Sources for Air Dried Wood? Or Green?

[Erich Weidner]

I'm still in the infancy of turning. (Got a lathe, got a few tools, still working on sharpening them). I'm looking to do spindles. It looks like I'm wanting to find either green wood or air dried wood to get started.

The question is, where do I find it? Lumberyards don't carry it (that I'm aware of). I'm in the suburbs of an urban area (Austin, TX).
The only "trees" in my yard I could/would cut down are Ash Juniper (locally called cedar).

Those of you who live in cities, where do you get your wood?

[Thomas Wilson80]

I’m in the Chicago suburbs and when I first started went to my city local waste management group and they said anytime I wanted I could call and they would be more than happy to give me wood from downed trees when available. I did that once and since then have gotten more wood than I can turn from family/friends or even From the side of the road after storms.

For spindles, it is easy to find piles of branches around town most saturdays....I learned to use the skew by making maybe 40-50 “magic” wands for my kids and their friends. We had a Bradford pear tree come down in our yard and I saved a couple dozen 1-3” logs that I sealed and have stored and used when needed (the lightest wands in the second picture). I found a nice cedar branch (first picture 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th) and have even used 2x4s (first picture remaining 4 wands, 3 with dark stain).

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Here are a couple boxes made from the cedar branch I found.

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I’m still pretty new too and don’t get a lot of time to turn but I’ve been sucked into the vortex pretty deep! Hope you find what you’re looking for and I highly recommend connecting with a local club.
Good luck.
tom

[Richard Coers]

First place to look is an arborist or tree trimming service. Second place for spindle stock is a firewood supplier. Ask the firewood guy if you can buy the fresh logs that just came in, or freshly split green wood. They are a lot more friendly if you show up with a handmade gift, or a box of donuts for the crew.

[Scott Winners]

As above, retail lumber is almost all kiln dried in my experience also.

Have you got a pick up truck? Both of my two major local firewood suppliers use conveyor belts to load the dump trucks and they can't even run sizable rounds cut 16" up the conveyor belts. They only deliver splits, but they handle hundreds of cords every week.

If you show up with a truck and cash at either of my places (donuts would be good) and just tell them, I just got a lathe and I am really liking it and I need some wood still in rounds about (I dunno 32 inches long?) could I maybe come back in a week or so with this truck and give you (local about $100 plus plan to pay for them to help you load it) some money, could I have some pretty logs about 32 inches long? If they are really slammed with work they are going to say no. Figure out how much you are willing to pay for a truck load of pretty logs in advance, pick a length that is a multiple of 16 inches and if you get up to your price and they are still saying no, drive away.

Both of my firewood processors buy logs by the 18 wheeler load, so there aren't any tops to pick through at either site. Can you do anything with "shorts and cookies"? Those would be pieces of round log too short to sell as split firewood, mostly under 12 inches. You might get a truckload of shorts and cookies for free.

If you have a spare five point saw in your till you might think about re-filing it to crosscut since it is probably filed rip, and keep it in your truck. There are many many stories of folks with a generic pickup truck, one traffic cone and an orange vest with an orange hard hat helping themselves to fallen tree branches in town. I have never done that, but when I was scrounging wood various homeowners would let me have all the storm fall wood as long as I took all the wood. Leaving no slash behind, I scored about a cord a month for a while there a few years ago, while working my fulltime day job.

Certainly keep an eye on your local craigslist or facebook for sale, but usually that wood is junk. Not always though, it is worth looking.

Do get in touch with your local arborists and give them a phone number you monitor regularly. Crew work like that they want to be in and out and disposing of the tree they cut down is generally a thing they have to finish to get paid. I would not expect any of them to leave some logs in a homeowners yard, tell the home owner some guy will be stopping by about 530PM to pick up the logs in the lawn and can we have our check now please. If you have a convenient drop zone the arborists might be willing to drop the big stuff in your front yard when they are having to dispose of something near you.

If you are getting in "metro wood" you will almost definitely want a decent metal detector. Over the 100 year life of the tree, someone lost a dog, someone had a yard sale,someone had a birthday party - and probably all of those nails and staples are still in the tree.

Contacting your local turning club is a great idea. I don't have a bunch of turning stock in my shop because I am not a turner, but I bet there are some turning club members near you who might take an interest in a noob.

