from you. Talk to you soon ,
Greg

[Ken Hill]

The hickory I turned early on was the same way, but since soaking in DNA then sealing in anchorseal, far less movement. I probably could skip the dna and just seal with AS and sometimes I do depending on if the piece is thin or left with plenty of wood to turn of when finishing. I would imagine a Hickory crotch would be a bear if there were big portions of heartwood and sapwood, that seems to be the big factor in hickory.


Most Oaks turn the same way and sharp tools and a fine cut are needed to not pull the wood. I usually will try and only turn oaks that offer something grain wise, but oak is still one of my favorites. A good sanding slurry helps a ton IMO when finishing oak. I just turned another shallow bowl from Oak crotch that just has me smiling. Besides being the most popular wood here, I just like it haha. I will keep my eyes open for a large crotch that will produce a platter size blank for you. When I get back down to bear camp I wil have some stuff tos hare from there as well.

I havent seen any box elder. Oak, Hickory & Maple are the most numerous. We had a ton of orchards but they are going away FAST! I've made several attempts to get apple and peach but the farms instantly want big money for the trees they have stacked up to BURN:( Junk one minute, gold mine the next but I will keep trying.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Isn't that amazing how that works Ken. We have a tree service here in town. I went down to talk with him and offered to turn him several turnings for some maple, walnut and Elm. All of a sudden that wood got expensive. I just couldn't afford to pay $400 for a 7' X 22" maple or $500 for a 7 1/2' X 24 1/2" walnut log. So he turned it into firewood to sell. The landfill here changed their policy now. If it goes thru the gate into the fill you can't take nothing out. Have talked with them till I am blue in the face and to no avail.

[Ken Hill]

I get frustrated for sure. Ive offered seasoned hardwood firewood in exchange for a truck load of wood cut up by the tree guys and left for the landowner and nothing but excuses...sometimes it works.

The tree companies here cant grasp what a burl is and you have to watch, they will push one over a hill to rot instead of lifting it in a truck or cutting it up.

My goal this year is big cherry, walnut and persimmon