Ideas for this log??

[Raymond Rhodes]

I cut this from a Cherry tree in our yard about a year ago and have been trying to come up with some ideas for what to make out of it. Any ideas would be great but please remember I am a beginner at turning.

Thanks,
Raymond

 

[Steve Tiedman]

May I suggest a book? This one is my favorite on the topic of turning green wood. "Turning Green Wood", by Michael O'Donnell. Even at a year since cutting, I'd still consider it green. Have fun with it! And watch for more logs, just keep your ear tuned for chainsaws in the distance.

Amazon.com

 

[Richard Coers]

Anytime you have a chunk with rot in it, planning ahead on the shape is a real crap shoot

 

[Raymond Rhodes]

Thank you Mr. Tiedman. I will check it out.

Thanks Mr. Coers. That's one of the reasons I was asking. How should I approach turning it to see how far the rot goes but with the idea of saving as much of the natural hole in the tree. Epoxy? Use the rot as a feature? I don't know enough about it first off, and I see the incredible creations on here and without that type of imagination or creativity I am stuck.

 

[John K Jordan]

May I suggest a book? This one is my favorite on the topic of turning green wood. "Turning Green Wood", by Michael O'Donnell. Even at a year since cutting, I'd still consider it green. Have fun with it! And watch for more logs, just keep your ear tuned for chainsaws in the distance.

Amazon.com

I second that recommendation. I have a book addiction and get nearly every book that catches my eye, and that is one that I’ve recommended to many, pull off the shelf to show to beginners.

Another book I think everyone should read is Understanding Wood by R. Bruce Hoadley. It’s a great book for learning about the structure of wood, how it dries and warps, an introduction to wood ID, far more. The more you know, the more you can do.

Thank you Mr. Tiedman. I will check it out.

Thanks Mr. Coers. That's one of the reasons I was asking. How should I approach turning it to see how far the rot goes but with the idea of saving as much of the natural hole in the tree. Epoxy? Use the rot as a feature? I don't know enough about it first off, and I see the incredible creations on here and without that type of imagination or creativity I am stuck.

Raymond, one thing you might do, if you haven’t already, is find a local turning club. Most are loaded with people with experience and willing to help. It’s far easier for someone to help with ideas for a specific piece of wood if they can hold it in their hands. And lots of clubs have a mentoring program that could get you some one-on-one instruction.

It’s hard for me to tell by the pictures, but there are some things that come to mind about saving the natural hole, or at least parts of it, but might require some creative techniques to hold it on the lathe and some turning techniques that would best be practiced first.

Since you say you are a beginner at turning, I would suggest sealing the piece well and first get some experience with simpler pieces of wood and reconsider this piece later. As you learn what kinds of things you like best to turn, ideas for that piece might be easier.

JKJ

 

[Brian Gustin]

Thank you Mr. Tiedman. I will check it out.

Thanks Mr. Coers. That's one of the reasons I was asking. How should I approach turning it to see how far the rot goes but with the idea of saving as much of the natural hole in the tree. Epoxy? Use the rot as a feature? I don't know enough about it first off, and I see the incredible creations on here and without that type of imagination or creativity I am stuck.

If you'd like to keep as much of the natural feature of the tree as you see it NOW, you'll have to first decide if you want natural edge (leaving shape dependent on the exterior of the form) or you want the grain figure. - For the former, look into doing a hollow form vase (but then you need hollowing tool setup, all those big bars, gadgets, gauges, etc) but for the latter, I'd probably take a chisel or hatchet and see how much of the bark I can peel away to get to solid wood behind it, that can go a long way to deciding where (and whether) to make your cuts to take advantage of the figure if any. My own personal experience with small tree defects that size has been that they almost always (49 out of 50) end up in the firewood pile, so I no longer deem them worth bothering with.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

You are very welcome, Mr. Rhodes.

If I may add, as a new woodturner, I'd suggest practice and gaining comfort with foundational skills with your tools and with wood that is in good condition before jumping into uncharted waters with questionable wood and unpracticed skills.

"The basics" are used 90% of the time at the lathe, regardless of the project. When a turner has a firm understanding and familiarity with the basics, knowing what to do with a challenging technique or questionable lump of wood (the last 10%) becomes easier to handle and with greater clarity. Those creations you see posted here are the result of making lots and lots of ordinary bowls and spindles, to the point where the eye, mind, and heart know just what to do. Time and practice will get you there, leave the epoxy on the shelf.

 

[Raymond Rhodes]

Thank you, Mr. Jordan, I will look into that book. I am an avid reader and like to know what I'm getting into. I went to the local meeting last month and am going to go in January to join (they advised me to wait). I was really surprised by the number of people there at the meeting I attended, especially considering the small town I live in. They were all very helpful and friendly!! I took a few of my rudimentary pieces to get advice on how to improve and everyone was very encouraging and provided tips I have used since to improve.


Thank you, Mr. Gustin. I would preferably like to stay as natural as possible as I have about a dozen cherry trees in the yard and would like to point out the window and say, "it came from that stump right there". I eventually would like to get into hollowing, especially vases but for now I am sticking with bowls. It was suggested in another post that I try spindles to help build skills and I am awaiting some blanks to get started on that.

Thank you again Mr. Tiedman. I think I am going to take everyone’s advice and just seal it up and wait and see if my skills improve. I have spent a considerable amount of time in the woods here hunting and a log like that I haven’t seen often and don’t want to waste it.

