Cherry for the Holidays

[Baxter Smith]

A couple days before Christmas, a fellow club member asked if I was interested in getting some cherry from a wood dump he had recently come across. Although I hardly need more wood to rough out, I don’t seem to find much cherry in this area.
250624
Especially the kind that can make an 18” bar look small.

The next morning it was time to unload. Being Christmas Eve, it was almost like unloading Santa’s sleigh.:)
250625

250626
According to an old bathroom scale, an E 150 can hold ¾’s of a ton of cherry.

Hosed it off and hauled it behind the shop.
250627
Anchorsealed it, then covered with a tarp.

On the last day of 2012, I turned the first two pieces down to a bit over 20”.
250628
250629
250630

[Baxter Smith]

Then it was on to number two.
250631

There was some rot along one edge, so I cored out the center,and then turned the top of the bigger bowl off.
250632

The following day I wanted to try and turn something I could use for a tilt top table in the future.
250633

Stood it on edge
250634
and slabbed it.

Mounted it on the lathe
250635
and made it an even thickness just under 25” wide. It is now stickered with several cinderblocks on top. Maybe it will stay flat enough to return in a couple of years.

The same process was repeated two more times.

250636

The three little blanks on the right are done.
250637
I have yet to figure out what to do with the one on the left. 27” wide x 30” long and according to the old bathroom scale
250638

Any suggestions on trying something different?

If I go with something over 20” I can’t core it.

Is turning one big bowl to finish even an option? How thick? Would anything over ½” survive drying without cracking if bagged?

Rough out one big bowl? Would a 2 ½” thick roughout survive? How would I remount it to true the recess or tenon for returning. Sounds like an excuse for bigger lathe downthe road!;)

Slab it to 12/4 since I only have a chainsaw and leave the ends square for future flatwork. I can resaw12” and plane 15”. Ripping, resawing, planing, jointing, and regluing might be an option.

Take a slab off the top then try a once turned cored thin set?

Turn a big bowl or cored set with the pith at the bottom?

Someday my New Years Resolution is going to be to finish more things than I rough out. Someday… :)

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

[Roger Chandler]

Hey Baxter........that is a pretty nice haul! Cherry is about as good as it gets for turning wood. Nice lookin' rough-outs there, and one question.....why don't you go large?! :D You are in keeping with your normal pattern here!

Man.......that second post.........that is some pretty stuff there! Don't know if it were mine that I might not have a piece or two of that slabbed off for a table top!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow Baxter that is a gloat. Really nice looking cherry. Out here if a cherry tree gets to 8" in diameter that is a big tree. lol

[Jim Burr]

Well aren't you the wood hoarder!! Nice haul Baxter...should keep you busy for a week or two!

[Ted Calver]

What? No giant natural edge?? This is about as good as it gets for cherry Baxter. What a great haul.

[Scott Hackler]

Wow that's a whopper.!

[Kathy Marshall]

Now that's a heck of a gloat Baxter! And it looks you've been very busy!

[Reed Gray]

Baxter,
Well, I did core a 22 inch madrone bowl once. Had to break off about a 2 1/2 inch tenon/stub in the center. I REALLY S T R E T C H E D out a lot of plastic on the rim. Don't know if you have ever seen the You Tube clip from the New Holland bowl mills, but they steam their big cherry bowls. That or boil it. For steaming, probably under a cover of some sort, and as long as over night maybe. I am jealous. No cherry like that at all out here.

robo hippy

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Bax,
Don't leave sapwood near the bottom of the bowl. Every time I do so the rough out cracks. In fact, with that big a chunk I would remove all sapwood. Big bowls are fun to make but hard to get rid of. They beat the crap out of you and sanding takes forever. Don't let the blank determine the bowl size. Make a size you like and can sell. That looks like it was a fabulous piece of cherry. No matter how much wood I have around I never refuse a chance for cherry. For every day bowls I think it is the prettiest wood.
faust

[Steve Schlumpf]

Baxter - WOW - what a gloat! I love it! Cherry sure is a great wood to turn! I wish I could offer some suggestions as to how best to use the large chunks - and was trying to think of something to go with the bathtub you already roughed out - but no luck! Have fun with it all and watch your back! Man - that stuff is heavy!!

