Castanea
Established Member
Looks a lot like oak to me - if it's oak you should be able to see the tiny pores in the rings and fine radial lines too. Good wood to play with and not too hard to come by.
help in resawing logs for seasoning and turning
- Thread starter Markvk
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Random Orbital Bob
Established Member
If it's Oak Mark then by all means cut some blanks to try beads and coves on. Length wise, cut them around 10" and about 2" diameter because then you're unlikely to need to move the toolrest and you can just get on and practice.
Equally, if it's oak, it will be quite hard and that's not a reason not to use it for practice but I would still locate and blank up a softer wood if you can because, particularly for the skew, it'll be easier to learn with. The oak will be more forgiving while it's green. Birch or pine are good practice woods. In fact, with respect to pine, just any old rubbish from B&Q or a builders merchant is great for practice ie crappy old construction pine. it wont set the world on fire with its looks but its soft and yields well under the tools.
Equally, if it's oak, it will be quite hard and that's not a reason not to use it for practice but I would still locate and blank up a softer wood if you can because, particularly for the skew, it'll be easier to learn with. The oak will be more forgiving while it's green. Birch or pine are good practice woods. In fact, with respect to pine, just any old rubbish from B&Q or a builders merchant is great for practice ie crappy old construction pine. it wont set the world on fire with its looks but its soft and yields well under the tools.
YewTube
Established Member
Random Orbital Bob":g4k7uqxh said:
What happen to the old art of 'skip diving'.
Being a Yorkshire man and send someone to a retail outlet will get you ex-communicated.
Bill
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Random Orbital Bob":3vdml7kt said:
I would dispute that. Good for some things, maybe, but I defy anyone learning to turn making e.g. a pepper mill out of CLS to gain much by the exercise - they're more likely to think they're at fault and give up. That's rather the same argument as saying the cheapest lathes on the market are great for learning on. They're not.
Random Orbital Bob
Established Member
YewTube":3o5sfegl said:
Sorry Bill....what was I thinking
Mark....anything in your nearest skip is good, especially the stuff with nails in
Random Orbital Bob
Established Member
phil.p":22ukkkr4 said:
I know what you mean Phil but I've advised Mark to practice turning beads, coves and v grooves ie the fundamentals in spindle work. So the plan isn't to make anything but rather to start down the path of tool control. In my view, a wood that yields well under tool pressure is the correct choice. Green wood is more forgiving than seasoned and soft more so than hard. I get your point about pine specifically and in fact my first choice would be birch as it doesn't splinter in the way CLS would and yet is soft enough to give the above benefits. Having said that, I've practiced on pine many times and I find it very useful for skew practice, particularly the tricky cuts like doing an ogee in one cut or following a curve right round until the tool is at 90 degrees to the work.
So Mark, heads up on pine, it can easily splinter so beware that. However it will also be a good barometer for tool control if you can roll a bead with a decent finish off the tool.
All fantastic information guys, thanks very much, ive been and harvested some more Sycamore, the tree at the bottom measured 3ft x 2ft and had a concrete post embedded in the middle of it.... found that with my chain saw..... ive scrounged some beautiful stuff and its all sealed and ready for me to section into blanks once my rip chain arrives. My local stockist had never heard of such a thing... Ebay to the rescue....
Going to look at the mystery wood tomorrow and will section it into 2ft lengths to start with, I think it is oak but will let you know....
Tomorrow my new table saw arrives... toys are heaven!
I have loads of 3 inch tantalised posts that I skip dived for bead practise so ill start with those...
Mark
Going to look at the mystery wood tomorrow and will section it into 2ft lengths to start with, I think it is oak but will let you know....
Tomorrow my new table saw arrives... toys are heaven!
I have loads of 3 inch tantalised posts that I skip dived for bead practise so ill start with those...
Mark
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Just a thought - "crappy old construction pine" often isn't pine at all, it's spruce, which is worse. Not even good tantalised.
Random Orbital Bob
Established Member
Markvk":1suyzm2m said:
Good man...sounds like you've been busy.
Just a word of caution re tanalised wood. Remember that it is pressure treated with bug killing chemicals so turning it into a fine powder and breathing it in would not be high on my list of "ways of avoiding cancer". I would be inclined to steer clear of turning it to be honest. At best, wear good dust protection and don't sand it at all.
Random Orbital Bob":370y2d7w said:
No sanding... Check
Good extraction/filtration.... Check
good mask goggles etc. ... check
think it may have been dipped the posts change colour to a natural appearance about 5/10mm in, but will take all precautions anyway.
cheers
Mark
The general standard for depth of treatment for fence posts, usually UC4, is 6mm in the UK, any treatment older than 6 years old would contain arsenic and I would definitely recommend NOT using it. I use to work in the yard (still work for the same company but in sales now) of a fencing supplies company and it used to burn my hands in wet weather - god knows what it would do to your lungs.
Please don't ever use treated fence posts - I'd rather send you some 'clean' timber than you do that!
