parallam beam

[bernard feinerman]

I do not want to hijack/divert from John Beaver's magnificent bowls and am nowhere competent to try my hand at making waves...

I acquired a 5" thick 10" turning blank of parallam beam wood and want to know what I am letting myself in for before plunging in.

Bernie

[Tim Rinehart]

I've got a chunk myself....I'd say go slow, wear appropriate protection and keep your tools scary sharp. I've heard alot from folks locally who have turned these kinds of construction materials and though they work well in buildings, don't always have the the solidity we need for turning. So take it slow and be ready to stabilize any areas that look weak.
I too look forward to trying my hand at this stuff. Look forward to seeing what you do with it.

[Dan Forman]

I got some for a flat project, there are a lot of knots in the lams, which don't affect stability as beams, but may not look very nice in a turning.

Dan

[John Keeton]

Along with the cautions already offered on integrity of the wood, please understand you will be breathing adhesive dust - a whole different animal than plain wood dust, which is bad enough on its own.

[Doug Herzberg]

I also have some, but mine has been outside since the house was built about 20 years ago. Surprisingly, it is pretty solid. It hadn't occurred to me to try it on the lathe, but John's stuff looks pretty nice. I may heed JK's advice and get a powered respirator before I try it.

[John Beaver]

Parallam beams are small strands of wood held together with an epoxy / glue. Even with the sharpest gouge, you get a lot of sawdust and chips off the tool that don't feel good on your hands. (Face and breathing protection is a must.) It is very difficult to get a smooth surface off the gouge as it tends to pull on the strands. Oddly enough I have found that turning the outside downhill sometimes keeps it cleaner, but it's really about sharp, sharp tools, and careful turning. A delicately handled shear scraper is also an option. If you hold the scraper flat it will pull more strands out.

When you are done there will be tons of voids where the strands have pulled out. I mix epoxy with different fillers (dye, coffee etc) fill the holes with the first one, scrape to flush, fill more holes with the second mix, scrape to flush and repeat as desired. Sometimes I will stick pieces of wood back in the larger holes. The variety of fillers just adds to the interest (you could do them all the same if you wanted -- I've even considered colors). Even with that there are still some dents and divots, but these are just texture, and I find them acceptable. You could beat yourself to death trying to get it perfect.

Good luck.