Storing Blanks....

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I've been doing some "logging" of a type here in Tokyo, Ive got a bunch of different woods, honestly, some of it we have no idea what it is.

I have some that is only 6" to 8" wide, and as I'm getting much larger stuff I don't want to bother cutting these logs up into lumber, so I cut them up into what I would image would be "Bowl Blanks".

Bear with me, I've not even bought my lathe yet :o

I'm getting the wood first and the lathe later :rolleyes:

Anyway, the wood is all green, and what I've done is I've cut them into chunks about 4 to 8" in length, some have nice burls on them, so I left those ones longer.

I've painted the ends with latex paint and I'm going to store them until I get a lathe, could be six months or so :(.

Is there anything else I should do?

I understand that you do not want the blanks to dry out, you want to rough your bowls in green, is that right?

The only other thing I could think of is to wrap them in a plastic bag, but I'm afraid they might rot if I do that, or wrap the bark sides with that flat twine stuff (like Saran wrap).

Any advice on how to store these bowl blanks would be greatly appreciated.

Well, there you go, my first post in the "Turner's Forum".....:D

Cheers!

[Jim Ketron]

If you think its going to be that long I would paint the whole thing.
And do not use plastic! It will cause molding and your wood would rot before you could get to turn them.
watch for molding, and I would keep them somewhere with some air circulation.

[Andy Hoyt]

Stu:

If they're in the round keep them as long as possible. Or in your case, as long as will still fit through the hatch to the dungeon.

As for those short eight inchers (if they're still round) you should probably rip them to remove the pith. this will eliminate/reduce checking and splitting.

The latex paint is fine and only needs to go on the end grain - even if the piece has been ripped.

Store them off the concrete. Air circulation helps, but keeping it on the somewhat humid side will slow the drying process which is good for reducing splits. I'll bet the dungeon stays fairly cool year round which is also good.

Don't bother wrapping them in plastic. But that is a technique that can be used to store a green partially rough turned blank overnight until the roughing can be completed.

There's no rule that says you have to turn green wood. But it is a lot more fun. The big advantage is drying time. The whole solid chunk of wood will take ages to dry on its own. While a rough turned piece can dry on its own in far less time. There are ways to speed the process in either case; but let's keep it simple for now.

Okay. My turn is over. Somebody else can chime in and correct me now.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

They are in the round, I already cut them up, as I did not want to make the chainsaw mess in my shop again (it is ankle deep in sawdust at the momment).

Thanks for the advice guys!

Cheers!

[Frank Chaffee]

I thank you Andy Hoyt for having passed on the talking stick. My object is to dissuade Stu Ablett from pursuing the craft of turning wood.

To Mr. Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan,
Please know, Sir that I have been following your activities closely since you began posting here on Sawmill Creek. Since I was yay high to a cricket I have wanted to live in Japan. I worked three years in a restaurant named “Tokyo Restaurant” during my youth. Did I ever cut vegetables for the wok, no of course not? That is why I still have fingertips on my left hand.

I had turned many pots from the earth mud material by then. I had read Nelson’s second edition of Ceramics and Bernard Leech, and taken workshops from Don Reitz in raku. I had studied the hillside constructed kilns of Japan.

I was on my way to Northern California to work with wood.

For me, my path turned to metal then. Maybe it was because of the rails that streamed west out of Minneapolis to Seattle, I don’t know. I scavenged packing crates that were inked in hiragana from behind the shops in Japantown, salvaged two by material from construction site dumpsters, and made my first “cabinets”. I finished them with a coarse wood rasp which took off slivers but left much grain depth.

Then I got a job in metal at the casual labor office down by Pike St. Market, and I stayed mostly in that medium for a long time.

Sure, I spent time at Toshiro hardware talking to Frank and got some pull saws and sharpening stones, a natural hone and some blades, but the transformation of metal by heat that the shipbuilders did stole my soul.

But anyhow Stu, now I am looking at wood and so are you, right here on The Sawmill Creek Forum.

Jim Ketron has already produced the most awesome bowl that could be imagined. So what would be your point?

Turning wood is dangerous because wood has unknown and unpredictable grain and fault lines. A split off a turning hitting your frontal lobe at some hundreds of miles an hour is one order of magnitude above what could have happened on your two stroke.

…And I assure you Stu that I know about speed.

So Stu, you have two beautiful daughters, and you are one of the most marvelous fathers I have seen in these parts; you have striven for safety in every aspect of every machine you have presented here. Would you throw all that away and take up company with the wild and dangerous Turners on this forum???

