Starting to go Cold Turkey.....

[santiniuk]

Hi folks,

My wood turning addiction had to take a back seat for the last couple of months. My re-occuring Tennis elbow combined with a dodgy back made me less than mobile and even worse It was cold in the garage :lol:

But.... a colleague at work offered me some Cherry tree logs last week so I obviously couldnt say no.....

I'm after advise. From the attached pictures what would be the best method of storing. The large logs are just over 12" in diameter and the smaller ones just over 6". They are all about 26" long.

Would it be best to split down the centre and seal the ends or cut into small sections and seal smaller pieces and seal both ends.

I have read loads of posts but when it comes to it I'm wondering whats the best way to store them without waiting years to actually use them :shock:

Any special recommendations for Cherry ?

Thanks, I'm looking forward to joining in again with the forum activity.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[TEP]

Hi Shaun. If you plan on storing them you WILL have to cut them, and seal the ends. If you don't do this they will crack and split. The easiest way is to cut them through the heart end to end, then seal the ends and store. Leave them as long as possible.

In the short term you could do some wet turning, again cut the logs through, cut to bowl blanks then rough turn them to about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick. You will still have to seal them but they should be ready to finish turn in six months or less. Another way is to wrap the rough turnings in newspaper to slow the drying process.

Or you can make finished bowls and vases, but they will have to be turned very thin, they will dry and hopefully just move a little in the process. Again if not thin enough they will split.

Good luck, cherry is a beautiful wood to work with.

 

[Paul.J]

Nice haul Shaun
All that Tam says.
If you do decide to cut them down to blank sizes,cut the length a couple of inches longer than what the diameter is of the log.
Store them dry with a good airflow too.

 

[santiniuk]

Thanks Tam / Paul, appreciate the advice.

I managed to make the most of having the kids away at skating lessons and set away with the chainsaw this morning.

With my dodgy back I thought it would be best to make them into more managable sizes. Still quite quite heavy but hopefully more movable.

It took as long to clean the garden up after :?

I seal the ends tomorrow with PVA and find a good covered location. Not sure where at the moment.

I'm also itching to have a go at wet turning. I'm hoping one night this week to take one and turn it leaving it oversize.

Thanks.

Shaun

 

[richburrow]

They look really nice :lol: :lol: :lol:
Have fun!!!!

 

[Paul.J]

Yes Shaun it certainly does look nice wood.

 

[Gordon T]

Good luck with that cherry,

the cherry logs I have , no matter what different methods I have tried has always split. I have yet to manage to turn a piece of cherry that I dried myself that has not split in some fashion or other.
I guess I am lucky in that respect, it gives me something to moan about, as our lass says.

GT

 

[Taffy Turner]

Nice looking cherry.

In my experience, Cherry is one of the most difficult woods to dry without splitting.

After several disasters, I have some logs which have been drying for over a year, and so far so good. I have them stacked against a north facing wall and covered over with a lean-to to keep them nice and cool.

Slowly does it seems to be working OK so far - fingers crossed!

Regards

Gary

 

[morris]

Hi Shaun
lovely wood is cherry, I was lucky enough last summer to get some smaller pieces from my brother -in-law. I did turn a vase and only drilled it out, wrapped it in newspaper . It has a place on my unit, no splits or cracks.
I have been cutting a oaktree down into blanks last week, turned a endgrain bowl, turned out quiet nice, until I caught it with the bowlgauge and cracked the side.

have fun
Morris

 

[santiniuk]

Hi Guys,

I couldn't resist having a go at rough turning one of the logs into a bowl shape with a thick wall. (My first go)

I was hooked! Real shavings

So looking at the picture data, I roughed the blank up on 27th Feb two pics below

From here I put newspaper inside and wrapped it in quite a few layers of again. It has then been stored in a cool place out of sunlight.

Today 24th MArch I thought I would take a look inside and to be honest I'm shocked :shock: I knew that distortion would take place but didn't appreciate how much.

Is this normal ?

Should I take any steps to reduce this ?

My concern is that the recess that It's mounted on is also oval

Any advice appreciated. I'm still learning so much and wonder if I missed something.

(I was chuffed when it was a blank, it had potential !)

Cheers

Shaun

 

[CHJ]

Shaun, what you have there is perfectly normal, in fact I would go so far as to say that you are extremely fortunate to get it that far without splitting.
Be aware that it will move some more as you get nearer your finished size so complete the shaping with the tools in one session, because the next time you go back to it it will have moved out of round, even trying to go back over an area you turned a few minutes previously may not work, sanding can be left to another day but not the cutting.