 

[Dennis Weiner]

A companion VHS tape was sold with the first edition of Michael O'Donnell's book. The video published pre-you tube days never was sold in DVD format but may still be around to watch via club libraries. There were quite a few turning techniques that were unique to the video. After viewing the VHS, Back in the early 2000s, I bought the Original Axminster Chuck and the O'Donnell Jaws. I have made quite a few pieces influenced by O'Donnell.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I just searched "Michael O'Donnell woodturner" at youtube. If you can understand German...

View: https://youtu.be/I9PvvYc5cFU?

(A red Union Graduate bowl lathe, be still my heart!)

That was the only video I found, along with a thousand videos for someone by the same name teaching how to be a door-to-door saleman. Puke.

 

[Dean Center]

Two thoughts, Mr. Rhodes--
1. We all have a piece of wood sitting in our shops, usually for years, that we don't quite know what to do with. This may be yours.
2. Since cherry tends to crack early and badly, after a year, the decision may already have been made for you. You may have a novel piece of firewood.

 

[hockenbery]

cut this from a Cherry tree in our yard about a year ago

Agree with @Dean Center You are likely 11 months past the use by date.
Could be lots of radial cracks.

What I would have done with the fresh cut log is try a NE bowl. It might still be okay- you don’t need the bark for this to be a bowl that gets a lot of looks.

I would try turning it between centers after confirming the structure of the wood supports that hold.
When turning I want to capture 3 elements in the bowl. I want the through hole in each of the low side walls and the rot section in the one high wall rim.
Two elements I can play with in turning are moving the bottom up and the curve of the wall.
The more oval I can make the more it will look like a sleigh. The pith will be in the other high wall and bump out as it dries adding to the sleigh illusion. But it may have to be more cylindrical than I want.
When done Turing I would remove the rot and probably the bark.

 

[robo hippy]

For me, I would want to turn that into an oval mirror frame or maybe a picture frame. Not worth the effort to try to get useable wood out of it, other than for art pieces. I am not very artistic....

robo hippy

 

[John K Jordan]

I just searched "Michael O'Donnell woodturner" at youtube. If you can understand German...

For those not aware, you can get Youtube to display subtitles/CC and translate. I did this:

Play on YouTube:
- click on Settings at bottom
- select subtitles/Closed Captioning
- select translate, pick the language to translate.

I translated to English. (mi español ya no es bueno) ha!
The translation seems mostly correct, enough to follow along.

BTW, I always use a screw chuck too as he does in the video - I really like the Glaser.

JKJ

 

[Dennis Weiner]

That was the first of many projects on the VHS tape. They dubbed over in German. Later on, one of the projects were long stemmed goblets which he hollowed very thin using light and water. He knew when to stop hollowing when the wall thickness when from red to orange to almost yellow. Anyhow, i no longer have a VCR otherwise I would re-play it. He was(is) a contributor to our woodturning community.

 

[Raymond Rhodes]

Thanks everyone!! I think I'm going to cut it open and see what's what. I will post later with the results.

 

[Raif Harik]

Ok, lots of good advice here. But I'm ashamed of you all for missing this obvious low hanging fruit. Raymond should go into politics after chopping down a cherry tree in his yard!
This seemed a clear reference to George Washington when I started this post. But now I'm not so sure. 🙂

 

[John K Jordan]

But I'm ashamed of you all for missing this obvious low hanging fruit. Raymond should go into politics after chopping down a cherry tree in his yard!

Ha! I see he actually wrote "I cut this from a Cherry tree in our yard"

For almost 25 years I've had my eye on some cherry burls on my property. For some odd reason they are getting bigger. But if I ever decide to "harvest" them, I'll try to remember to avoid the "chopping" word to deflect any political discussion. 🙂

I did chop down a dead dogwood once. The tree was dead, no dog was involved, living or dead. I used an axe. It was a lot of work.

 

[Raymond Rhodes]

Ok, lots of good advice here. But I'm ashamed of you all for missing this obvious low hanging fruit. Raymond should go into politics after chopping down a cherry tree in his yard!
This seemed a clear reference to George Washington when I started this post. But now I'm not so sure. 🙂

I did not intend to reference George Washington with my original post, but since that great and honorable man was mentioned I will leave you with this.

"Associate yourself with men and women of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company."

I am extremely grateful for everyone's help and advice. I am also very glad I found this site. I feel I am in very good company!

 

[Dean Center]

I did chop down a dead dogwood once. The tree was dead, no dog was involved, living or dead. I used an axe. It was a lot of work.

Perhaps your family didn't have this Scandinavian proverb to pass down to you: "If you have 8 hours to cut down a tree, spend 7 hours sharpening your axe."

In our family of frugal worry-warts, "Waste not, want not" was the most common saying.

 

[John K Jordan]

Perhaps your family didn't have this Scandinavian proverb to pass down to you: "If you have 8 hours to cut down a tree, spend 7 hours sharpening your axe."

Modern US proverb: Embrace the chainsaw. But not while it's running.

I went through Bozeman once when wandering around the state after visiting Glacier.
From what I remember, it seemed like it would be hard to get lost there.

 

[Dean Center]

Not sure if it's considered getting lost, but WAY too many people come here and forget to go home.

 

[John K Jordan]

Not sure if it's considered getting lost, but WAY too many people come here and forget to go home.

I have a friend who owns a big farm in the state but also huge property and house on the river in TN. He alternates between the two states, calling one or the other "home", I think, depending on the season and weather.