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Quarter/Rift

John Walls

John Walls

Joined
Jan 20, 2020
Messages
343
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157
Location
Larimore, ND
I received some cottonwood logs, 28-30 inches diameter. I've processed 2 pieces of the log, bout 14-15" wide, got several bowl blanks per side each piece. Cut on each side of the pith left me with a good sized center so instead of making more firewood, I cut down the side of the pith giving me some pretty good sized pieces of quarter/rift sawed square blanks. I could easily make more bowl blanks out of these and/or boxes. I usually get much smaller pieces and just bust them down the center and add to the firewood pile.

Has anyone made bowls out of quarter saw blanks, do they look good, should I just use them for boxes, etc? Best use for these pieces?
 
I believe @Michael Anderson has a post recently on some quarter sawn oak he made a bowl from.. memory's fuzzy might have been someone else, but there was a discussion on it - Hockenberry I think also had an example or two. If it was me, I'd just turn a piece and find out how it looked for myself - worst case, it goes to firewood pile, where it might have ended up anyways?
 
Michael's example is a really good one to illustrate how nicely oak will turn out if you're using quarter sawn blanks. My experience suggests that most species offer rather bland and uninteresting figure from quarter sawn timber. That said, the suggestion to try it and see what you think is a good one.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try some and see. From what I read on the 'net, cottonwood is *fuzzy* and require very sharp tools/light cuts. I do have some large crotch pieces, I'm hoping for some kind of figure/feathering in it. From what I have seen, or so far is nothing but straight grain, have not found anything that will show any figures. Kinda, so far, looks ho-hum, hope I'm wrong but I sure have a lot of it now. If nothing else, it's going to force me to slow down and make better cuts to get a smooth final cut.
 
John Walls said:
do have some large crotch pieces, I'm hoping for some kind of figure/feathering in it.
Click to expand...

You probably know the best crotch figure is in the stem of the Y
It is in the plane of the 3 piths. When ripped the two sawn faces will show the flame.
If there is a deep bark inclusion there is little or no flame
IMG_2022-12-19-181821.pngIMG_2022-12-19-181856.png
 
Even if the grain is ho-hum , you can still use it to turn some beautiful pieces via embellishment, painting, carving, etc - Quarter sawn does tend to be more stable as far as wood movement goes , but it is not immune to warp,
 
Mike Mahoney has done some fabulous pieces out of 'Mormon' cottonwood. His does have a lot of figure. I tried turning some once, and just didn't like it, and as others have said, they were rather bland. Years ago in Woodshop News, they talked about cottonwood. The only commercial use for it was around horse stalls. Apparently it tastes as bad as it smells, and the horses won't chew on it. As for firewood, some one said, "You get warm twice when you use cottonwood for firewood. Once when you split it, and again when you shovel out the ashes."

robo hippy
 
The best figured part of poplar/cottonwood is generally at the base. And it can be beautiful wood, as Dave illustrates.

Since Dave brought out his theory, here's mine. Poplar/cottonwood are commonly found growing along watercourses, so we assume they are like willows and water-loving. While that may be true, they are also very drought tolerant. My theory is that the fuzziness factor is related to where they grow. The best poplar I've ever had was growing for 30 years at the corners of an asphalt parking lot and probably rarely watered. Mike Mahoney's Mormon Poplar grows in a desert climate, where the tree will have occasional water in the gully from a passing thunderstorm, but for 355 days a year, drought.
 
Kent Reisdorph said:
Here are some small cherry bowls I made from the quartersawn pieces along the pith.

View attachment 57280
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I have found that most species of wood has visible rays, and it is those rays that produce the “fleck” in quartersawn boards. In a bowl, that fleck is usually just a narrow band or a small circle where the diameter of the bowl perfectly intersects the quartersawn plane. You have done a wonderful job positioning that fleck in the bottom of these cherry bowls.
 
R
robo hippy said:
Mike Mahoney has done some fabulous pieces out of 'Mormon' cottonwood. His does have a lot of figure. I tried turning some once, and just didn't like it, and as others have said, they were rather bland. Years ago in Woodshop News, they talked about cottonwood. The only commercial use for it was around horse stalls. Apparently it tastes as bad as it smells, and the horses won't chew on it. As for firewood, some one said, "You get warm twice when you use cottonwood for firewood. Once when you split it, and again when you shovel out the ashes."

robo hippy
Click to expand...
Robo, your quote made me think of one of my favorite essays. It is called Good Oak by Aldo Leopold in A Sand County Almanac. Here are the opening paragraphs:
Good Oak
There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.
To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue.
To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside. If one has cut, split, hauled, and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the week end in town astride a radiator.
 
I ignored A Sand County Almanac for decades, thinking it was just another dry screed. Then a couple years ago while cleaning out old books, I saw it, and decided to give it a try. What a revelation. It's warm, funny, intimate, literate, thought provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable. Mindfulness in action. The sermon comes at the end of the book, but by then I didn't seem to mind. Highly recommended for anyone.
 
Dean Center said:
I ignored A Sand County Almanac for decades, thinking it was just another dry screed. Then a couple years ago while cleaning out old books, I saw it, and decided to give it a try. What a revelation. It's warm, funny, intimate, literate, thought provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable. Mindfulness in action. The sermon comes at the end of the book, but by then I didn't seem to mind. Highly recommended for anyone.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t agree more Dean. All the more amazing that it was written 75 years ago.
 
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