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Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

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Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#1

Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

mikeee12345

Grabbed a bowl blank from my outdoor inventory to rough out this morning and was sorting through the different blanks I had processed earlier in the year. With all of the exposed grain covered with a sealer and each one identified with a species written on the flat end of the blank I chose an apple wood blank.

Mounted on a flat face plate I began roughing the outside so I can machine a recess for my bowl chuck,

I noticed the wood chips and dust were sticking to my arms and shirt and bluejeans.

Turned the lathe off and noticed the wood grain was pine and not apple.

Someone has apparently been switching my good quality Apple bowl blanks with common Pine bowl blanks.

Filling out the police report right now. :-)

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#2

Couldn't you smell the difference

Dick Coers

You should have known the instant the chisel touched the wood.

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#3

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

David Walser

I'm sure the perp is guilty of not just swapping out apple for pine, he's also guilty of forgery. I suggest you have the handwriting noting the type of wood on each blank compared with handwriting samples taken from your home. I'll bet you'll find the same person has been writing checks drawn on your account!

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#4

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

mikeee12345

You know I was asking myself the same thing while turning the blank.

Usually Pine has a very strong odor which is readily identified, this particular

wood had some blue staining from the Pine beetle and the smell was a little

different from most Pine woods I have turned. I make a lot of wood forms

and molds out of Pine lumber and the smell was nowhere close.

I have been adding to my wood inventory each year and processing multiple truck loads

of wood each year, so I can have a good inventory of dry wood blanks when I retire.

I usually put several coats of sealer on the end grains which requires remarking the wood

blanks after each coat is applied. I try to use different colors of latex paint as a sealer so

I can readily identify the wood blanks by color and sort them.

Twelve hours of unloading, transporting, cutting, sealing a load of wood, you get a little

tired and lose focus towards the end of the day.

Old Timers Disease kicking in! :-)

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#5

Brad Vietje

Re: Couldn't you feel the weight difference?

Brad Vietje

Apple is WAY heavier than Pine. Should have been a dead giveaway. I turned them both yesterday, BTW, and yup -- Pine shavings do seem to stick - static electricity?

Safe Spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#6

Brad Vietje

12 Hours?  Time for beer, not turning!


Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#7

Re: 12 Hours?  Time for beer, not turning!

mikeee12345

I have have a big truck. :-)

Processing an entire load of wood in one day is a lot of work!

I did get some wood turned today, took a day of vacation.

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#8

Apple, pine?

John K Jordan

I've wondered what it was like to turn pineapple.

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#9

John, does the word "refreshing" come........

JamieDonaldson

...to mind? Then add sticky, messy,......... :D

Re: Apple Wood turns into Pine Wood

#10

Re: Couldn't you feel the weight difference?

mikeee12345

If you are turning freshly cut wood the weight would be a give away, but I have a collection

of wood that has been added to for a number of years. Most bowl turners will process wood

as quickly as they can to avoid checking and cracks. I turn a large number of solid billet tools

used for a specialty trade which requires laminated billets or solid billets for the items. Depending

on how old the billets are the weight can vary a great deal between a dry billet & wet billet. I have to

seal the exposed wood grain so it dries slowly and does not crack or check. So trying to identify a wood

species by the outer bark can be a challenge at times.