I rest my case here, Stu Ablett of Tokyo Japan. But if you decide to turn against my advice, I really look forward to seeing your work.

Frank

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Frank, I very much enjoyed reading you post, but alas, it is a lost cause!!

You see while I was still a very impressionable youth in high school I had the ill luck of attending a woodworking class, there the evil being that ruled our realm (known a "Shop" teacher) introduced us to the art of wood turning, then, just to make sure I was doubly cursed the Industrial Arts realm tyrant introduced us to turning metals, brass being my favorite.

Once I left High school, I thought I was free of this curse, then I landed a job at a steel fabrications factory, we made just about everything out of just about anything metallic. I also was introduced into the evil realm of CNC, and milling machines!

As luck would have it, I escaped to carry on other endeavors for a very long time, I even left the country of my birth to be further away from this curse.

I married, took on a new business, began a family and everything was going fine, then one cursed day, a "friend" (who just happens to be a lawyer) who was leaving the country gave us some wooden dinning room chairs. They are not the best quality, but they were better than the ones we had. Made in some South East Asian country, they are well built, made from beech. One day, like the tolling of the bells of doom, a stretcher broke........

My lovely and innocent wife, who has supported me in my hobbies and been thrilled by my various attempts to make something of beauty out of wood, asked me if I could fix the chair...?

I, not understanding what my answer would entail, foolishly said "Yes!".

I have to admit, my pride in being able to fix just about anything got in the way of my safety, and maybe my sanity...?

You see, once before, I was tempted, I bought an electric drill powered lathe, but this was before I was able to reach a group of turners would would be just as mad as me, so eventually, mainly due to the lack of decent wood to turn, I had put that electric drill lathe away.

Now, I dug it out, I put it back to use, and I fixed that chair.......
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_set-up.jpg

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/turnings/turning_thereabouts.jpg

While I was making this piece, it was like my third eye opened, and I was struck at how much I was enjoying it, even though my tools were not sharpened correctly (I'm sure) and the lathe I was using was just able to be called a lathe....:o etc. etc.

At this time, I decided that I had to get hold of something decent and try this turning thing, but this time, I'd do it better, I'd take the time and learn how, and I'd get my hands on some real wood to try.

Well the real wood has fallen into my lap, and while we were out at a home interior place, my lovely bride saw some wooden vases that she really liked, until she saw the price........

Then, she said "Well if you had a lathe, you could make these....right....?"

He heard a chuckle from distant pass, and I heard myself, answer "Sure thing dear, IF I had a lathe...."

Thus Frank, while your advice is given out of great desire to help others and for the good of mankind, I'm afraid it has come to late..........

Cheers!

(Click HERE (http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/turning_japanese_snip.mp3)for a snip of the song Turning Japanese by The Vapours)

[Bob Noles]

Stu,

You have got to be the most creative person I have EVER seen. That drill lathe is a keeper :cool:

I have seen things come from your shop that just blow me away and give me all kinds of ideas.

Welcome to the turner's vortex and I am thrilled you made it down here among the greatest of company. I look forward to learning more from your ventures and this certainly makes it easier to keep track of you :eek:

Just be warned now that you are here..... there is no turning back and life will never be the same. :D

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Just be warned now that you are here..... there is no turning back and life will never be the same. :D
Well, if it all turns out the way I'm thinking it will....... then there should be no turning back (unless that is some advanced lathe technique that I don't know about...?) ;):D

[Travis Stinson]

Ahhh Stu, Welcome my Brother!;)
Reading your rite of passage brought a tear of joy to my eye.:cool:

[John Hart]

When I lived in Hawaii, I went down by a little shoreline feature known at "The Toilet Bowl" where there is a giant hole in the lava next to the bay that would fill up and empty with each swell that came in....this was due to tunnels within the lava shelf that would allow the bay water to travel into it. People would get in the hole and "ride" the water up and down.

About 100 yards from there, is another hole, only this one is only about 3 feet in diameter. With every incoming wave out in the bay, this little hole would fill with water and then recede. We saw a bunch of people standing around this little hole cheering....so we went over to see what the excitement was about.

Every few minutes, one brave soul would kneel at the hole, wait for it to fill up, then dive into the hole. About 30-60 seconds later, they would appear out in the bay after traveling underground about 30-40 yards. It looked scary, dangerous, and stupid. But then, everyone who did it, no matter how afraid they were that first time, would climb out of the bay and run back to the hole to do it again.

