When is wood ready to turn?

[Cookster]

Hi I'm a newbie and haven't even purchased a lathe yet but been reading your posts and doing a lot of research.

I live in rural Andalusia we have lots of olive wood here, some cherry and some almond but mainly olive, I have lots of olive wood in my garage for firewood and some has probably been outside for a year or so and in my garage all summer that's why it turns black apparently, by being in the sun.  My question is would this be OK for turning now? and what should I look out for in future as I would like a good supply, turning is not so popular here and I doubt that I could buy blanks anywhere.  The logs are 10" to 12" in dia so should be good for bowls.

Cheers

 

[bodrighywood]

As a more experienced turner speaking to a self confessed newbie can I point out the heresy in having olive wood in your firewood pile. Just kidding, and envious. Wood can be turned straight from the tree and unfortuately it is difficult to say what works with what wood as it varies so much. Some woods split badly, others hardly at all when green, don't know about olive as never seen it green. Slice the logs along the length for bowl blanks and if you can round them off roughly then experiment, leave some to dry out, turn lothers green and see how they behave.

Pete

[Cookster]

Thanks Pete yes I'm guessing olive would be quite expensive in England here its' 75 euro a tonne and in May a guy is going to let me have as much as I want for free, just have to collect it myself.

I'm going to start preparing some wood and I could have a word with some of the guys in the campo to ask if they have any older wood knocking around as they don't like the really old stuff for wood burners as they say it burns to quickly and in another area only 20 mins away they grow a lot of cherry's so could pick up some cherry wood hopefully.

[Tim Pettigrew]

and in another area only 20 mins away they grow a lot of cherry's so could pick up some cherry wood hopefully.

Cherry is a great turning wood.  I've rough turned it days after felling but you need to dry the rough turnings very slowly as it contracts and splits markedly as it seasons.

[Cookster]

Hi Tim

Yes I think wood splitting here will be a problem because once they cut it in March, April time it's mainly left outside for a year or so and by June it can hit 40 and July, Aug mid 40's or even 50 in Cordoba, I will be cutting some in March but will keep it indoors so should help.

Cookster

[bodrighywood]

No need for a kiln then LOL. If you get your logs and paint the ends with somethong like old paint, wax (that might melt though) and leave that can help inhibit splitting.

Pete

[Twisted Trees]

Leave your logs over length about 3.5 times the diameter, and seal the ends with something, paint, PVA, anything that will even out the drying. basically wood is ready to turn as soon as you don't get a shower when it spins, (seen some who get successful turnings even with the shower, but clean and oil your tools after!)

Some woods move about a lot more than others, a key factor on this is where on the tree it came from, most of the trunk is quite stable, but the branches coming off the trunk will have lots of compressed fibers on what was the load bearing point and will change a lot, so are more likely to split / distort if turned too early, though with cherry it can give a remarkable odd shaped bowl or vase if turned thin and evenly when quite wet though you will lose some, the distorted survivors are quite delightful.

In your circumstances with hot dry summers I would definitely get a bit scientific and invest the £12 or so on a cheap Wood Moisture Meter just to see how it progresses over time.

[Tim Cornwall]

Not sure if it was Olive wood, someone with more experience than me maybe able shed some light, but i read on a turning site that a certain wood  when turned wet corroded tools and Machinery with the sap a lot more than other woods , i am sure it was olive wood, but again someone may read this and put me right, as for as much olive wood you want, stock up as you will  be the envy of many on this forum, never turned almond wood i would love to know how this comes out

good luck
Tim

[fuzzyturns]

Tim, the wood you are referring to is green oak. The sap from green oak contains a lot of tannins (the same stuff that is used to preserve wine), which will cause all iron based metals to almost instantaneously form a black coating (and rust as hell as well). Therefore, after working with green oak, some extra time is required to clean your tools and machinery.

[Derek]

Tim, the wood you are referring to is green oak. The sap from green oak contains a lot of tannins (the same stuff that is used to preserve wine), which will cause all iron based metals to almost instantaneously form a black coating (and rust as hell as well). Therefore, after working with green oak, some extra time is required to clean your tools and machinery.

Yep and reading this I just cleaned down all of my lathe but just realised that I left the Oak in the chuck always miss a piece back out to do that luckily does not matter if I remove from the chuck

[Cookster]

Thanks guys for all your advice I think a moisture metre is a good idea will be interesting to see how much moisture there is in log's that have been out in the campo for a season and are ready for the wood burner, although I will get some fresh cut, seal it as you said and store it in my garage which is very hot through the summer months, when it's left outside the sun can probably cause a lot of splitting as it dry's out too quickly.

Thanks again

Cookster