Something You Knew But Forget

[MichaelMouse]

My day to turn. Worked hard yesterday, so today's to play. Hit a cherry log for my first victims ~13" diameter. All's fine until I have the first piece reversed and turn up the lathe speed. Started moving on me a bit. Not a lot, and certainly not as much as the old rig, but enough to cause even me to finally think. End grain of the bowl shows centrifuged surface water on one side, face grain damp, but none of this on the opposite, where things feel dry.

Remember to roll your logs! If not, you may just have to grin and turn it or slow down to stabilize. Either that, or choose a less than optimum first cut to keep all the bottom wetness balanced.

You knew that, of course, as I did, but CRS sometimes gets in the way.

 

[Gary]

I stand my logs on end; then take the turning blanks from the end sticking in the air.

 

[Martin Braun]

I stand my logs on end; then take the turning blanks from the end sticking in the air.

I do the same thing. Out here in the desert, it seems it drys pretty fast regardless of orientation, that I usually don't notice a wet side even if there is one. Also, I have taken to rough turning & waxing more and more as the logs tend to split & check on the unstable & non-native species.

 

[MichaelMouse]

I stand my logs on end; then take the turning blanks from the end sticking in the air.

Tough to do with a 104" log. I find I lose less to end checks by letting them stay large. The second two, which are actually the ones closest to the end, came out fine, because I wasn't trying to eliminate a knot. Brown rot, sure, but only in one.

Now if only it would rain, I'd be able to tell SWMBO that I couldn't weed the garden. Threatening, which gets me out of hanging the wash.

 

[Martin Braun]

Do you think putting some supports underneath to get it off the ground would help? I have done that with logs used for non-turning related stuff to avoid bug damage. That way, I wouldn't forget to roll it over either.

 

[john lucas]

How about spraying the bowl with water to even out the moisture. I do this on thin bowls but haven't tried in on rough outs.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Yes to Martin, it will help, and I should have done just that, but I thought I'd get to this log earlier than I did. Better for the chain as well, because there's less dirt attached in the bark. One note of caution - if you put logs on pallets, don't forget there are nails holding the boards to the skids! 😱

No to John. We're talking some serious weight difference and considerable thickness. Spraying would be superficial at best. Slowing the speed is the proper way, because the Delta M diminishes by the square root. My stand having been built by an inept Polack, I hate to challenge it much.

Of course, keeping my wits about me when chosing the direction of initial cut would have been the best of all, but there was that knot right there that I could split between the bowls, losing so little in height.

It did rain enough for me to use the garden excuse, so I read for a while in my book about the submarine S5 accident. Have to start dinner in twenty minutes.