Can I Utilize Small Branches For Small Spindle Turnings And Leave The Pith In?

[Dom Garafalo]

As a new turner, I have a question about the pith in small branches that I would like to use for various turnings such as candle stick holders, salt and pepper shakers and small boxes.

Realizing that leaving the pith in a piece of wood can be a problem when turning a bowl of 5" +, but is it really always a problem when you find a nice hardwood branch with a 3"-5" diameter that you would like to use for a spindle based turning?

Otherwise, how do you make use of nice small straight branches other than turning thin objects like pens or as firewood?

I would appreciate your input.

Thank you

[Bob Bouis]

If the branch is completely dry and hasn't cracked, sure. If it's not totally dried when you turn it, there's a substantial chance it'll crack when it does.

[Ralph Lindberg]

The problem with branches, and why they can be difficult to turn, is that the wood in the upper part of the branch is in tension, while the wood in the lower part is in compression.
This results in a lot of cracking

[Terry Vaughan]

It depends partly on the species and the shape of the item. The bigger the diameter, the more likely to split. 3-5 inches is pushing it, in my experience, but something like a mushroom could often work at 3 inches. People make hollow forms out of branches.

Unseasoned branch wood is nice to turn and the risk of a split may be worth taking. If nothing else, it's good for practice.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

As a new turner, I have a question about the pith in small branches that I would like to use for various turnings such as candle stick holders, salt and pepper shakers and small boxes.

Realizing that leaving the pith in a piece of wood can be a problem when turning a bowl of 5" +, but is it really always a problem when you find a nice hardwood branch with a 3"-5" diameter that you would like to use for a spindle based turning?

Otherwise, how do you make use of nice small straight branches other than turning thin objects like pens or as firewood?

I would appreciate your input.

Thank you

I have and do use branch wood, thinner ones, like in the1 1/2” to 3” inch ones for turning Birdhouses, especially if I want to keep the Bark on, otherwise I can also cutoffs for that.

Some of these will guaranteed split if you try to first dry them, like Apricot and Lilac, Tartarian Honey Suckle and some others, but if you turn fresh green or only partially dry branches, I have had basically never had them split afterwards.

Mind you I do turn the walls and roofs of these Birdhouses real thin, and I have turned hundreds of them, the ones that family and friends have show that they stay without splitting later.

If you want to make larger boxes I would rough turn them from the wood and let them dry slowly in a brown paper bag, it is the endgrain in the bottom and top of boxes that will dry real fast and split, if you can prevent the fast dryinng you will have a much better chance of drying the piece without splitting.

One other thing I have done is soaking CA in the endgrain, that will pretty well stop the drying/splitting problem, also the larger soft pith in woods like Walnut or Sumac etc. you will have to treat, as I could not make finials from that if the pith was close to center.

As you can see a lot of the Bird house ornaments have been made with branch wood.
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[Mark Greenbaum]

I have made a couple of really nice long tool handles from branches. One is from an 14" long x 2" diameter branch from a Bald Cypress that was trimmed next to my old driveway. Another was 18" long x 2" diameter branch from what I thought was a black locust, but turned out to be Redbud. Both have stayed straight and useful.

[Dom Garafalo]

If you want to make larger boxes I would rough turn them from the wood and let them dry slowly in a brown paper bag

Leo, do you also put the shavings in the brown paper bag?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Leo, do you also put the shavings in the brown paper bag?

No, as that will cause mildew, just a closed brown paper bag will do fine.

[John K Jordan]

There is an excellent book that discusses the what, how, and why: Turning Green Wood by ODonnel:

https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Green-Wood-Michael-ODonnell/dp/1861080891

JKJ

[Jon McElwain]

One of my earliest turnings was a coat rack turned from fresh cut red alder. I turned two sections about 3' long each - the bottom from a trunk section about 7" in diameter, and the top section from a branch (growing fairly vertically) that was about 5" diameter. Both sections had the pith running through them and were turned down to between 2.5" and 4" diameter. It was turned about 10 years ago in SE Alaska (humid rain forest) and about 6 years ago we moved from there to the Colorado front range - a very dry climate. Still, the only crack in it is in the knot of a branch that bifurcated off the top section. Still totally straight as well.