wood choice for beginner

anything free

tdaniel

>stay away from the oaks as they are a bit difficult for a beginner. Maple and poplar are good. It really depends on what is available. Some of the softer woods will make you learn to sharpen your tools better. Take what you can get, you'll learn something from any of it.

TD

Re: anything free

Carole in VA

>Ditto the oak! I just turned a spindle for a table ( as practice before I put gouge to good walnut)from dry, dry white oak. After that stuff, anything I put a gouge to is like butter! I suppose it might be a little easier green.

Re: wood choice for beginner

JL

>Any reasonable close grain wood. Poplar is inexpensive, but a bit fuzzy to work. How about soft maple? How about hard maple?

Re: anything free

Brad Vietje

>Depending on your location, there might be a lot of free green wood along electric power lines. Around here, there's a lot of trimming, often in spring, to clear power lines of hazards and winter storm damage.

A dense, fine-grained wood like Sugar Maple will cut easily, allowing you to concentrate on technique and form. Birch is also a great wood for this. Poplar, as suggested, along with other soft woods like Boxelder, Cottonwood, and Willow will work well if real fresh, but as they dry they can get a little stringy. Walnut can be nice for hollow forms because it's relatively stable, and your're pretty likely to get something real pretty when you're finished.

I'd avoid woods that move a lot for now, like Apple and Beech, as you'll have a lot more difficulty getting them to dry without checking.

Just beginning with hollow forms, you're not likely to be as quick and efficient as you will be in a few months -- remember that you can spray green wood with water to keep it damp if you need a little more time, and you can rub mineral oil into the surface to keep it from drying out while you're working on it. Be sure to bag it in plastic if stopping for a break.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Thetford, VT