As regards the rear recess distorting, you need to reverse mount the blank and true it up.

If you do not have any cole jaws, I suggest you make yourself a set of doughnut jaws to hold it (you may need to trim some of the rim distortion off with a plane or saw) if you are doubtful about security bring the tailstock up to the centre of the base and just clean up the periphery of the recess.

I have in the past centred a reversed bowl against a disc of MDF attached to a faceplate, supported by the tailstock, I then used hot melt glue to anchor the rim to the MDF enough to provide drive whilst I trued up the recess/spigot.

 

[TEP]

Hi Shaun, don't worry that distortion is normal with wet cherry, (and a lot of other woods).

I always turn on a spigot and not a recess, but both usually have to be re-turned a little to get them circular again. When wet turning you should always use the corner of a skew or parting tool to mark a dimple in the centre of the mounting point. When the distortion takes place you can friction mount the bowl over a rounded piece of scrap timber in the chuck, and the tail stock with the centre in the dimple you cut there. Then you can gently bring the mounting point back to round.

This is one of the main reasons I always use a spigot. You can use the spigot over size, them when it distorts you still have plenty of wood to cut back to round and still fit the chuck jaws.

Good luck--

PS - Slow at typing Chas got in before me. :lol:

 

[CHJ]

.....PS - Slow at typing Chas got in before me. :lol:

Makes a change, I usually spend so much time 'trying' to correct my english or get my head round a sensible answer that I find my post several below the one I was quoting. :lol:

 

[dickm]

It took as long to clean the garden up after :?

Shaun

I'm with you there! recently felled a large spruce in our garden - 2 minutes to fell it, two hours to clear up the branches and two days to dig out the stump :evil:

And it's probably not useful for anything other than firewood. (seriously, any suggestions about turning it?)

 

[santiniuk]

Thanks very much for the replies, More good tips.

I googled the doughnut chuck and that looks straight forward to make so thats next on the list. Found some threaded rod so just need the plywood now.

To be honest I was embarrassed to post how it had distorted so it's good to know I'm not a million miles away from what is expected.

To date I have preferred the recess as I find the spigot has indents from the chuck. Maybe I'm tightening too much? I'll try a spigot again next time.

I like the tip on marking the centre also. Makes sense but something I missed.

One thing I'm still unsure about is when to finish it off. It still feels like its quite 'damp' even after a month. It's wrapped up again and I'll leave it for a while yet.

Thanks again.

Shaun.

 

[CHJ]

.....
One thing I'm still unsure about is when to finish it off. It still feels like its quite 'damp' even after a month. It's wrapped up again and I'll leave it for a while yet.
......

Place it in a clear polythene bag for a day or two and see if a whole load of moisture collects inside.

P.S. You can use the doughnut chuck to clean up a spigot or recess or even remove it completely after you have finished with main part of the work.

 

[santiniuk]

Well guys a change in plan...... :roll:

Taking the Advise of Chas I put the 'roughed' blank into a polythene bag and it's still showing signs of moisture so guess it needs more time.

I made a doughnout chuck following plans I found on google and was interrupted when the wife called in to see 'what I was upto'.

I tried to explain the contraption to her but she was horrified when shed found out the plan to use it to make her bowl round again.

In her words, "anyone can make a round bowl!" :? The blank I have drying has really developed into a unique shape, hard to descripe but its kid of twised with an oval rim.

So... looking at it I think she's right, it does have good character and is unique.

My problem is that the finish on it was never meant to be a final level, I guess I could hand sand it and the inside but the wall thickness is about 25mm which looks heavy to me.

Have anyone any ideas what would be the best way to get a good finish on this or how to make the walls thinner? It looks like I won't me re-mounting it on the lathe so i'm open to any ideas.

Thanks.
Shaun

(My doughnut chuck will see action one day!)

 

[TEP]

Hi Shaun, you can either spend a phenomenal amount of time power/hand sanding the bowl to a finish. VERY HARD WORK! If it was up to me I would re-turn this bowl as you intended then turn another wet one but to a finish this time and give the second to SWMBO.

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

First rule of marketing Shaun... give the 'customer' what she wants :wink:

Finish the bowl to her satisfaction meanwhile start another for yourself to play with...

(just seen Tam's post... I'd rather keep the 'boss' on side :lol: )

 

[CHJ]

.....
(just seen Tam's post... I'd rather keep the 'boss' on side :lol: )

Covers a whole load of errant sawdust and shavings :lol: