Some tips needed....(and a possible gloat)

[mattcullum]

I had a response from my freecycle wanted. From a fella who had taken down a few tree's.



..and to think I hummed and harred over removing the back seats!



According the to bloke, its conifer (by far and away the majority) and apparently some popular and some eucalyptus. All has been felled for 1 to 2 years and left out in the sun so there quite a lot of splitting. There's some 78 large logs in total. Its nearly all conifer, is this worth trying to turn? There are some other logs with a plainer less gnarly bark and some others with a grey plain bark these are the lightest any idea which is which?

Since some have started to split quite badly are they savable? What should I do to process these? I don't have a bandsaw or chainsaw and some of these chunks of wood are BIG. Do you think I have anything worthwhile here or is it a pile of firewood?









I am very very tired lugging this lots down the garden!!

 

[cornucopia]

Firewood

"lifes too short to turn crappy wood"

 

[SVB]

Matt,

Having had a look at the photos, I think you mainly have a pile of firewood.

However, all is not lost.

I don't think much will come of the conifer but you may be able to get something out of the poplar etc.

Be prepared for small bowls / platters and spindle work with splits.

Buy some metal powder and resin / coppper or brass wire / a plumbers gas torch / spirt dye and go for it!!!! It is a great opportunity to experiment with color / burning and surface finish.

However, a word of warning - buy a face mask (doesn't need be be an expensive filter one, just a basic safety version - about £10 from APTC) as if something lets go it could hurt without.

Have fun

Simon

 

[loz]

I hate to say ,

But unless you have some method of cutting you are gonna have a job getting any salvagable logs to workable sizes, withhout lots of work with splitting mauls and large mallets !

But after all the effort you have gone too i would at least try and use some before you advertise in the freecycle getting rid of it again !

:shock:

 

[mattcullum]

A shame its no biggy if its firewood as we have a real fire which we love using so if it means just getting the axe out and turning it into firewood so be it. The photos are of the worst bits by far, not being in this situation though I was unsure how far i could expect little splits 2mm or so to descend into the log, i guess the only way of finding out is to cut it?

 

[RogerS]

Interesting thread. At many of the Pugh auctions, I've taken a look at stuff and thought to myself 'cor..that looks like firewood' and yet folks buy the stuff.

So it would be helpful if we could have a bit more explanation as to why Matt's stuff is firewood. What should we be looking for when the proverbial gift horse is staring us in the mouth?

 

[Woodmagnet]

Some of it is firewood, but a lot of it is good
practise wood in my opinion, i would try
making tool handle shapes, "Harry Potter"
magic wands and dibbers etc.,
just to get time in at the lathe. :wink:

 

[cornucopia]

Interesting thread. At many of the Pugh auctions, I've taken a look at stuff and thought to myself 'cor..that looks like firewood' and yet folks buy the stuff.

So it would be helpful if we could have a bit more explanation as to why Matt's stuff is firewood. What should we be looking for when the proverbial gift horse is staring us in the mouth?

firstly- turning wood with splits in it is very dangerous, so why put yourself at risk just because its free?

from experince conifer will not turn its too soft- no good for pratice.

eucalpytus will split al the way through within days of it being cut down- no good.

poplar tends to go very soft if it isnt stored correctly and its already full of splits-no good.

having been turning now for several years i have learnt not to accept all wood just because its free. i do get given some wood, but i buy most of my wood for very little cash compard to buying blanks/boards. I enjoy turning nicely figured woods-i dont enjoy turning bland wood which is dangerous to my health.

 

[wizer]

having been turning now for several years i have learnt not to accept all wood just because its free. i do get given some wood, but i buy most of my wood for very little cash compard to buying blanks/boards. I enjoy turning nicely figured woods-i dont enjoy turning bland wood which is dangerous to my health.

I've learned this in just a couple of months. Just last week there was a free cycle ad for 'Logs' I jumped on it, only to find it was conifer.

I suggest putting most of it back on FreeCycle as firewood and keeping some of the Poplar for practice.

 

[tekno.mage]

It's a shame you don't have a chainsaw to slice off the ends of some of the longer pieces - that would very quickly tell you how deep the splits go! However, having been left outside for a couple of years I imagine they go quite deep. I doubt the wood from the conifers will be much use for anything but firewood, and don't know about eucalyptus or poplar but from what others have said here already it doesn't sound too hopeful...

