Freebie Help

[Steve Culbertson]

I dropped off the kiddies at the house and was on my way back to the office when I saw the tree service cutting down a couple of trees. I went back and asked them if there was any way that I could get a couple of pieces cut up for me and left there till I got off of work. They are gonna do even better than that!!! The guys said that they would give me 4-5 feet of each tree cut up into 5 inch slabs. (just getting started with the hollow turning thing). Anyway, the question is now what do I do with it? I have only turned pens with store bought wood, and have been reading here about dunking in DNA and drying and so on. I don't wanna mess up this gift from the tree killers :). So any help will be appreciated.

Steve

[Dennis Peacock]

Steve,

First off Congrats!!!!! Nice wood find.
Secondly, get your some Anchorseal and seal all the woodchunks that you aren't going to turn right away. A good latex house paint will work in a pinch, but it won't hold it long before it starts splitting and checking. With the wood chunks sealed with Anchorseal, it buys you significantly more time to turn each piece as you get some time for turning. I won't hold it for ever, but it will hold it for several weeks or even months while you turn the stock you have.

Turn each piece green and follow my Bowl Processing Article in the Article/Reviews Forum. This should get you started and well on your way.

[Ernie Nyvall]

Congrats on the wood Steve... and what Dennis said.

Ernie

[Mike Ramsey]

Steve, do you know what kind of wood your getting?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Way to go Steve. Listen to Dennis.

[Steve Culbertson]

Steve, do you know what kind of wood your getting?

Well I was supposed to get about 4 feet of each of three different kinds of tree. But when I got there all three were in tiny little wood chips (little pissed at this point.) But there was a maple tree still standing that was coming down and the guy said for sure that I would get some. Well I got some alright. The tree was about 20-25 ft tall and I got the whole thing. What the heck am I gonna do with all of this :) ? Fun problem to have. The cool part is that it is already spalted. Now I have to figure out how to get the sucker(s) small enough to fit on the little Ricon. The only saw I have is the 10 inch miter saw.

[Andy Hoyt]

Paging Jim Ketron and Sparky Paessler. Pick up the white phone, please.

[Jim Ketron]

Paging Jim Ketron and Sparky Paessler. Pick up the white phone, please.

I don't answer the phones around here, its never for me:D



mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Kingsport? your my next door neighbor.
would that be Spalted as in the tree was dead? or Spalted as in Ambrosia Maple:D notice my signature line at the bottom.;)

[Fred Floyd]

The Seattle woodturners club seems to get a lot of trees "donated". Over the last year I've been on four projects. Right now I have enough wood to max out the available storage space. Here's what I do...

During the cutting process on site, I try to get pieces that will make good hollow form blanks as this is my major interest.

Once I get home, the next day is spent cutting the slabs into blanks. Each blank is sealed with Anchorseal and placed on the shelf.

Since hollow forms are usually turned as endgrain, I can turn the wood while it is green and not go through the drying process (which is nice).

Pieces set up 4 or 5 months ago are still free of cracks and checks.