Wood Gloat, I Guess

[Doug Herzberg]

I'm not a big fan of pine, but I've worked with it some and it sure makes the shop smell nice, so when a neighbor lost a big Ponderosa to the IPS Beetle, I asked if I could cut out some bowl blanks. They have a man coming tomorrow to cut it up and haul it away to a safe site (to protect the forest from the beetles when they fly). I'm not sure I should gloat, because I worry the beetles will infest one of my trees.

This was all I could cut in a couple hours with my little saw.

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I split off the parts with the blue stain, stripped the bark, and sprayed Sevin on the larvae crawling around under it. Roughed a couple bowls before dark. I hope I can go back tomorrow and get another chunk.

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Eric, I thought of you, but I'm not sure how to save this for you. If you want a bowl blank or two, let me know.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Doug that is a gloat. Those are going to be some pretty bowls when done.

[Pat Scott]

I'm jealous, those are going to be some beautiful bowls, they have a lot of blue in them. Nice gloat. They look like some huge blanks when I compare their size to your tractor or the gallon of Anchorseal.

I've worked with Walnut before that had the twig beetle, but not Pine with pine beetle. With the Walnut I remove the bark as soon as I can and trash bag it, then spray the wood with bug killer several times. I keep the blanks covered or in trash bags until I can turn it. If it will be a day or two or more before I can get to the blanks I'll periodically spray them until turned.

But, the size of your tenon would scare me! You need some bigger jaws and/or a bigger chuck. I'd want the tenon to be the size of the foot (flat spot) that you have on the bowl on the left.

[Doug Herzberg]

But, the size of your tenon would scare me! You need some bigger jaws and/or a bigger chuck. I'd want the tenon to be the size of the foot (flat spot) that you have on the bowl on the left.

I'm working on the tenon issue. I've been having some problems with my big jaws and I wanted to get these roughed. Especially with pine, it's easy to break a tenon off. If I do, there's enough wood left to turn a new tenon. I'll try the big jaws on the next one.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on the wood Doug! I haven't turned any Ponderosa but have tried Jack Pine and that was a royal mess with all the pitch! It did make the shop smell good but was a bear to clean up!

Looking forward to seeing the bowls once finished!

[Thomas Canfield]

Good looking pine. The sap can be an issue, but the color you have should make some special bowls. I miss the pine in Tyler, TX and now wish I had some here in Fredericksburg, TX.

I agree also that the size of the tenon seems small, both diameter and length. I have turned about 18"D x 6"D bowls with standard Oneway Stronghold chuck and about 3"D x 7/16" H tenon. I am not sure if that is a dimple in the center of the tenon, but I like to leave one for centering when I start the returning process after the blank has dried.

[Baxter Smith]

The staining should make for some good looking bowls. Hope you can get a little bit more!

[Eric Gourieux]

Doug,
The staining looks great on these. It's amazing how "damaged" wood can be so interesting to us turners! Thanks for thinking of me. I'll send you a PM

[Doug Herzberg]

After three days of cutting, ripping, and splitting I have a sore back, sore arms, and sore hands; a pile of beetle infested bark to burn; some blanks for turning; and more work to do. The intact log is 22" in diameter. The tree was 32" at the base, 110 years old, per the owner.
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I roughed a couple more bowls last night, one with a big (for me) 3-1/2" tenon. Looks like there is pine in my future.

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Most of this is too big to mail via Priority Mail, but if someone is interested and can figure out how to get it, there is enough to share.