Also the for sale section here, I see pen blanks have several posts but other larger turning blanks go by with regularity too. Beware the for sale section here. The thing I have been watching for for three months consistently sells ten minutes before I see the advertisement for it, the regulars here are quick.

FWIW I have turned decent tool box legs from kiln dried Doug Fir. It is prone to splinter anyway, you will definitely want a good eye shield, but you can make spindles from KD Doug Fir 2x2 from the big box stores as long as you want them fat.

[Reed Gray]

You might ask around for those who have the portable bandsaw mills. I would expect that a lot of them have a stash of stacked boards that they cut but didn't sell. You may not find much that is thicker than 2 inches though. I think they tend to cut mostly 'fat 5/4' which is 1 1/4 inch thick so by the time you mill it you end up with about a 1 inch thick board. One thing I liked about doing the craft shows was that I found a lot of wood that way. 'Hey, I have all these boards that I have been saving and am never going to do anything with.'

Oh, the local turning clubs may be able to help. Many have wood gathering parties. If you don't have a chainsaw, lots of the time it is 'shared' labor.

Oh, I did find a guy locally who has a solar kiln and got some really nice wood from him.

robo hippy

[Stan Calow]

I used to drive around the neighborhood after storms to see if any good trees or big limbs were down, offering to help cut them up for usable pieces. Given up on that as too much work for me. Sometimes people will cut up their trees and leave them at the curb for firewood scavengers. We have a city-operated yard waste site, where the public and trimmers dump there loads. I see a lot of usable wood there, waiting to be turned into mulch - you just cant hang around and get in the way. Lastly, we have a local lumberyard dealing in urban trees that has a pile of trimmings in the back they let you pick through.

[Thomas Canfield]

Check out Central Texas Woodturner's Association http://ctwa.org/ That is the local woodturning club in Austin and members there should be able to help you find wood and also get you started with your lathe, especially the sharpening of tools which is key to turning. I listen for a chainsaw running in neighborhood and go look. Tree trimmers are usually willing to give you wood to avoid hauling it off. Sometimes Mesquite and Pecan are held back for cooking, and I don't mess with oak anymore due to the extreme checking, but have found more than I can use and give out to club members in Kerrville club.

[John K Jordan]

I'm still in the infancy of turning. (Got a lathe, got a few tools, still working on sharpening them). I'm looking to do spindles. It looks like I'm wanting to find either green wood or air dried wood to get started.

The question is, where do I find it? Lumberyards don't carry it (that I'm aware of). I'm in the suburbs of an urban area (Austin, TX).
The only "trees" in my yard I could/would cut down are Ash Juniper (locally called cedar).

Those of you who live in cities, where do you get your wood?

I live in the country now but when I lived in the city I still found more wood than I could use. I don't cut trees for turning but do put the wood to good use if a tree falls or has to be removed.

I typically get green wood, process it into turning blanks with sawmill/chainsaw/and or shop bandsaw, and put it up to air dry. I've been doing this for years and now literally have thousands of blanks of various sizes either partially dry or completely air dry. (most of the Dogwood I'm using has been drying since 2006) You can do almost everything with a chainsaw and a shop bandsaw that will cut 12" or so high. (I use a 1/2" 3tpi blade.)

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Start processing wood today and before long you will have more dry wood than you can possibly turn. Small cross-section spindle blanks will air dry in a surprisingly short time. I mark the initial weight on representative pieces in a batch and reweigh periodically until the weight quits dropping.

When I lived in town I didn't have any trouble finding green wood to process. People are often glad to get rid of it. As mentioned, talk to a tree service, the county road department, people at a woodturning club, and keep your eyes open when driving around - trees are coming down somewhere every day.

Other places I get or have sometimes gotten wood: trade, gifts from other turners, woodturning clubs, hardwood dealers (local or not - I like to deal with Pete at Big Monk Lumber), woodturning symposiums, and [gasp] in the local Woodcraft store (long time ago!).

I am especially fond of hard exotics (such as Olive, Ebony, African blackwood, Bubinga, Mopani, various Rosewoods, etc) which you will probably only find at dealers or from another turner. Hunt down local sawmills - the small ones will often be willing to cut a thick slab or two that you can cut into turning blanks to dry. Woodfinder.com may show someone in your area try craigslist or ask around. Maybe put a WTB ad in the Classifieds section here and on other forums.

