WHich woods to use

[Doc G]

Hello all,
I am relatively new to bowl turning, especially with green wood. I live on 10 acres of mixed woods in deep Southwest Alabama. Almost 2 years ago hurricane Ivan stayed over us for 6 or so hours and laid down a lot of trees both on my place and all around me for miles. I have availible large qantities of southern maple, tons of red oak and laurel oak, plenty of sweetgum, poplar, holley, bradford pear, dogwood, pecan and with just moderate effort, white oak. My question is which of these woods would the experts out there focus on for bowls and which should be ignored?

Thanks,
John

 

[Ron Warman]

Which wood

John,
I am no expert but have not had a lot of luck with any oak drying without cracks. Bradford pear is also hard to dry. If you are just learning why not try something with each species for yourself to see what you like or don't like about each. You didn't say if you want to twice turn or finish green. I have not turned any dogwood, but like the rest. All that said I wouldn't ignore anything. My worst things on the lathe taught me something useful.

Ron

 

[john lucas]

Doc The only ones I have had problems with are Bradford Pear. It's a good turning wood but I've had windshake inside each piece I've turned and had to highly modify my plans or just toss it out. Other memebers of our club have had great success.
I like the look of Oak but hate what it does to my lathe. Spray the lathe down well before and after you turn this stuff and whatever you do don't leave the wood in the chuck over night. Some idiot in my shop did. Oh, I am the only one in my shop.
Of the ones you mentioned Holly is my favorite although I have turned some really nice bowls from Pecan. It's a good hard wood so sharpen often.

 

[Jeff Jilg]

I too would also avoid the oak. By this point it is probably already starting to crack. Oak has a distinct tendency to crack while it dries in Texas. Since cracked bowls are less appealing than non-cracked bowls, it might be more productive to work with the other species.

 

[KenN]

Doc,

I bow before the experts, but I can share a bit of my experience. I have 2 chunks of Black Oak (one of the Red Oaks) left from a dozen I took three years ago. They were cut about 4 inches longer than the width on each end(after cutting the pith out) and coated with Anchor Seal on the end grain plus about 4 inches of the exposed face. They sure are cracked into the end grain, but by the time I core a 16" bowl with four bowls inside, I am still having only minimal checks in the largest bowl, and none in the other four. I have just cored out #10 from the batch and nothing has changed. By the second year, however, it is dry enough to be VERY hard and requires a delicate hand. The whole batch spalted in the sap-wood and makes beautiful bowls - if time rich.

I've turned quite a bit of Tulipwood / American Tulip / Tulip Poplar / Yellow Poplar whatever it's called. If you can find deep heartwood of old, large trees, you will find a range of green (color, that is) which ranges from a pale, subtle tint to a deep, dark olive. All the shades of green are remarkably beautiful. It turns easily, but is so open that it is difficult to get a finish on. O.K., I use tung oil. I'm sure there are other possibilities out there for sealing/coating finishes.

I'm computing the round-trip mileage to Alabama.

 

[TurningDog]

Turn it all. Oak might crack and be a bit harder to finish, but in the end call it art. oak is also great for spindle work and cracks aren't going to be much of a problem as they are rather easy to avoid when selecting spindle stock.

BTW cracks are why they made filler such as inlace, or my personal favorite is to fill cracks I have further carved with my dremel with different shades of wood dust. I just sold an 18" silver maple platter that had been full of cracks which were filled with bloodwood dust & shavings.

 

[dkulze]

I'm with Dog. Turn it all. And invite a bunch of folks from your nearest turning clubs to come and cut it up with you.

The woods you mentioned that are kinda special include the pear, the holly, the dogwood, and the pecan.

In you position, I'd go looking for wood that was figured, burled, crotched, or otherwise special. Less to do with the species and more with the piece.

Congrats on your good fortune.

Dietrich

 

[hockenbery]

I enjoy turning Holly and dogwood but unless you are lucky it is hard to find bowl size blanks in dogwood. The holly may be large enough for bowls.
I got a hurricane Isabel holly that wa hollw but still had 18" bowls.

I'd recomend that you got wit the maple. Yours is probably one of the soft maples like red maple. It stilll has alot of variation in figure and will make real nice bowls. You wil find spalt in some of it by now and if it is on the ground it may be too far gone.

I occasionally turn white oak, red oak, and sweat gum, pecan an brafrod pear if I find a log that intersts me. They all turn nicely when green and a bowl with a even wall thickness in these species can be dried with out cracking.
Some sweetgum can have spectacular red strarburst heartwood and white sapewood. the red turns brown but still can be quite special.
A problem you may have with hurricane wood are cracks and splits in the tree in addition to the wind shakes mentioned earlier. These may not be easy to see until they open as the turning begins to dry.

happy turning
Al

 

[Richard Baker]

Ken,
Sounds like you know a bunch of stuff that could help some of the rest of us. Welcome to the forum.
Doc,
Welcome also, and try to turn some of all of it if possible. Keep really good notes on how each wood turns, and jump back in here with the results. Maybe leave the oak til last.

 

[Bob Herrman]

Hi Doc, I have been turning quite a bit of White Oak and like it best of all the woods you mention. Dogwood is fun to turn green, but most of it will be small bowls, Pecan turns good dry, popular is like Magnola and has tear outs, but is great to practice on and get that sanding out of your system.

The worst of your problems is finding that storm wood that hasn't got splits or rot going on.

By the way I am in your fair city tonight. I have a client that needs calling on tomorrow.

Good luck Turning!

 

[Wilford Bickel]

Hi Doc,

I am up here in Central Alabama just south of Talladega, if you get up this way stop by and say HI!

I have a freind that works with a church group that goes in after disasters and helps clean up. He also aquires a lot of turning wood that way - good for all! He told me he got a lot of Pecan out of south Alabama after Ivan and had a problem with the sand that was imbedded into the outside of the wood by the winds. 😱 He said it was ok to turn but he had to sharpen his tools a lot more often because of the silica content dulling them. Just keep that in mind and sharpen more often than you normally would if you find the same silica content.

Wilford

 

[Doc G]

Wilford,
Thanks for the warning about the sand. Luckily I can sharpen better than I can turn. The loss of trees after Ivan was catastrophic and still is. Trees are still dying from the damage received during the storm. Concerning pecan, I know of one 20 acre grove that was bulldozed and burned after the storm. It is now a hay field. (and I was not turning when it was bulldozed) Stop by if you ever head to LA (Lower Alabama)

John

 

[bowlman]

Which woods

Well, sounds to me like you should avoid the pear ... just send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you. Just being a nice guy, you understand! 😀

Seriously, try your hand at all of it. The pear will take nicely to a long (very long) and very slow drying process. I just turned 2 pieces that have been hibernating quietly in my shop for over 8 years.

A tip on oaks ... green turn to whatever size you invision and then wax or otherwise seal the end grain. Then put each piece into a black plastic bag (1 piece per bag), seal tightly, and place in your yard or on the driveway or whatever so it get sun. Each morning reach inside and pull out the rough turned bowl, reverse the bag so the wet inside is now outside and repeat until one day you reach inside and there is no moisture on the inside of the bag. i have done 100's of oak bowls this way and have lost only about 2 or 3 %. What you are doing is creating a micro-climate for the wood to reach equilibrium inside that bag. Works well for apple too, and apple can be a real pain to dry.