# Laburnum



## Aled Dafis (1 Jan 2012)

Hi, this is my new stash of Laburnum that I picked up from a friend of mine yesterday, it was blown down in the stormy weather just before christmas.







The logs range from 6-8" in diameter, and are around 4 foot long. (The logs along the bottom of the pic are sycamore, brought around by my neighbour when he heard my chainsaw starting up )

Ripping the first couple of logs lengthways was HARD work for my little chainsaw, so I decided to file the teeth with a straight across profile for ripping for the remaining logs, and the difference was amazing!! The difference could also be seen in the sawdust the saw produced, the ripping teeth produced a fine sawdust as opposed to the chips produced by the standard crosscutting teeth, but the cut progressed quite a bit quicker, I'd guess about 50-70% quicker with a lot less stress on the user. I'll be keeping this chain just for ripping from now on, and buying a new chain for crosscutting.

Cheers
Aled


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## Bemused (2 Jan 2012)

Some nice wood there Aled, you going to be using it wet or fully converting it?


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## Blister (2 Jan 2012)

Nice stash :mrgreen: 

But I am a bit surprised you did not keep a couple of logs to turn vase type projects :wink:


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## Aled Dafis (2 Jan 2012)

I would have Allen, but I've never had any luck turning any vase type pieces with the pith still present, they've all split on me. Any tips on how to avoid this??

Also, most of these logs had started decaying in the middle so I decided to use this as a "feature" on bowls.


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## Blister (2 Jan 2012)

Aled



> they've all split on me. Any tips on how to avoid this??



The way I have managed to avoid splitting is to turn in one go to an equal wall thickness including the base 

Weigh and record the weight 

Then Put the item in a plastic bag with some shaving you turned from the piece , this slows the drying down 

Every other day remove from bag , turn bag inside out and re bag with some different shavings or balls of news paper 

Keep going until the weight stops reducing 

May sound tedious but it only takes a couple of minutes to do :wink:


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## Dieseldog (2 Jan 2012)

Some nice wood there 
Never Turned Laburnum , got given a small bowl from one of my Teachers at my local club 
And Fern Britton brougt it at a Fair i was doing in my local Village


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## Aled Dafis (2 Jan 2012)

Dieseldog":23xfhq6r said:


> Some nice wood there
> Never Turned Laburnum , got given a small bowl from one of my Teachers at my local club
> And Fern Britton brougt it at a Fair i was doing in my local Village



Laburnum is lovely wood to turn, nice and hard, but turns easily. The stark difference between the light sapwood and the chocolate brown heartwood is lovely. Here's one I prepared eariler...






Cheers
Aled


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## Aled Dafis (2 Jan 2012)

Blister":2vx2tcfa said:


> Aled
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I've tried this method but failed, I'll have to try it again and see what happens. Laburnum is particularly prone to splitting at the pith, so I'll have a go with something a little friendlier to start with.

Cheers
Aled


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## Dieseldog (2 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":2rfaqlce said:


> Dieseldog":2rfaqlce said:
> 
> 
> > Some nice wood there
> ...


 
Thats a nice looking piece of work. =D> ...Do you have a foto of the underside ? just trying to get somenew ideas 
(hammer) 
Thanks Dave


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## philb88 (2 Jan 2012)

That bowl looks great! 

Will it stay that flat as it dries?


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## Aled Dafis (2 Jan 2012)

Thanks for your kind comments guys.

Dave - Here's a pic of the underneath, it's a complete curve, so the bowl actually wobbles/spins if touched.






The rim is about 8mm thick, it could do with being thinner to be honest, 4 or 5mm would have been better but there's a few worm holes in the sapwood at one corner so I was concerned that taking it any thinner would weaken the corner and result in it breaking up. Here's a profile pic from the side, it sits at an angle due to one side of the rim being slightly longer than the other, I quite like it that way, it adds a little to the overall effect.






Phil - this bowl was actually turned from seasoned Laburnum, it had been in the workshop for at least a couple of years before I turned it. If I were to turn the same bowl from wet wood I'd start by rough turning the shape, but leaving it 10-20% oversize, in fact I'd leave the "flat" rim quite thick as I'd expect it to cup quite a bit when drying. After rough turning I usually leave the bowls in the workshop (very low level heating but dry and insulated) for about a month and then bring the bowl in to the house for say two months to dry thoroughly. I try to weigh my pieces every now and again, and write their weight on the bowl, and as Allen mentioned above, when they stop loosing weight, they're at equilibrium with their surroundings, and therefore "dry".

