Anyone ever tried to turn this stuff?

[Valk Wilkinson]

Got this from a friend in construction. He said it was a cutoff from some main beam used in building a house. Was going to cut a nice chunk off and stick it in a vacuum chamber with some epoxy to fill some of the voids. But what I'm worried about is the glue used to make it. I've read that the glue in some plywood can be very abrasive. This seems to be made of small strips of wood compressed together and glued all facing one direction for longitudinal strength. Its about 4" x 12". If not destructive, looks like it would be fun to play with. Any thoughts?

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[Walter Mooney]

Valk,

If memory serves me correctly, you have what I believe is called a PSL beam -- parallel strand lumber beam. Highly engineered, very strong as a beam. I doubt you'll be able to draw anything into it to fill the voids, the way those beams are manufacturd. There won't be that many anyway. Never turned it, but if it were mine I'd give it a try. If it starts beating up your tools, just give up and toss it. No big loss.

[Brian Kent]

That could give some really interesting patterns. I don't make many pens, but that might give an interesting pattern, either straight or slant-cut.

[Matt Schrum]

Check out the pictures at the link below. While it does not give any details on the process, the gentleman does show a few pieces turned from these sort of beams.

http://www.outofcontrol-woodturning.com/Parallam.html

[Paul Williams]

I have turned one small bowl and a few acorn style bird house roofs out of glue lam beams. I seem to remember some nasty splinters coming off the gouge. It was a couple of years ago and I don't remember if I had to sharpen more than usual, but I would guess that will be required.

[ALAN HOLLAR]

It really is quite interesting when it has been turned and sanded. Light touch with very sharp tools. There will be some voids to fill with your favorite material. I used Inlace. I don't have any pics unfortunately. It is much harder to turn cleanly than most woods, but easier than palm.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

called PSL or LSL

it would be best if you can stabilize it with Cactus Juice or similar - if you do, consider using a dye with the juice. It will come out looking great because of the variations in how the wood absorbs the dye.

[Richard Henke]

I have turned this several times. It does give some large splinters off, but the pieces are very nice looking when done. You will need to fill the voids, especially in the end grain. Be sure to wear a face shield and maybe some gloves.

[Valk Wilkinson]

Cool thnx all! I'll post some pics here when I get done making something out of it. Have about 4 feet of it so if anyone wants a small chunk let me know what size and pm me your address.

[Reed Gray]

I have heard a number of different names for it, OSB (oriented strand board) for one. They make a lot of it up here. I learned early in my construction years that the glue in any plywood is harder than the wood, and it dulls any blade faster than straight wood. It does have a different texture. My main concern would be formaldehyde off gassing. I did a number of concrete jobs around a Georgia Pacific resin plant that made glue for plywood. Lots of 'No smoking' and 'Don't go any where hear this without a gas mask' type of stuff in it.

robo hippy

[Doug W Swanson]

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Here's a pen I made from the stuff. There was quite a bit of tearout so I had to go slow and use lots of thin CA. I would make a few passes with my skew, soak the blank in thin CA and then go back to the skew. It was pretty time consuming but it does have a really nice look to it.

[John Beaver]

It is Parallam PSL Beam (Parallel Stranded Lumber) different from OSB It looks cool when turned. Not fun to turn. Lots of dust and junk so wear lots of protection. Some of the slivers will come out leaving voids to fill. I just use colored epoxy, but to really get it nice takes a few passes of epoxy over the entire piece. Impossible to get super smooth with just sanding. Play into it's character rather then trying to get it perfect. I think using inlace would be really interesting.

[Reed Gray]

John, maybe it is the 'plywood' type sheets that I was thinking of. Also called wafer board, and chip board, which is slightly different from particle board... I do have some 'Dakota' burl which is a pressed sheet made from sun flower seed shells, and there are now a number of paper pulp type pressed board products as well. Very heavy... When I think of PSL, I think of 'glue-lams' which were glued up 2 by 4, 6, 8, etc.

robo hippy

[Barry McFadden]

I turned this vase a few years ago from a Parallam beam. It has a glass insert so real flowers can be put in it. I just left the voids as is. Don't remember any problems with turning it or finishing it. Still have a piece about 8"X 8"X 12" that I think I will make a bowl out of. I probably will try to fill the voids in the bowl but I have never used epoxy or anything to do that so I'll have to do a little research on it first.

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