Turned out in the Cold

[John Hart]

Too lazy to start a fire in the shop tonight...even though it was 30 degrees. Bundled up and put some light gloves on.:eek: I know, I know.....NO GLOVES!!! But....it was cold.

Decided to do some rough outs....so I thought I'd bore you with them.

First up was my first attempt at an end-grain NE. Walnut.

This is a 12" diameter log that I got over the weekend.
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Had some oop's and lost a few bark pieces...but overall, I think it'll look ok. We'll see after it dries I reckon.;)

[John Hart]

Next up is a Chunk of maple burly stuff that I also got this past weekend. This was the most unpromising of all the maple I got. I was surprised how wonderful it was inside. Lots of curl and a bit of inclusion.
Sure hope it dries ok.:) Fun evening!!
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[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks to me like you did ok John. I like them both and think they will finish just fine. Not bad for 30*. We had a heat wave here today John it got to 38*. Please post when you get it finished.

[Gary Herrmann]

Nice maple burl you got there John. Too cold for me tho.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done John! I like that wicked little piece of maple!


Hey Bernie......in the hihg 40's today here. It's on its way!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Couple of nice turnings there John but the maple really catches my eye. Please post once you have them finished!

[Dick Strauss]

John,
Don't you just love good surprises like that maple piece.

The first time I tried an end grain bowl I used a piece of red elm. I hope you have much better luck than I did.


So far so good,
Dick

[George Tokarev]

Though both should be safe in an unheated garage, I'd put the end-grain piece up on some stickers to get circulation around the bottom. Makes things dry from both sides a bit more evenly. If you set it on the bottom it'll stay expanded where it rests on the table and dry inside and retract with predictable results. I don't use tenons for that reason, but stickers have made a big difference in survivability on end-grain pieces I've done, and may for you. You can also take that air and blast out all the unbound water through the grain and save a few days on the drying. Do the sapwood especially well, as it isn't improved by mildew.

Not sure what Dick did to the elm, which is near bulletproof in drying in my experience, as are other interlocked types like aspen/willow/cottonwood and to great extent yellow birch. No walnut here, so experience limited to at least partially dry.

[Mark Pruitt]

John, way to hang in despite the cold. I'm not that brave--I stayed in the garage long enough to wire my remote switch and I decided I'd had enough cold and went inside. I hate to admit it but I'll be glad to see spring come. I just saw the first crocus blooming yesterday!

[John Hart]

Thanks ya'll.:)
I'm starting to get that "I'm ready for Spring" thing too. Got a bunch of things I need to accomplish...chompin' at the bit to mow some grass!:D

George..Thanks for the advice. Good thing too, because I had these bowls buried in the shavings with the inside of the bowl exposed to air. Got 'em up on a rack now. The walnut has a pith at the center of the bowl and passes through to the tenon. I put a little anchorseal at those points to see if I could slow the drying a bit at the pith. Was this the wrong thing to do?

[Keith Burns]

John, both pieces look very good. I hope they survive !! Can't believe with all that wood you have you wouldn't burn a little to keep warm:eek: :D

[Mark Pruitt]

The walnut has a pith at the center of the bowl and passes through to the tenon. I put a little anchorseal at those points to see if I could slow the drying a bit at the pith. Was this the wrong thing to do?
I've been wondering about the very same issue, John. I'll be interested to hear how it comes out! I'd like to try the same thing.

[Bill Wyko]

Hey John, not boring at all. Thats the first time I've seen a NE from the beginning. Now when I get the bigger lathe I've got a chunk of mesquite I'll have to try that on. Thanks for the pics, looking good.:D

[Tom Sherman]

Nice job John, both pieces look pretty cool.

[George Tokarev]

Thanks ya'll.:)
The walnut has a pith at the center of the bowl and passes through to the tenon. I put a little anchorseal at those points to see if I could slow the drying a bit at the pith. Was this the wrong thing to do?

Lots of people do that. I used to, but now I let the geometry of the bowl take care of it. It's going to be squeezing in from all sides toward the center as it contracts, so as long as you don't have a flat bottom you'll distort into open air before you crack. Works on the goblets and vases that are cut that way too. Since I use a recess on the bottom of bowls, I already have the space available for contraction there, and I undercut the bases of my goblets when parting them off to take advantage of the same effect. Much higher rate of success than the old stand 'em up and hope method.

[John Hart]

.....so as long as you don't have a flat bottom you'll distort into open air before you crack.......

Ok...so, what you're saying is that the tenon is going to cause stress since it's flat? If I opt to have the tenon, would it help to concave the center of the tenon?

by the way....cool goblets!:)

[Robert McGowen]

I was going to turn some wood in the cold yesterday also, but it was 80+ degrees outside and I don't have an air conditioner in the shop. :D

I went fishing instead....... I didn't catch a thing but you at least have a really cool project started. Nice work.

[John Chandler]

Thanks for posting pictures of work in progress - I enjoy them and I think they will help me when I get to my first attempts.

And our temp here only got up to the mid 70's. We do seem to almost always have one more cold blast before mid-April after we've had some nice pleasantly warm, but not hot, weather. But at the moment it is nice shorts and t-shirt weather once the sun gets up.

I'm looking forward to see the finished results. Again, thanks for the photos.

[George Tokarev]

Ok...so, what you're saying is that the tenon is going to cause stress since it's flat? If I opt to have the tenon, would it help to concave the center of the tenon?


Wouldn't hurt, but probably not anything to obsess over. It's the old business of dimensional loss being proportional. The walls at 3/8 losing say 10% is a lot less than the base at 4" losing the same 10. Contraction ends at the air, so curving and hollowing give less contiguous fiber to tug against. I think a lot of the turnings with straight walls and broad bottoms come to grief this way, when tapering in on the bottom would have taken a bunch of stress off the short endgrain. Did it to myself on a chunk of green birch earlier this fall. I was looking for something close to a cannister shape, knowing I was taking a risk. Sure enough, the birch taught, or rather re-taught me a lesson. When the snow clears enough to attack the stack again I'm going to try to fool the wood with tapered inside walls inside a straighter outside.

[John Hart]

...When the snow clears enough to attack the stack again I'm going to try to fool the wood with tapered inside walls inside a straighter outside.

Sounds cool. You just gave me an idea for a straight-sided, lidded cookie jar.:) Just popped in my head like magic!:rolleyes: