Coring apple

[kevin nee]

I have some apple that I am going to core today. What have people had
the most success with going right to final thickness or twice turning?
Thanks in advance Kevin

[Phil St.Germain]

Apple is one of my favorite woods, but it moves more than anything else that I turn. Final thickness works well, but it will go oval. It all depends on what you want your finished piece to look like. I twice turn everything but natural edge pieces.

Phil

[Jim Burr]

Paging Baxter Smith...please report to the apple coring room! I only core apple if it's being used in a salad;):D. Baxter is the man on this one.

[Reed Gray]

Success rate depends on how well you have fine tuned the drying process for your area, not on final turned or twice turned. I prefer warped bowls, so I turn to final thickness of about 1/4 to 3/8 inch, round over the rims, and stretch some plastic film around the rim. Start them drying on the floor for a couple of days, then up on a wire rack. Dry in about 10 to 14 days.

I do love apple for bowls. Not too hard, not too soft, excellent for learning to core with.

robo hippy

[kevin nee]

Thanks for the responses. All apple that I have done in the past I just went very thin and
sanded and finished in one shot. I cored this piece and got 3 bowls 15" 12.5" and a shallow
10" . I streched some plastic film around the rounded over the rims and put them in paper bags.
They are now in a cool basement. What does the plastic film do. I think i will also try turning
some over an inch thick anchor sealing the whole thing and wait a year which works very well
on the native stuff available here in Massachusetts. Burls seem to core much easier. I used
the McNaughton System on this project. "Say no to cracks"

[Reed Gray]

The plastic wrap puts a bit of compression on the rim, and actually seals it. The rim is the most likely place for cracks to start.

Burl is easier to core because it doesn't have a liner/long fiber grain like logs do. I believe the grain kind of radiates out from the center.

robo hippy

[Baxter Smith]

Glad things went well Kevin. I shall have to pay you another visit and check them out sometime. Apple that size is very pretty and can have a lot of character. If you check out the stretchwrap in a day or two, you will probably see a lot of waterdroplets on the plastic just inside the rim. Might not be a bad idea to check out the status every couple of days and try some paste wax or shellac around the crack before the thin CA if they start developing. The old/big apple I cored wasn't perfectly clear and lots of little places opened up.