# Turning blanks - good for scrolling?



## StevieB (11 Sep 2007)

With all this talk of compound cutting I was wondering whether turning blanks were a good source of material for the more exotic timbers. Where compound patterns call for timbers up to a couple of inches thick do people tend to glue up from smaller pieces of cut from a single piece?

Steve.


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## Gill (11 Sep 2007)

interesting thought, Steve. I've never tried cutting turning blanks myself but I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be used. I have a feeling His Lordship might get a bit parochial if he saw his stack of turning blanks mysteriously diminish  .

Insofar as laminating thinner pieces of wood together is concerned, it's a technique which Diana Thompson advocates because it can be difficult to find wood thick enough for some of her larger projects. In fact, laminating contrasting colours of wood might produce some very attractive compound cut artifacts.

Gill


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## CHJ (11 Sep 2007)

An even more economical option Steve is to buy the wood in slabs.
The only drawback is that you may end up with enough of each wood to last a lifetime.





A friendly turner or cabinet maker may just have a bin of off-cuts though which would be even more economical. :lol:


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## Gill (11 Sep 2007)

Di's letting you keep boards _inside _the house, Chas  ? Blimey, are you putting something in her tea?

 

Gill


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## CHJ (11 Sep 2007)

No room in the shed Gill :lol: 

Actually they ended up there because it was getting a bit embarrassing when gests kept finding the stuff in their bedrooms. Even more so when having gone out to purchase another slab we found the remains of a previous one tucked away out of site.
In reality it is kept indoors to keep the timber to near its finished indoor conditions.

_Secretly I think Di uses the current location as a means of displaying how long suffering she is._


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## JackL (11 Sep 2007)

Gill, Mary lets me keep my timber under the bed or under the sideboard in the sitting room!
:roll: Theres a method in her apparent madness though because she does the airbrushing and/or pyrography on some of the turned items and she likes them to be very dry and stable.
As for using turning blanks for scrolling - get the best of both worlds and start woodturning, then you gets lots of odd bits that can be made into pendants/ear rings etc etc.


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## CHJ (11 Sep 2007)

JackL":36qmuc1f said:


> ....As for using turning blanks for scrolling - get the best of both worlds and start woodturning, then you gets lots of odd bits that can be made into pendants/ear rings etc etc.




 






:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## DaveL (11 Sep 2007)

I bought an Ebony turning blank which I cut into strips and made dowels with for a small oak table. The blanks are a good way of getting small bit of exotic timber for contrasting features.


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## JackL (12 Sep 2007)

Come on Chas - that's far too many bits for any one man to have!

When are you having a clear out? :lol:


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## CHJ (12 Sep 2007)

JackL":mucrxwta said:


> Come on Chas - that's far too many bits for any one man to have!
> 
> When are you having a clear out? :lol:



That fortunately happened immediately after the 'mini bash' when it all got turfed out for a sort-over Jack.

'fraid it was 4 bags of firewood for a neighbor, but a large contribution to 4 boxes of "Useful" pieces graded to purpose (pen bits-knobs/feet-hardwood-softwood-glueblocks etc.)

Been a good boy since Graham took me aside and had a word, and now cut ALL scrap pieces into their biggest common denominator useful shape before stowing as a minimum.


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