Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Turning Green Wood Lamp
John Cahall
>I am going to turn a couple of lamp bases approx 18" tall by 10" diameter with a 6" base out of green Cherry and green Walnut. These will be end grain and I will be boring out the pith from the center of the log. How thick can I leave the walls? Do I need to rough turn it and then after it is dry finish turn it? Any help or other advice will be helpful and appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Re: Turning Green Wood Lamp
John Lucas
>John
I've turned a bunch of lamps but none out of greenwood. I think if you hollow it out through the pith you may be OK. As far as thickness I'm guessing but I think 1" would be OK. I've rough turned a lot of bowls this thick with few problems. Wood moves less when hollowed this way compared to side grain like bowls are often turned. I would certainly turn a test piece. I think if you are going to have a problem it will be near the neck or at the bottom as the wood gets close to the heart.
John Jordan turned a lot of pieces hollowed this way. His pieces are probably hollowed much thinner. I hollowed a big round ball this way the other day. I left the botom thick, maybe 5/8" and the sides 1/4". I needed the extra thickness in the bottom some joinery to be added later.
Re: Turning Green Wood Lamp
Brad Vietje
>I agree with John -- I'd remove most of the wood, leave the walls no more than 1" (probably less), and you could even wax the end grain at top and bottom. The Walnut will probably be OK, as it's a fairly stable wood; I think the Cherry is the tougher challange.
Safe spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT