Turning Ivy?

[Tetsuaiga]

I found some quite thick Ivy probably 2 + 1/2inches diameter so thought id take a bit home to try turning. I rough turned and sealed the ends.

Does anyone anyone have any experience with it?

The end grain looks somewhat interesting, not sure how hard it will be when its dried. Its quite heavy but I suspect that's also because its very wet right now.

 

[CHJ]

This is a piece I turned in 2008.

106mm dia.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Interesting, I didn't think they got that big. How hard would you say the wood is?

 

[CHJ]

Similar to Hazel, dense smooth creamy to turn.

As harvested

As Rough Turned

As it is today

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Looks lovely, quite Holly like in fact.

 

[CHJ]

Looks lovely, quite Holly like in fact.

Keeps its colour better when drying Rob.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I'm on the lookout already

Oddly enough I've just scored 4 whopping holly logs from our local cricket ground and of course....they're fast going green!! Real shame as the tree must have been huge given the girth of the billets.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Great thanks. Not really sure what I'll do with it yet other than let it dry. It does seem creamy textured a little like pear wood. It's interesting that it seems to grow with a very even growth rings, suppose that makes sense as it doesn't have the same weight stresses like trees do.

 

[Finial]

I turned ivy a couple of times just to try, and found it worthless. Soft and weak, with poor colour. One piece was about 6" diameter as far as I can remember. After reading CH3's post I shall try again.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I have an update on the my Ivy. I decided to re-turn it to remove the outside which has become discoloured, kinda gray with bits of green.

It has started splitting along its length, not sure what the right term would be for the type of checking. Its quite strange as its only been outside a about a week and a half. The end grain is still totally fine. I noticed my piece seemed to have some quite unusual little marks, sort of like tiny slits which seem to come out of the wood from through the centre, in CHJ's picture I didn't notice any of them on his piece.

I've now split it in half, as there was at least one half which was clear of splitting. I thought as it was fairly small diameter drying in the round wouldn't be an issue.

Does anyone know if you can do much about discolouration? When it was freshly turned it was fine but only after it changed colour quite rapidly, i've had a similar thing happen with some pear wood but that was quite minor.

 

[finneyb]

Just a thought - try wiping it with bleach to kill any bacteria that may be causing the discolouration.
I've never tried it.

Brian

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try that, though it would cause a discolouration of its own, if it protected the wood immediately under the surface it would be worth it though. The reaction seems to be when the wet wood is exposed to air, whether its bacterial or mold i'm not sure.

Interesting article here http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui ... pdf?sequen

What happened to mine looks like sapstain.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Something like this is probably worth using. Could get expensive for large pieces though

https://www.restexpress.co.uk/acatalog/ ... 0wodl9IBXw

 

[KimG]

This is a piece I turned in 2008.

106mm dia.

That's a really nice Bowl Chaz, great form and beautifully turned. Cracker!

 

[CHJ]

That's a really nice Bowl Chaz, great form and beautifully turned. Cracker!

Thanks Kim, Can do style if needed or serendipity strikes (or should I say accidents happen) but as the years have passed it's more often the weird or off beat stuff that the bulk of the folks migrate to in quantity.
Suppose it says a lot about general life experiences and the fact that the majority of us have no formal exposure to artistic guidance to provide a basis for form critique but are easily sucked in by pretty wood colours and figuring.

In its extremes I suppose it's the difference between the Gallery outlets and the tons of stuff that move via market stalls and pound shops, or fine bone china sales as opposed to the proliferation of clunky artisan pottery that abounds.