Getting free wood

Re: Getting free wood

Dick Hines

>Free wood is always worth checking out. You might find something like Mike found. Check lower thread.

Go take a look at it...

Jay in TX (formerly Ohio)

>Only 30 miles...go take a look, there's bound to be usuable material there.

Re: Getting free wood

Bill Grumbine, Kutztown PA

>Dan, whatever you do, don't say check! Ha ha, a little wood harvester joke there. I would certainly investigate it. Free wood is almost always good wood, although up here in frosty PA, we have the option to burn what we don't turn to keep from freezing to death.

Excuse me for sounding off here, but it is like January here right now. The temp is up to about 20 degrees and the wind is howling along at 25-30 mph! The ground is covered with ice and on Monday it was sunny and 60!

But back to your wood. I am not real familiar with either species, but if the wood is solid and not cracked too badly, it is certainly worth taking. At the very least you can turn it all into shavings as you work on your tool technique.

Good luck with it.

Bill

Re: Getting free wood

Fog Tanner

>Go for it. The Oak will probably have some checks in it, but you can probably get some usable stock out of it. A lot will depend on the diameter of the logs. I was given some walnut logs that were around 16" long and 8-10" in diameter. They were checked on the ends, so I trimmed away an inch at a time until I either got solid wood or found the checks were very deep. The ones that were solid were turned into bowls, the others into boxes. So you should be able to get something out of the pieces. I like the grain in Oak and have several box blanks waiting to be finished now. No problem with turning it, just keep your tools sharp. I have turned Cedar Elm, but mostly endgrain and it would be worth getting too.

Re: Getting free wood

Mike Rubes, Apex, NC

>Hi Bill,

Sorry to hear about the weather. While not so nearly as dreary as PA, we too were teased with a nice taste of spring only to have it drop back into the 20's last night. Hey, in NC in March, that's COLD!!!

"Check" it out. Too funny :)

Hope all is well and soon to warm in PA,

Mike

Redbuds turned brown in Apex, NC

Re: Getting free wood

Dan Lanicek in TX

>Thank you all for the responses! You all summed up what I was thinking but it's nice to get confirmation from the more experienced. It's not that far away so it's worth chec... er... investigating.

At the very least I can have some practice wood and get a chance to turn some wood types I've never dealt with before. Then again, there may be some gems in there.

Re: Getting free wood

Ric Taylor

>In Houston we turn a lot of Cedar Elm. You can get a lot of really nice grains and colors. Go for it.

Re: Getting free wood

Rodney Randal

>Speaking of free wood...

My next door neighboor just cut down what I think is Indian Hawthorn bushes that are as large as small trees. There are some pieces that are about 7"-8" in diameter and the wood is orangish. Has anyone ever turned any of this?