Green Poplar

[Dan Carroll]

I laid my hands a bunch of green tulip poplar. I am trying to trun it green (first time). I am concerned that the end grain abound the heart wood will tend to want to pop out like a knot. This stuff is large and the center of the tree has heart wood that is about 3 inches in diamater that is full of color. I want to turn it so the tree center in in the sides of the bowl to get the most color out of it. Any suggestions?

[John Hart]

Nah...It isn't going to pop out, but it is going to crack probably. Best thing is to rough turn it about an inch thick and do whatever drying method you feel comfortable with....then finish turn it. Don't sweat it if it does crack....just say, "Yeah...I knew it would do that...but I kinda wanted it to." ;)

Here's an example (please ignore the chubby finial)

[Dan Carroll]

Good to know. I got the blanks cut out on the band saw, started turing one and promptly broke the tool rest support in about 3 pieces. Well, that is what I get for using a Sears lathe I picked up at a yard sale:cool: . These are the biggest bowls I have tried to this point and they should be a good 11 inches in diamater by 7 inches high when I am done. Any other advice for a more or less newbie?

[John Hart]

....Well, that is what I get for using a Sears lathe I picked up at a yard sale:cool: ....

Well...I wouldn't be so quick to blame the lathe on that one. I've turned very large off-center, buckin' broncos on my Craftsman and the only time I broke my toolrest was when I was trying to remove too much wood too quickly and let the toolrest get too far away from the spinning piece. "Little bites at a time" and "keep your toolrest close to the work" while roughing are good rules no matter what lathe you have.

'Course...anyone here can tell you that I don't know what I'm talking about so.......Disclaimer: Any and all of the above advice is subject to the scrutiny of all members of this forum and may be rejected at any time without my knowledge. Such rejections can be in the form of disputes or laughter, each given the same weight by all parties involved.

[TYLER WOOD]

Poplar has the tendency to move A LOT! I have some that is drying in the west Texas sun right now, but I tried turning one piece green. Uhhhh no. Hope you mileage varies better than mine.

[Jim Becker]

When I took David Ellsworth's three day seminar at his studio a number of years back, we mostly worked with green (and I do mean green...cut the day before and still in log form with the bark on it!) tulip poplar for most of the class activities. It was actually a pleasure to turn...with sharp tools.... Tyler is correct, it will move, but sometimes that's a very nice feature as long as you're willing to turn to completion without an intermediate step. Which is what I prefer to do most of the time, anyway.