Cheers
Aled


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## CHJ (2 Jan 2012)

Whatever you do store it under cover so that it does not get wet, sapwood deteriorates rapidly if wet.


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## Aled Dafis (2 Jan 2012)

CHJ":33pesd6k said:


> Whatever you do store it under cover so that it does not get wet, sapwood deteriorates rapidly if wet.



Yes that's my job for tomorrow, the pile is still out on the lawn at the moment, and it's raining! They'll be safely undercover by tomorrow night.


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## Jacob (3 Jan 2012)

CHJ":1foorh3x said:


> Whatever you do store it under cover so that it does not get wet, sapwood deteriorates rapidly if wet.


But the heart wood is extremely durable, rot and insect resistant. I found this by accident when chopping up some rotten old laburnam logs for firewood and finding perfect heartwood under crumbly sapwood.
Small pieces are excellent for tool handles. It goes a lot darker than the colour of Aled's bowl.


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## CHJ (3 Jan 2012)

Jacob":33iity4s said:


> ....But the heart wood is extremely durable, rot and insect resistant. I found this by accident when chopping up some rotten old laburnam logs for firewood and finding perfect heartwood.
> Small pieces are excellent for tool handles. It goes a lot darker than the colour of Aled's bowl.



Yep, got a whole stash of 'cores' awaiting consumption, will go some way to offsetting the frustration of finding fungal growth and soft sapwood on the logs that weren't protected well enough.


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## Dieseldog (3 Jan 2012)

Thanks for posting up a pic of the underside but my brain is playing tricks on me 
as the underside looks like a bowl to me ...looks weird :?


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## condeesteso (3 Jan 2012)

Blister - your managed drying tips (bag, shavings etc. ) much appreciated. New to me but very handy, and makes total sense of course.


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## Aled Dafis (3 Jan 2012)

Dieseldog":om46j3fd said:


> Thanks for posting up a pic of the underside but my brain is playing tricks on me
> as the underside looks like a bowl to me ...looks weird :?



Yes, looking at it again it does look like it's concave, but the "bowl" is in fact coming out at you, i.e. this is the underside of the bowl with the underside of the flat rim showing.

Cheers
Aled


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## gregmcateer (4 Jan 2012)

Aled,
That bowl looks lovely.
re ripping using the chainsaw - could you post a picture of how you mean re sharpening - ie the tool you use and the position against the chain?
I am having a nightmare ripping logs and your solution sounds great.
many thanks in advance,
Greg


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## Chrispy (4 Jan 2012)

I always think of Laburnum as the home grown rosewood, very similar to work with and correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's of the same family too!


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## Aled Dafis (4 Jan 2012)

Greg, a ripping chain is just filed at 90 degrees to the bar as opposed to the standard 60 degrees for crosscutting (usually referred to as 30degrees). I bought a second chain today so that I can keep one chain dedicated to ripping. I'll take a couple of pics tomorrow to make it clearer.

Yes I can see the similarities to Rosewood, it can be a lovely chocolate brown colour, it's close grained, quite oily and hard. It's one of my favourite timbers.

Cheers
Aled


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## Aled Dafis (5 Jan 2012)

Just for further reference, I've posted a new thread on Chainsaw sharpening, so that it can be found easier if anybody needs to search the forum in future for this info.


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## Dieseldog (5 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":2sfpvcg9 said:


> Just for further reference, I've posted a new thread on Chainsaw sharpening, so that it can be found easier if anybody needs to search the forum in future for this info.


 

Thanks for this ..will be a help to me :lol:


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## Bemused (5 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":31tfbwhb said:


> Just for further reference, I've posted a new thread on Chainsaw sharpening, so that it can be found easier if anybody needs to search the forum in future for this info.



Which room is the post in Aled


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## Aled Dafis (5 Jan 2012)

It's now in the woodturning section, you must have posted whilst I was still writing it.

Cheers
Aled


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## Bemused (5 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":1qie1558 said:


> you must have posted whilst I was still writing it.


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## Jacob (5 Jan 2012)

gregmcateer":gj42qmu1 said:


> ....
> I am having a nightmare ripping logs .....


