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View Full Version : i was on my way home from work and... (cont'd)



Jeffrey Fusaro
03-26-2007, 12:03 PM
on saturday morning, i went back to the area where the tree cutting crews had been working all week. i knocked on one door and asked if i could collect some wood from the homeowner's front yard. he told me that all the wood had already been promised to family - for burning. i mentioned that i wasn't going to burn it, but instead i was making turnings from the few pieces that i collected. his face lit up. he told me to take what i wanted. i'll be making something nice for him and his wife.

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the yard had a huge silver maple tree that had been partially taken down. the tree was 36"+ in diameter. the homeowner's told me that the tree had been planted in 1947, according to one of the neighbors. there was also a large pine and large willow tree. i collected three maple crotches and three willow crotches. i took them home, drove my pick-up around the backyard and rolled the logs out of the truck bed and down onto the back patio.

that afternoon i rented a chain saw for the remainder of the day and all day sunday - a stihl ms390 with a 20" bar. wow! what a monster! :eek:

it was love at first slice! :D

i spent all afternoon on both saturday and sunday making bowl blanks and disposing of mountains of mulch.

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i did learn a lot doing this... it ain't as easy as it looks. the saw got heavy, quick! trying to figure out where to cut a crotch piece was tricky, since there were multiple piths and they ran in all directions. and, it took a lot longer to cut all that wood than i ever imagined.

all in all, i'm glad that i took the time to do this. but, i'm not eager for a repeat performance any time soon - at least not on this scale. i wasn't even able to cut all the wood that i collected. some of it was just to big and heavy deal with, once i got tired. now i have 45 bowl blanks to be roughed out and/or sealed to prevent checking.

better get busy...

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thanks for looking!

Jim Becker
03-26-2007, 2:44 PM
Excellent haul, Jeffrey...and those crotches aren't great for burning anyway... :D

Allen Schmid
03-26-2007, 2:55 PM
Jackpot! Looks like a great collection of wood, needless to say lots of time now to spend turning! It's amazing what you can find being in the right place at the right time. Post a few pictures when you start turning some. Nice!
Allen

Paul Engle
03-26-2007, 3:25 PM
Nice score Jeffrey, I have worked in and out of the woods and they do tend to beat you up when one is not use to it.

Keith Burns
03-26-2007, 3:25 PM
Great gloat Jeffrey ! Nice looking bunch of blanks !!:) :)

In case you were wondering, you are on my list now:eek:

Jonathon Spafford
03-26-2007, 3:52 PM
Looks like you got a nice bunch of wood there... nice little pile!!

Brodie Brickey
03-26-2007, 3:56 PM
Very nice group of blanks. Having worked through a couple logs I have an idea of how tired you just might be.

The turning pool will now commence on how long it will take you to rough turn the 45 blanks. :D

In order to place the odds correctly we need to know:
How many hours a day can you devote to rough turning?
Do you have a coring tool?Seriously, good work and congratulations on getting such good wood. Please post when you have some done.

Jeffrey Fusaro
03-26-2007, 4:01 PM
In case you were wondering, you are on my list now:eek:

christmas card list? :p

Jeffrey Fusaro
03-26-2007, 4:15 PM
Very nice group of blanks. Having worked through a couple logs I have an idea of how tired you just might be.

The turning pool will now commence on how long it will take you to rough turn the 45 blanks. :D

In order to place the odds correctly we need to know:

How many hours a day can you devote to rough turning?
Do you have a coring tool?Seriously, good work and congratulations on getting such good wood. Please post when you have some done.


good one, brodie!

turning time is after bedtime for the two young-uns. usually starts after 8:00pm. shop is open 'til 11:00pm.

no coring tool. everything that isn't part of the finished product will end up on the floor - then out in the compost pile.

hopefully, i can rough turn or seal them before they begin cracking.

Mike Vickery
03-26-2007, 4:33 PM
that looks like some excellent wood.

Now might be the time to think about getting that coring system.