You can also consider organizing a road trip to acquire wood. I know a guy who occasionally flies to the US from Australia on a wood-finding expedition. There are numerous wood dealers around the country - I've bought quality wood from places in Atlanta and even in Knoxville, TN. Note that unlike harvesting local green wood, dry wood from a dealer won't be free and probably not even cheap!

JKJ

[Erich Weidner]

Thanks for the tips. So many tree trimming businesses around here. I don't know where to start.
I was going to hold off joining the local ctwa as they are not meeting in person currently, so didn't seem like much value there. But perhaps getting on a mailing list would make it worthwhile.

[Erich Weidner]

So, when looking for turning wood. Any quick tips on what to grab/avoid?

I imagine that for branches I'm looking for straight sections. Minimum diameter? Do little branches/nubs on a given branch section matter?

[Thomas Wilson80]

So, when looking for turning wood. Any quick tips on what to grab/avoid?

I imagine that for branches I'm looking for straight sections. Minimum diameter? Do little branches/nubs on a given branch section matter?

As a beginner I turn anything....obviously if I have a choice between 2 pieces I’ll take the one with better figure/straighter, etc. but I still mess up a lot so I’m willing to get my practice in on anything.
Tom

[John K Jordan]

So, when looking for turning wood. Any quick tips on what to grab/avoid?

I imagine that for branches I'm looking for straight sections. Minimum diameter? Do little branches/nubs on a given branch section matter?

I seldom turn branches. The larger the diameter the better for stability and drying without cracking since you can more easily stay away from the pith and the bark.
I typically work one of two ways with the shop bandsaw:

1) cut a log section 12" long or less and stand it up on one end to make the first cut down the pith, then lay down each side to cut into squares. I usually cut the largest squares I can get from the wood then continue to cut the "waste" into smaller blanks until I get to pen blank size. I've processed ambrosia maple over 30" in diameter this way by first quartering it with a chainsaw.
This is a piece of sassafras, 1st cut, 2nd cut, and turning blanks I got from it:

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2) starting with a log that is 12" or less in diameter but longer than 12" I lay the log down make the first cut straight down the pith - the cut is stable this way if the pith is in the center. Then cut up each half as before. Pictures show first cut, second cut on one half after removing some loose bark and flattening one edge to ride on the fence, and a few of the blanks from that half:

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Some who like to turn goblets and ornaments and such from limbs turn while green. Any diameter although small branches have more juvenile wood which is often unstable. The best quality wood is often from the heartwood from a fairly large tree. I prefer at least 10" diameter when making blanks to dry. If turning green any size will work.

A heavy branch that grew at some angle other than vertical the wood may contain "reaction wood" which can have a lot of stress. It's more likely to warp and crack while drying.

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

I like woods with color to them. Plain white like some ash or maple generally doesn't sell well. If you get a huge ash with the 'olive' heart, which is a nice brown color, you can't keep that on the shelf... Apple and cherry have nice color. Pear cuts like butter, but most of what I have had is rather pale in color. Some maple can have rainbow colors in it. Elm can be nice, and has a brown color. It smells like the cats peed on it when fresh, but smells better when dry. Cottonwood tends to smell like some one threw up on it, and always seems to have lots of tear out. Oak is nice and can have good color. The white oaks, with rounded leaf lobes is used for barrels, and makes nice bowls. The red and black oaks with pointed leaf lobes are like straws so will leak if you have liquids in them, unless you wet sand a slurry into the pores as you finish the bowl. Hickory is nice. Black walnut is pretty, and some like the dark color, some don't. I can't work it any more because I react to it. If you just want to practice, anything works. There are so many others... Osage is nice, so is black locust or honey locust. There is a domesticated honey locust that doesn't have the thorns and it is wonderful. So many others....

robo hippy

[Jim Barkelew]

Erich, I live west of Ft. Worth and have a good pile of Juniper/cedar turning blanks. They were fence posts on our property. The wood turns very well but when dry is makes dust. Around here it grows everywhere and is basically a weed. I have a friend who works for the city and can get logs from various projects. Driving around residential areas can fill a truck with logs on the curb. I have cedar elm, hackberry, post oak, mulberry, osage orange, and honey locust from free logs. I also have a wood stove for the junk.

[Mike Peace]

Do not assume joing a club now is not worthwhile. Call and speak with an officer. My club still has a monthly hands on workshop but with a cap on attendees and all wearing a mask and social distancing. And then many clubs are still meeting on line once or twice a month for socializing, show and tell and info sharing as well as interactive Remote Demonstrations via Zoom.