[Sean Hughto]

Baxter, I would make the biggest bowl I could, just to have one under my belt that was finished at around 24" diameter. My guess is that it will oval a full inch, so make it thick enough to still have a round bowl with a near 3/4" wall. I love pith at the bottom as it makes for pretty grain patterns and more stability as the wood "breathes" moisture during it's life. I'd coat the whole thing in anchor seal and let it dry slow over 6 to 12 months. As far as truing the tenon for re-turning, that sould be no problem - just mount a plywood disk (perhaps covered with some sheet rubber/foam/shelf lining) on a face plate, use the tail stock (mark the center o fhte tenon with dimple while you're turning the blank) to push the rim of the blank into the disk and run at a slowish rotation - like 300 rpm while you retrue the tenon - then put it in a stronghold chuck and finish it!

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Great gloat Baxter & some really nice wood. But Where's the big end grain hollow vessels ??? With that new boring bar you have, it looks like there would have been some nice vessel's in it too.

[Michael Gibson]

Baxter,

l bet you are glad you did not turn down that offer, it certainly is some beautiful Cherry. l would bag them in one of those giant paper bags like you have to buy at Ace hardware and seal them as well for added insurance. Michael

[Bob Bergstrom]

Beautiful wood. Hard to find it that big without wind shanks or rotten middle. I cored a 25" maple sometime back, but was limited by the largest coring blade. The remaining largest bowl was still 3" thick. Thinned it down to 2" and rounded the rim. Then I plastic wraped and duct taped the rim. I sealed the ends with anchor seal before the wrap. Waited two years and finished off. No crackers!!

[Peter Blair]

Great gloat! Along with the others, I am impressed with the size of that tree!

I am also impressed with your sawyer skills. Some of the blanks look as if they were run through a mill.

[George Guadiane]

NICE!
If I wasn't in shorts and a "T" shirt, I'd be jealous.

[Richard Jones]

Where is the "drool" icon?

[steven carter]

Baxter,

I can almost smell the cherry from the pics. Great haul. I saw a large cherry that had been cut down at the edge of a field near my house, and I know the guy that owns the farm so I gave him a call to see about the wood, and he had promised to a guy for firewood! I told him the only part I was interested in was the crotch piece at the end of one of the logs. I may have over stated the difficulty of splitting crotch wood ;) and he said he would have the crotch cut out and drop it by my house. That was a couple weeks ago, and it has been covered in snow since then, so maybe I have a crotch coming.

Those are some nice looking rough outs.

[kevin nee]

Hello Baxter, Do you need a 25 inch bowl except for bragging rights. You will spend a day on it. It has a chance of cracking. Storage is an issue starting when of you cut it. You have plenty of cherry, cut for figure even if it ends up at 18" An 18" cored set is still quiet impressive and you can use YOUR FRIEND Mr. Tailstock. You can always get a nice big lathe for under $10,000. GOOD LUCK and let us know what you do.

[Mike Golka]

Man! I'd be happy with your cut-offs. 25" isn't a bowl,maybe a wash tub.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I would need more to try them all.

250690

Those two 8' logs on the left are still there.




...Don't know if you have ever seen the You Tube clip from the New Holland bowl mills, but they steam their big cherry bowls.

robo hippy
Found and watched that clip Reed. Quite the steam room! I recieved a standard McNaughton from Fred Perreault here on the SMC classifieds a couple days ago. It had your DVD along with Mike Mahoneys as well. Even "IF" I was experienced in its use, I am not sure my outboard stand would be solid enough to mount the toolpost. Working from the center out, one might be able to take larger and larger cores from a 25" bowl. After getting to 14' or 15", I would have to turn out the rest.

