Bowl blank/log holder

[Emiliano Achaval]

We had a very successful first meeting at the Maui Woodturners Association. Our club treasurer showed us a sketch of a log holder, so you can safely cut it with the chainsaw. Got my welder out, in a few hours I had a great log holder. I finally found one that I like. Let me know what you think... Aloha.

 

[hockenbery]

That looks really cool. A comfortable height
how stable it is with a large log? How do you get a large log up there?
Nice to have the have the luxury of welding.

A couple of photos cutting a crotch of my processing center.
This is about as low tech as it gets.
I can roll big pieces onto mine with a hand truck.
I usually kneel on one knee to keep my back straight.
Mine only lasts about 2 years and I have to build another.

Al

 

[Douglas Ladendorf]

Neat idea. You might use a pole with threads on the end like your spindle: then mount a faceplate on your piece, screw in the pole and mount.

Doug

 

[Bill Boehme]

What you have looks nice and clean, but what holds the piece in place that you have sitting on top of the pedestal? Like Al, I am wondering about the stability of the holder. I just do it the really simple way. I have a pile of logs and just wedge the one that I am working on to the desired orientation. I'm too "low energy" to build anything, but if I did, I think that I would make a traditional sawbuck.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Holder

The top of the holder is a pipe flange from the Ace hardware store, worth $12. I have a bigger one that cost 17. The idea is to make it simple. In Facebook someone suggested to put a face plate with my thread, 1 1/4 by 8. I guess they have no idea how much that costs. The idea is to make it cheap. I was the welder, you could pull a train with that, I went overboard with the welds, it will not break, and a bigger log I will use the big flange holder. Some of the suggestions here and Facebook are to make it faster. I'm in no rush when I work. It was solid when I cut some blanks yesterday.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Large size

Forgot to mention that my big Koa blanks, I have had some close to 150 lbs, I don't need to put them in the holder. It's the small to medium ones that spin or move with all other holders that I have have in the last 20 years. The big ones I put them on top of a giant stump, the don't move. I have gone thru several saw bucks, wedge log holders, name it and I had it. By far this is the one I like the most.
I guess it's like the speed on the lathe, a gut and know feeling, if the blank looks to big for the holder, then it's heavy enough for the stump.

 

[Lee Tourtelotte]

Log Processing Center (LPC)

Our Minnesota Woodturners club designed and built a modified LPC, from a 2010 AAW article that Emmett Manley of Lakeland Tennessee had originally submitted. There was a lot of club interest, due to the much increased safety & efficiency of the design, so several volunteers on a chilly day, in October of 2010, spent the day together making about 30 LPC "kits" for our members, to buy at cost and assemble themselves. Our one LPC design safely accommodates a wide diameter range of logs, from 6" through ~ 24". The key to this deign is that the LPC not only holds the log steady, the chain saw cuts down through the log longitudinally, which is a far more efficient cut than trying to cut down through the end grain. In addition, as the chain saw bar passes through the center of the log, the kerf behind the bar begins to close, keeping the saw from binding throughout the end of the cut. The LPC design also has an inherent drop down clearance feature that prevents the saw from hitting the ground upon finishing the cut. The log remains in it's original position, ready for removal or further processing. An optional, pull up, "trim shelf" can be easily added for trimming off the bowl blank's corners and lathe center location bark. We have shared this design over the past 5 years with numerous AAW chapter clubs throughout the country and Canada that requested the construction information from us and the feed back from all these clubs has been 100% positive. The significantly increased safety factor is the main reason for using the LPC to prepare bowl blanks, and the speed (& back saving) realized is a close second. I have included a couple of pictures & would be happy to supply further information, if interested.

Lee Tourtelotte
Minnesota Woodturners Association
www.mnwoodturners.com

 

[Douglas Ladendorf]

Nice design Lee. Is that side section hinged?

Doug

 

[Lee Tourtelotte]

Doug,
Yes, it has a double set of pin hinges and it easily folds down & stores underneath the LPC when not in use.
Lee