However, having said all that, I do make things out of firewood myself! When I starting turning last year, I was always rummaging in the dry firewood pile for suitable sticks but was lucky that a lot of the wood was very well seasoned ash, which seems remarkably stable once the log has been split along the pith. Now we process any newly felled wood with a mind to turning as well as burning and are building up a nice little stock of properly processed turning sticks as well as stacks of firewood.

As you have said you are happy enough to use an axe to turn the wood into firewood, why not split the logs along the existing major cracks and see what is left? On the larger ones you would probably have enough uncracked material left for some spindle work. You could use a bow saw to trim the ends of anything that looked interesting after splitting it to remove any staining and check for unnoticed smaller cracks. Don't bother with anything that's too soft, it will be horrible to turn and difficult to get a good finish.

tekno.mage

 

[TEP]

I must agree with all the replies above, but even with the splits if it had been Oak, Ash, or timber like that I could use it but only because I do a fair amount of spindle turning. I certainly wouldn't put those logs on a lathe it that condition.

I have taken timber like that, but have become a lot more selective these days.

The criteria I try to work to is, it must be a hardwood. it must be in reasonable condition for what you intend using it for. ie; don't just grab it because it came from a tree, (unless you have a log fire). If you want to try bowls or hollow forms you must have wood in good condition, no splits. Again if you where going to make a spindle stool or chair you can often use a split log, but there is always a lot of waste. (again back to the fire)

I am also very wary these days as I occasionally have people ringing up about the odd tree and when you get there it is a waste of time, all they are really looking for is a free lift to the tip. I have been known to take down a small ornamental tree in someone's garden, but I will not take the small stuff away. You are saving them a lot of money as it is, why make it hard for yourself.

 

[hog&bodge]

Now this could have happen to me. If I saw a pile of wood and was
asked if I wanted it like you I would have just jumped with joy...lol
But after reading the comments It is a good lesson to newbies like
me to be aware and be selective.
Hope you do not live in a No Smoke Area like me... :?

 

[mattcullum]

Thats me charging a path of stupiditity so that others can learn from my mistakes!

Like I said we do have a real fire in a couple of our rooms, so I knew going there that I could put it all to good use. Its pretty dissapointing all the same though. Still I'll try and get my hands on a chainsaw and see how bad the non-confier bits are, hopefully some are not split all the way through.

The wife will be pleased, she loves a real fire!

 

[TEP]

Thats me charging a path of stupiditity so that others can learn from my mistakes!

Got to disagree Matt, your only doing what we've all done at the beginning, it just seems such a good idea, free wood! Just try and think logically next time, :lol: and remember there is no such thing as free wood. Not when you count, petrol, time, tools, drying time, and so on. You earn every piece of it IMO.

 

[hog&bodge]

Thats me charging a path of stupiditity so that others can learn from my mistakes!

Got to disagree Matt, your only doing what we've all done at the beginning, it just seems such a good idea, free wood! Just try and think logically next time, :lol: and remember there is no such thing as free wood. Not when you count, petrol, time, tools, drying time, and so on. You earn every piece of it IMO.

Same here..
Sorry if my post sounded condescending did not to mean
it to sound that way.
I would take any wood at the moment just fro practice..

 

[loz]

Thats me charging a path of stupiditity so that others can learn from my mistakes!

Rubbish !

I bet few turners on this site have always select perfect stock to use !

I - and i bet others, have a few massive logs in the garden slowly rotting that were a good idea att the time to hump home !, that are worthless.

 

[Jenx]

Half a eucalyptus tree.. which rapidly disintegrated before my eyes... I wish I had had the benefit of listening to a Cornucopia, Chas, Tam etc before I'd half killed myself hauling the thing into the garden / garage.

I agree with the thinking ... You've not made a huge error Matt, you've embarked on a continuous process of learning.
Definately !

 

[mattcullum]

I was just having a little joke at my expense At worst I have a wonderfull supply of firewood for next year - well worth having!

That and I am now a little older and a (little!) wiser. Back to finding fallen branches in the back garden!

Best Regards

Matt