......... and sanding takes forever........
Don't remind me Faust!:)


I love pith at the bottom as it makes for pretty grain patterns and more stability as the wood "breathes" moisture during it's life. .......... As far as truing the tenon for re-turning, that sould be no problem - just mount a plywood disk (perhaps covered with some sheet rubber/foam/shelf lining) on a face plate, use the tail stock (mark the center o fhte tenon with dimple while you're turning the blank) to push the rim of the blank into the disk........
Sean, I am very tempted to keep the pith at the bottom regardless of how big the bowl would end up. The major problem with going over 20 is I lose the ability to use the tailstock for support at any point.(along with no coring) The idea about the plywood disk reminded me of something I think I have seen. If a 26" or more plywood disk was mounted to a faceplate and a circle was marked for the size of the bowl, then with the use of shims, hot glue, straps etc. one could probably center a warped blowl blank well enough to true up the recess for a chuck.



Great gloat Baxter & some really nice wood. But Where's the big end grain hollow vessels ??? With that new boring bar you have, it looks like there would have been some nice vessel's in it too.
Joe, I haven't totally ruled that out with this half. When I went over there, I was hoping for something smaller and less cracked through the pith. Since there were cracks at least7-8 inches wide, I just split it with the checks.

I also brought back a crotch which I may try that with. I cut off all three ends just to try and make it easier to roll to the outer edge of the pile.
250700

Once we got it out, both edges/sides were slabbed off so I could split it through two of the piths.
250701
I still have a lot to whack off before this one gets put on the lathe. The scale on my scale only goes to 300 so I am just guessing at #330.



Baxter,

l bet you are glad you did not turn down that offer, it certainly is some beautiful Cherry. l would bag them in one of those giant paper bags like you have to buy at Ace hardware and seal them as well for added insurance. Michael
No doubt about it Michael. I went there hoping for something over 12". When I saw those logs, I couldn't focus on anything else!
Probably a good idea on bagging . I anchorsealed them then left them on the concrete floor along the back wall with some of those bags simply laid over the top. I was hoping the temps would be cold for awhile but putting the big ones inside might be a good idea.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Gives me things to think about.

I told the guy that took me that whenever he wanted to go again to give me a call. The next time I would be cutting something other than big chunks of cherry. Not so sure about that now!:)

[Roger Chandler]

Wow! What a treasure trove of wood........Baxter. no doubt with your creativity and tooling you will do it justice.......I hope to be able to see some of these in person, if we get together again for another DAMP meeting! Man, that is some woodpile!

[Nate Davey]

Good Lord those are huge, Baxter. You could make bath tubs out of them. Very Nice.

[Rodney Walker]

Wow! That's some big cherry. Around here wild cherry may get to a foot in diameter. Nice haul. Your buddy at the club is a good friend for sharing. I'd say the single slab table top is a brilliant idea. Boards that wide don't come around often. I hope it dries ok for you.
Rodney

[Michael Dromey]

Lucky Duck. Right place at the right time. I must say I am envious of your find. Cherry is my favorite wood of all time.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Baxter where did you get that mini Stihl chainsaw :p, and

.. .. ..oh WOW that is some beautiful Black Cherry, I've only once got Cherry that size and it was full of dry rot, you know the way Cherry does go bad :(.

It would be nice IF you had a good outboard setup, rather than the loose one you have now, but it should not stop you though Baxter, just take your time, and this straight grained wood should not move that much drying, especially if you remove most of the sapwood.

And I think going for a finish turned bowl would not be a bad move at all, it is going to test your patience turning it, but I never regretted turning the extra large bowls, anybody can turn a 15 or 17 inch bowl, but how many can show you a 28" or 30" one, and Black Cherry at that :D, you got the wood and a chance to do it, ..............what you're waiting for :)

You left those other logs behind :eek: :eek:, I would have been back so fast you wouldn't have thought I ever left :p ;)

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions!


...anybody can turn a 15 or 17 inch bowl, but how many can show you a 28" or 30" one, and Black Cherry at that :D, you got the wood and a chance to do it, ..............what you're waiting for :)........