Yeah...I did it too. It was terrifying. I took a deep breath and plunged into the water. When I dove into the hole, the receding water was carrying me out through this narrow tunnel. My eyes were open and it was dark. Then, about half way through, the water stopped receding and the next wave came in, and was trying to push me backward. I held on to the sides of the tunnel as I fought against the surge. Then that wave started back toward the bay and continued to carry me out toward the dim light that was getting brighter and brighter. Then, before I knew it, I was blown out of the tunnel and swam up to the surface, out in the bay.

I ran back to the hole to do it again...and again...and again.....All the while, newcomers would show up with skepticism, and intrigue on their faces.

This is what Turning is like.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I've never been to Hawaii, but I've had at least a dozen friends, over the years, tell me of the Toilet bowl and the tube dive!

Very cool!!

Well with turning, at least I don't got to get into a swimsuit and scare the small kids away ;):D

So now I got to find me a lathe.....

[Chris Barton]

John,

I am never coming to your house to turn anything.

[David Fried]

John,

My mother warned me about people like you.

Dave Fried

[Dick Strauss]

Stu,
is Anchorseal or a similar wax emulsion product available in Japan? If so, I'd go that route for sealing the ends. I started out using cheap latex paint on my first load of locust. I started having problems with end cracking after two coats of latex on freshly cut wood. It might have just been a problem with that locust wood. However, I haven't had those problems with any other wood (maple, apple, ash, mulberry, cherry, or willow) so far using Anchorseal. It's a little expensive, but it is worth every penny IMO.

I forgot to mention I've really been enjoying hearing about your urban logging operation and your dungeon. Keep the posts coming...

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I don't know, I'll have to find some local turners here and ask.

I've just been using latex paint, not cheap stuff, but paint just the same.

Cheers!

[Jim Dunn]

Stu when your fever goes down you'll hear people talking in the hither land. They'll be saying "I told you so". Now turn off that lathe/drill and get back to flat work.

Jim

[Cecil Arnold]

Welcome to the dark side Luke . . I mean Stu. Now you will know the true joy of the force. You got to get you a lathe.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Getting back to the "Blanks"..... ;)

I cut up a bunch of the smaller logs into "turning blanks", I don't know if I should have done this or not, but here is the result......

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/future_bowls.jpg
Some of them have a nice burl on the side etc.

Now, it was said that I should leave them in the "Long" state of roundness, so I'll do that with these ones.....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/long_blanks.jpg
The two on the left, I'm not sure what they are, the one on the right, is Sakura, the one on the far right, is old dry cedar, not for turning, I think, the 3 smaller ones are about 6 or 7 inches in diameter.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/sakura_blanks_long.jpg
This one is Sakura and is about 10 or 12 inches in diameter.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/jackpot/sakura_crotch_blank.jpg
Another Sakura, this one is a crotch, there seems to be a bit of rot in it.

So the longer ones I'll keep like they are, paint the ends, OK, I get that, but what about this "Pith" removal....?

How should I cut these up for make bowl blanks?

Awaiting your command....

Cheers!

[Travis Stinson]

Bill Grumbine has an excellent pictorial on his website.;)
http://www.enter.net/~ultradad/logcutting.html

[Jeremiah Jordan]

Man, look how many pen blanks can be in that one log ;):cool:.

Happy turnings Stu. I got some spalted maple up in my hayloft for some of that S wood you have. Long distance trade maybe ?

Jeremiah Jordna

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Thanks Travis, that makes sense to me..........now.........:o

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Man, look how many pen blanks can be in that one log ;):cool:.

Happy turnings Stu. I got some spalted maple up in my hayloft for some of that S wood you have. Long distance trade maybe ?

Jeremiah Jordna

Dunno if it is possible, Japan has all kinds of weird import restrictions on stuff.....

Cheers!

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

Not meaning to bump my own thread here, but I have to laugh, I was searching the net here tonight, looking for some place in Japan that sells lathes at less than 300% of the price in the US, when my eldest daughter came up and asked me what I was doing.

I told her, and she got all excited, she really wants to try turning stuff too!!

So now I have a new ally in the quest for the lathe, it would be a fun Father and daughter thing to do.

Yes I know it is not exactly a safe tool to use, but I figure with a slow start, over time, why not.

You guys were all kids once, some of you still are :eek::D

Cheers!

[John Hart]

Stu,
I got my girls started on pens a couple of months ago. They are 10 and 11...going on 20.:eek:
They thoroughly enjoy it but I am very noisy about safety. My lathe is 2HP direct drive so it has the potential of doing damage.... so I keep them acutely aware of the dangers and make sure that they stay focused...but at the same time make it fun. Very rewarding!!:)