Sweet Chestnut, Japanese Larch and Birch

[wizer]

Hi guys

I have been offered some of the above wood. I know birch is good for turning, but what about the chestnut and larch? Do these turn well. It's all unseasoned and in log form.

Cheers

Tom

 

[PowerTool]

Sweet chestnut turns and finishes nicely,quite good at keeping the bark on for natural-edge work.It is,however,very high in tannin content (very much like oak) so will make tools and lathe bed go brown/rusty very quickly if turned wet and not cleaned up straight away.
No experience with Japanese larch,sorry.

Andrew

 

[wizer]

Cheers Andrew. I'll have to make sure I put some rust protector on the bed before I use it then.

 

[Bodrighy]

I don't know if Japanese larch is like english larch (if it is english?) but if it is then take it and use it for practicing tool skills.The bit I tried was like turning straws and I found it really really difficult to get any kind of finish that wasn't highly 'textured' (euphimism for "wheres the grade 50 sandpaper" :lol: Seriously I did find that after that ordinairy pine was a doddle. I have been told that any fast growing tree would be the same

Pete

 

[Jenx]

Only ever used (english) Larch to make a fence !...
Never tried any of those timbers Tom.. but as Pete says, especially if its free.. take it and practice.
Every cut is a learning cut , I guess ! 8)

I'm not sure , but hasn't Chas done a fair bit of Sweet Chestnut ?
when he come on, he will maybe confirm.


.. Edit : Re: Lathe bed.
I read somewhere, and have 'developed the habit as a result', ... that it was advisable to give your lathe bed a light rub with 0000 grade steel wool every few days, just to 'clean it' .... and I must confess, and some may throw hands in horror at this, because some people abhorr the idea of oils anywhere near their machine, ... i make a habit of very lightly oiling the bed , especially if I am going to not be using the machine for a few days... I like to do it... its exposed ferrous metal, and as such ( in my view at least ), will corrode relatively easily.
Others may vehemently disagree, I don't know ... but it works for me ! :wink:

 

[cornucopia]

I would avoid the birch and larch and my pref is also to avoid chestnut too but i know allot of guys like it...but its not for me

as for tannin/rust issues- part of my tidy up routine at the end of every day is to spray all bare metal with wd40- the next time i turn i just wipe over everything with a cloth and carry on turning- i've done this for years as i am nearly always turning wet wood.

 

[John. B]

It's not the lathe bed that worrys me turning wet wood it's the windows :roll: :roll: :roll:
Still, that shouldn't bother you Tom. :lol:

John. B

 

[wizer]

So I took a drive down to Challock nr Ashford in Kent this morning to meet a lovely guy called Dave. He met me at the gate and I drove up the track to a beautiful coppice wood (I think that's what you call it). After a long chin wag with Dave about what he does down there, he kindly chopped up some Chestnut and Birch for me. He said I could have it for nothing, so I filled my boot thus:

and when I got it home I stacked it on my drive thus:

Tomorrow I will get some tarp to cover it. Should I do anything else? Paint the ends? What with?

I guess I'm going to have to work out how I'm going to chop them in half for bowls. Guess I'll have to make a jig for the bandsaw.

He had loads more up there and said I was welcome to return when ever I liked for more. This is about as larger diameter as he has, probably max 8inches. Fine for practice work. I took a length of Silver Birch for spindle practice.

...and tomorrow I'm on the scrounge for more free wood.

 

[CHJ]

......
I'm not sure , but hasn't Chas done a fair bit of Sweet Chestnut ?
when he come on, he will maybe confirm.
..

Yes I have used Sweet Chestnut jenx, in fully dried form only though. (see sht's 11-12-13 in bits below)

I like it very much, the sample I had turned like a smoother version of English Oak, much like a pale version of Elm. In my limited experience it well deserves it's "Sweet Chestnut" name.

 

[wizer]

that look lovely Chas. Can't wait to have a play with it. I can see a lot of chestnut in my future.

I'll get something to seal the ends tomorrow

 

[Bodrighy]

Either you havea very small boot or you were extremely restrained Tom :lol: Nice haul though.

Pete

 

[John. B]

Get an axe, cleave them in two, that releases a lot of stress then paint or wax the ends
(A couple of old candles melted in an old pot will do)

John. B

 

[wizer]

Pete, I drive a Smart Car But I fully intend to go back in the 4x4

I've never turned green so I don't know what I'm getting myself into. So I thought it best to take a bit for now and see how I get on. To be honest it's a great excuse to go back down there. The woods have a strange sense of serenity that I really liked.

John: I just dumped a plastic bag full of old candles from the wedding!! #-o Silly Boy. I'll see if I can pick something up in B&Q tomorrow to seal them up.

I do actually have a small axe but it's far from sharp. Is this something I can do freehand on the grinder or should I find a saw doctor to do it properly for me?

 

[John. B]

I'm am told cleaving releases tension in the wood, bandsawing dosen't.
Don't know how true that is.

John. B

 

[big soft moose]

I'm am told cleaving releases tension in the wood, bandsawing dosen't.
Don't know how true that is.

John. B

nah - anything that splits the round will relieve tension - cleaving is preffereable as it goes along the gran not cutting through it , but chainsaw/bandsaw will work too.

btw - The purpose of sealing is to reduce the moisture loss to reduce splitting so if you are going to turn it green in the next couple of days you neednt bother - if its going to be longer than that you need to seal the ends and the cut surface

 

[wizer]

Cheers BSM. I'm considering rough turning it and then sealing it as I won't have a chuck for a couple of months.

 

[Doug B]

John: I just dumped a plastic bag full of old candles from the wedding!! #-o Silly Boy. I'll see if I can pick something up in B&Q tomorrow to seal them up.

If you`ve got some PVA that will seal the grain OK, & save a trip to B&Q.

Doug.

 

[Bodrighy]

Or old paint. In fact almost anything that will stop th water evaporating through the ends grain will do.

Pete

 

[tekno.mage]

I recently turned a small box out of birch - and I liked it. It's quite fine grained and slightly creamy coloured. I used branch wood (found in the firewood pile) which had an interesting golden swirly figure to it. It turned well dry and took a very good finish.

I've also roughed a sweet chestnut box - can't tell you much more about it until I finish turn it - although it seems to be drying well without any splitting. It was easy to turn wet and looks like it's quite course grained (like ash?).

Never knowingly turned any larch, japanese or any other nationality!

tekno.mage

P.S. Pics of boxes will be forthcoming when I get around to taking them and there's some half-decent natural light here!

 

[wizer]

Cheers TM. I'm looking forward to turning it. I think the birch will be lovely with a natural edge.