Given that it may be once in a lifetime wood and I have already played it safe twice, I can't tell you how many times that exact thought has crossed my mind Leo.;):)
I was wondering if you would be a voice of reason. I should have known better!:D

As for leaving those other logs behind? Well, the fellow who had invited me had had enough.(and I wanted my van to live to haul again);) Can't say I didn't spend the ride home thinking about what I had left behind though.:)

Hypothetically speaking of course;), if one was to turn a cherry bowl to finish and remove all sapwood, would the odds of survival be any better if the pith side was at the bottom rather than the top?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions!

Hypothetically speaking of course;), if one was to turn a cherry bowl to finish and remove all sapwood, would the odds of survival be any better if the pith side was at the bottom rather than the top?

No guarantee either way Baxter, and as to which way is best/better??, I don't really know Baxter, sorry but I have very few splits in any bowls, having been turned any which way.

It is almost always the end-grain that will split if anything, in nice straight grained wood, (and you will have that in either position) if you start with no splits/checks and get the wall thickness even or slightly thinner going down to the foot, or bottom, with no sharp thickness changes and sharp edges/corners, you are almost guaranteed to have a bowl that can be dried without any problems, it is the drying that is always the tricky part if you don't have a good location to do that.

You know the score on that, closed brown paper bag (got to be a real big one here) and placed in a cool position out of the draft and sun/heat.

I don't know where you can get your hands on the brown craft paper to wrap it in, I have used newspaper but had to keep a real close eye on the drying, as the news paper just doesn't absorb-release the moisture like the brown paper bag material, but it did work just liked to get fungus growth quite easily/quickly.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Leo. I have some double layer paper leaf bags I have used for 17-18" bowls. I should be able to cut and paste a couple of them together.

[charlie knighton]

thanks for sharing, awesome from the logs to the coring, no suggestions, i would have been happy with just a 3' section, awesome Baxter

[Russell Eaton]

Baxter, I say go big or go home. I have a 20+" red ambrosia maple the was left 2 1/2" and it has dried reasonably true. I think you will be fine if it is left thick. I wouldn't get into a hurry to return it. By the way, that is a sweet log!

[Harry Robinette]

Nice gloat Baxter the big ones take a long time to turn but there fun and worth every minute of it.

[Mike Stephens]

Nice haul Baxter. Love your presentation of this thread with all the pics.

What I would like to know more about is your outboard turning rig. It looks great from what I can see. Anymore info on it? Maybe a thread I missed?

Enjoy

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks again for commenting!

Nice haul Baxter. Love your presentation of this thread with all the pics.

What I would like to know more about is your outboard turning rig. It looks great from what I can see. Anymore info on it? Maybe a thread I missed?

Enjoy
Thanks Mike. They are all just cellphone pictures. I enjoy just taking the phone out of my pocket to snap a picture along the way whether I ever post them or not. I am afraid a decent camera in my cellphone has turned me into a lazy photographer.

The outboard stand is something I made a couple of years ago for a Delta/Rockwell. The arm is 2x2 1/4" box tubing welded to a metal plate that bolted to the cabinet.
251049
The upright post is whatever size scrap tubing I found to slip inside the 2x2 tubing.

I then moved it my 3520A by drilling holes in the leg and bolting it in place.
251050

When I picked up a 3520B last summer, I made a new plate so I could use the tapped holes in the legs.
251053
I also made a longer arm for it to be able to use it as a support for a rear trap when needed. The square plate on the bottom of the upright was added so that it would slide a bit more easily across plywood when the bolts are loosened.
It works is about all I can say for it. You have to use a wrench to unloosen the nuts,(the heads of the bolt are welded in place) so it is not nearly as fast as unlocking and moving a banjo. It is pretty solid as long as you don't get way out on the end of the toolrest and try to take a real heavy cut. It gets the job done, just not as quickly as turning something inboard where the regular banjo can be used.

[Mike Stephens]

Very good Baxter. Thanks for taking the time.