A lot of stuff is easier to split, including laburnam. Shows a nice quartered grain pattern.


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## Neil Farrer (6 Jan 2012)

Chrispy":oqpwakmi said:


> I always think of Laburnum as the home grown rosewood, very similar to work with and correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's of the same family too!



Chrispy,

Rosewoods are the Dalbergia family and include, in addition to the obvious such as Honduras Rosewood (Mexican Rosewood is not a rosewood!), Siam Rosewood, Rio Rosewood, Brazilian Tulipwood, Camlai, Tracwood, African Blackwood, Cocobolo, Kingwood, Sonokeling etc, Laburnum used to be used to make bagpipes (replaced by African Blackwood) and was frequently used as a substitute for Rosewood but is not of the same family.


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## Chrispy (6 Jan 2012)

Neil Farrer":gi4jike2 said:


> Chrispy":gi4jike2 said:
> 
> 
> > I always think of Laburnum as the home grown rosewood, very similar to work with and correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's of the same family too!
> ...



Are they not all Leguminous then? :duno:


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## gregmcateer (6 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":wnzrz3ea said:


> Just for further reference, I've posted a new thread on Chainsaw sharpening, so that it can be found easier if anybody needs to search the forum in future for this info.



Cheers for that, Aled,
Greg


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## gregmcateer (6 Jan 2012)

Jacob":173j2adk said:


> gregmcateer":173j2adk said:
> 
> 
> > ....
> ...



Thanks for that, Jacob.

Will wood that's been split rather than sawn, still turn OK?

Greg


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## Jacob (6 Jan 2012)

gregmcateer":111igr9t said:


> Jacob":111igr9t said:
> 
> 
> > gregmcateer":111igr9t said:
> ...


It depends on what you are making. If a long cylinder - tool handle, pen, etc. then riven is generally best because it splits along the grain. Then the blank will be straight grained with the best figure.


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## chipmunk (6 Jan 2012)

Chris is right, laburnum is a member of the pea family and so are the genuine rosewoods.

I'm with Jacob on splitting. Most of the time for things like ash and oak it works brilliantly provided there's no twisting in the grain which you can normally see in the bark. There is sometimes a bit more wastage than sawing because of some straying if you aren't lucky enough to have a froe. But acacia and elm may test your skills :wink: 

Jon


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## Aled Dafis (6 Jan 2012)

I'd like to have a go at riving some time, but I don't have any suitable wedges or a froe (yet). Something too look out for at this summer's boot sales...


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## Jacob (6 Jan 2012)

Aled Dafis":3a417ehf said:


> I'd like to have a go at riving some time, but I don't have any suitable wedges or a froe (yet). Something too look out for at this summer's boot sales...


Any old iron will do more or less; cold chisel, wooden wedges etc.


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## gregmcateer (6 Jan 2012)

Thanks guys - I'll give splitting a go, then.
Greg


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## Steve Jones (6 Jan 2012)

Greg,

TFM @ Stableford Bridgnorth have some metal felling wedges, don't know if these would be any good to you :?: 

Cheers

Steve


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## Neil Farrer (6 Jan 2012)

chipmunk":149tih04 said:


> Chris is right, laburnum is a member of the pea family and so are the genuine rosewoods.


Sorry, but the True rosewoods are not members of the pea family! The true rosewoods are members of the Dalbergia family, Laburnum is a member of the fabaceae family. Some woods that are passed off as "rosewoods" that are strictly not rosewood are indeed members of the wider family that incorporates the pea family.

However it matters not a lot as it is a great UK grown wood.


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## Chrispy (6 Jan 2012)

I'm glad we cleared that up then, er, humm, I think???


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## Aled Dafis (7 Jan 2012)

Neil Farrer":3my0obm1 said:


> However it matters not a lot as it is a great UK grown wood.




I agree!


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## chipmunk (9 Jan 2012)

I agree that it doesn't matter much, but I feel a need to make a point of pedantry :wink: (hammer) ...

The Fabaceae family (legumes, commonly known as the pea, or bean family) includes 3 sub families... 

Caesalpinioideae
Mimosoideae
Faboideae

Both Laburnum and Dalbergia (true rosewoods) are members of Faboideae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faboideae).

Jon


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