A wood cheapskate is finally ready to discard a large semi finished chunk

[Hilel Salomon]

I am a total spendthrift on tools, but an incredible cheapskate on wood. No matter the cracks, holes, defects, I still finish everything until...... I found a large chunk of cherry which had been hiding in my garage for years and was black from I don't know. Had a very hard time bandsawing it into a more or less round piece, and went through several tools ( I wait until I'm depleted before I sharpen) before it was almost ready for a tenon and chuck. The darn thing is harder than a witch's heart, and in roughing it into shape, my arm grew weary from the bumping and jumping. When I stopped to see where I was, I found four or five living worms in the thing and even I said. Nuff's Nuff. Haven't thrown it away yet, but ..... Are any of you out there wood mizers??
Happy Mother's Day.
Hilel.

[Ron Ainge]

I guess that you could call me a wood miser because the only wood that I won't turn it the stuff that is already burned.

[John Bartley]

That sounds like a piece of wood for making pens and pencils from Hilel. Hard as rock, lots of character. Maybe all it really wants is to be sawn straight and turned round :cool: ?

[Bruce Pennell]

Ya, just got a trailer load of Palo Verde yesterday ranging from 4" to 18"and some small iron wood. My 16 year old granddaughter saw one piece with a nest of ant's in it. I told her just toss it over there, when the ants are through it will be a special piece. Seems really hard to throw any wood away. I just finished a piece of wormy mesquite, my first winged bowl (small). My granddaughter asked why I was keeping such an ugly piece of wood, I told her wait until its finished. She didn't believe it was the same branch when she first saw it. With wood you just never know what you will end up with. Just another wood horder....Bruce

[Bernie Weishapl]

Sometimes I am so bad Hilel that if it isn't ashes I will turn it.:eek:

[Steve Schlumpf]

Hilel - sounds like it would be a great 'Artsy' type of bowl! Turned one last year out of cherry burl and pulled a few residents out of the piece while turning. Once the bowl was finished - I cleaned out all of the worm holes/tunnels and slapped some poly on it! It's one of my few 'Artsy' pieces! Don't give up on it yet - besides, worms are a good source of protein!!

[Richard Madison]

Hilel,
You might pour some DNA on it. Wait a little while. Wear your faceshield.

Most of our mesquite comes with worm holes and the folks that made them. Same for hackberry. Sometimes leave the holes open (in finished piece), sometimes fill 'em with black epoxy or other concoctions. Adds "character" and "presence" to the piece. Just be sure all the critters have been removed before selling the piece.

[Jim Becker]

Hey, those worms will provide fine lubrication to the tool edge... :D Turn on!

[Hilel Salomon]

Ok, I'll give it a try... Notice I didn't throw out the wood. I did pour alcohol over the piece, but there were still some live worms in it. If you want some in order to create neat wood, please send me a self addressed envelope. I'm sure that if I say "delicate" or "fragile" the post office will treat the envelope with special consideration. The fact that some of the worms survived though makes me think that my one to two single malts in the evening are not protecting me adequately from worms.
Stay well and thanks for the advice,
Hilel.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Sometimes I am so bad Hilel that if it isn't ashes I will turn it.:eek:

Bernie....You can turn those ashes but your skew has to be Sharp..Sharp...Sharp.....I recommend honing Bernie:rolleyes:


Hey, those worms will provide fine lubrication to the tool edge... :D Turn on!



Hilel.......From my own experience of turning worm infested wood....Wear a face shield!:eek::rolleyes::D

[Dennis Peacock]

Hilel.......From my own experience of turning worm infested wood....Wear a face shield!:eek::rolleyes::D

Yea....what Ken in Idee-Hoe said. :D

[Nathan Hawkes]

I did that the other day! Kinda gross when you realize it was from worms & not just green wood! Mine was a platter, & it actually broke along one of the worm channels that ran parallel to the grain, but I managed to glue it back without it showing too much. Went through probably an ounce of glue stabilizing the punky wood around some of the worm trails though!