Drying newly cut logs... Now what do I do??

DeVore

I may have done something daft...

Was walking past Chanel College in Coolock which is near where I live and they were cutting tons of huge branches off the trees. So I went home, grabbed a rucksack and struggled back with this haul.


wood by devoresphotos, on Flickr

They came from these trees, if anyone recognises them. (click to expand)


chanel by devoresphotos, on Flickr



So, now I have just realised that I have no idea what this kind of wood is, whether its useful for turning by hand or machine ... nor what to do with it if it is.

I tend to throw myself into things a bit



So, umm... please Mr Experts... what do I do now?!

jack of all

I recommend you paint the ends of each log with a few coats of water based emulsion or primer- it will slow down the drying process and help prevent shakes developing as the timber dries. I've done this with some beech blocks I set aside a few years ago; I made a nice mallet with one of the smaller quarters!

DeVore

Ok... and should I put them in the hot press or just leave them in the hall or anything? How long will this take?

jack of all

If you put them in the hot press, they will dry, pretty quick but won't be good for anything other than the fire, as the timber will develop lots of shakes and would probably destruct in a lathe! A small log like that could take a year or more to slowly air dry (I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to hear!). Some woodturners specialise in "green" woodturning, with freshly cut timber like that but I don't know much about it, sorry.

DeVore

ok, so from reading up and what you say, I'm going to debark the left and right one and cut them into the rough sized blanks I want, cover the ends (wax or paint) and leave them to dry.

The one in the middle I'm going to cut to size with the bark still on and try hand turning some while "green". If that doesnt work, then its getting sealed and dried like the others.

Looks like it takes at least 6 months to a year as you say, maybe more... hmmm... not for the impatient this hobby hahah!

jack of all

DeVore wrote: »

Looks like it takes at least 6 months to a year as you say, maybe more... hmmm... not for the impatient this hobby hahah!

Not for the impatient to start with I suppose, but if you collect wood as you go, you will have a supply of wood to work with into the future, using your stockpile in rotation. With time and as your stockpile grows, you'll have an opportunity to think about what you might want to do with certain pieces of wood, depending on size, shape etc- all part of the creative process!

recipio

You could rough out a few basic shapes like small boxes etc and then leave them in a hessian or paper bag for about three months. They will then be dry enough for finishing.Without knowing the species a lot of scrap wood is unfortunately pretty bland but its all experience.!

DeVore

I dunno the species either but the big one on the right has a nice reddish hue to the bark and the wood.

Stupid question: If I wanted to carve that one by hand (with my brand new set of wood chisels! ) ... do I have to wait for it to dry still?

The reason being that I started carving down the bark of the big one in prep for drying and its like a knife through butter... so I'm got to thinking that while I'm taking my lathing course and waiting for stuff to dry, I could hand carve this one ?
Will that work or will it crack when drying etc?

My thought was to flatten one side to stand on, and carve the other deeply into a biggish, long fruit bowl, kinda like this:

Prenderb

I would leave the bark on... it'll dry a bit more evenly and some turnings look pretty cool with a natural bark edge. Also, if you can stand to be patient, leave the logs the longest length you can as this will also help reduce the occurrence of cracks in drying.

It's all useful -

Keep some of the branches for your first turning classes (if you're doing nightclass they'll start you off with simple roughing - that's ideal!) and then you can do "green" goblets from them at a slightly later stage.

Hand carving, I dunno about - I'd think you'll probably get some cracking from it, and it'll take an age but worth a try if you wanna! Do you mind my asking if you have gouges for woodturning, or chisels? "ordinary" wood chisels are not the tools for turning, just in case.

And it's hard to tell, but could be ash or sycamore.

DeVore

I bought myself a nice set of these (http://www.strahan.ie/tradeshop/viewitem.php?productid=524 )
which for 50 quid were a total steal I think! They are lovely and seem decent quality. I sharpened them up and they are nice to use.

I think you are right about the two other pieces, the bark needs to be cleaned but I'll leave it dry first and then brush it down later.

The big piece I'm going to try to gouge by hand and see if I dont lose my mind first because there is soooo much material to remove... but if it cracks, it cracks... it will still be a nice fruit bowl even with cracks (provided it doesnt fall apart!) ... and after all, I got this wood for free so if I try something and it doesnt work, I'll score it up to experience

Leonid

If you want to try hand carving them, you should look into green woodworking techniques.

A simple project could be a spoon or spatula. You could make one with just
an axe/hatchet, sloyd knife and a hook knife.

Handcarving a bowl would require an adze in addition to the other tools.


Spoon making

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT95KCO6zJY

Here's a video on bowl making
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76a07xEg6Tw

DeVore

I think I definitely need an adze if I'm going to scoop out this whole log...

That video is great and quite close to what I want to try but its also clear that I need a couple more things before I continue. ("experience" would be the primary one... I dont suppose they sell that online too, no?).

recipio

Don't forget that if carving a bowl the grain should be 'side to side' but if turning deep boxes on the lathe the grain is lengthwise.
Either way its an idea to rough them out and leave them to dry a bit - they will distort as they dry.
Your logs are pretty small so will have some sapwood - sometimes it looks fine, sometimes it clashes horribly with the heart wood ( eg Yew ) It all depends on the species of wood.

Alun

recipio wrote: »

Your logs are pretty small so will have some sapwood - sometimes it looks fine, sometimes it clashes horribly with the heart wood ( eg Yew ) It all depends on the species of wood.

That's strange .. I've always thought the contrast between the two in yew was one of it's most attractive features, but chacun à son goût, as they say ...

woodturner

Nothing wrong with turning them straight away. Just decide on what you want to make from them. You could turn small natural edged bowls wet and leave them to dry. They will move a little but that adds to the character. If you thin down PVA 50/50 with water you can use this to also seal the end grain.

DeVore

On a side question... what is used to get that "glazed" look? I presume there is some manner of laquer??


In other news, I bought myself an axe today. This will end well!

Alun

DeVore wrote: »

On a side question... what is used to get that "glazed" look? I presume there is some manner of laquer??

There are a multitude of different finishing techniques used on woodturnings, you could write whole books about the subject, as I'm sure somebody, somewhere has

From memory I probably used 'friction polish' which is a mixture of shellac flakes and some kind of carrier usually involving wax and/or oil. You apply it to the wood while 'stationary' and then hold a cloth against it while spinning and the generated heat hardens it.

One of the (other) nice things about yew is that you can get a really nice finish on it with little effort, as long as you don't overdo the sanding as the heat generated can cause tiny heat cracks in the surface.