General Category > General Discussion

Charwood W870

<< < (3/5) > >>

Bill21:
Anything over 12” dia and 3-4” thick. I only know of one place that had blanks up to about 18 or 20 inches and they weren’t cheap.

Twisted Trees:
Problem is when a tree over 12" comes down you have to get in there, IF they go to a saw mill then they want the central wide boards to sell quick so aim at 50mm planks that can be put through a kiln quarter sawn you would be looking at a tree that is 3' or 4' diameter to get that size board. So yup quite rare and expensive. Which is why I make my own, though it takes a long time and more space than I really have. The thing is you also end up with blooming great big bowls that won't fit in modern houses that don't have room for a sideboard, which also take a lot of storage space until you can find someone with a space big enough to want to buy it from you.... but damn it is fun being knee deep in shavings! 

iantivenan:

--- Quote from: Nikos1977 on May 18, 2020, 12:43:40 AM ---Hi, I am new to the forum and relatively new to Woodturning. I want to buy a new lathe and wanted to know if anyone would recommend the Charwood W870?

--- End quote ---
I've had a CL4 for about 10yrs now, use it 3 or 4 days a week for about 6hrs a day, and never had a problem, if I had to replace it I would get another CL4.
Thanks Ian.

Tim Pettigrew:

--- Quote from: Bill21 on May 21, 2020, 10:41:06 PM ---Just out of interest but do you have a source of supply for large bowl blanks? Many places don’t sell what I would consider large blanks and when they do they are very expensive!

--- End quote ---
Yes, talk to your local tree surgeons! I have had some fabulous free wood as large as you want. You will need a chainsaw (I use an electric one with a 45cm guidebar) for initial processing but well worth it.
Tim

Twisted Trees:

--- Quote from: Tim Pettigrew on May 22, 2020, 07:57:36 AM ---
--- Quote from: Bill21 on May 21, 2020, 10:41:06 PM ---Just out of interest but do you have a source of supply for large bowl blanks? Many places don’t sell what I would consider large blanks and when they do they are very expensive!

--- End quote ---
Yes, talk to your local tree surgeons! I have had some fabulous free wood as large as you want. You will need a chainsaw (I use an electric one with a 45cm guidebar) for initial processing but well worth it.
Tim

--- End quote ---

Sorry Nikos1977, slight hijack going on... YES the CL4 will do what you want much better than the Charnwood, and as Ian said his has been working quite hard for 10 years, they are obviously a good candidate for second hand reliability as well.

Back to the Hijack, I also traded my petrol chainsaw for electric to stop annoying the neighbours, I use the Oregon one from Screwfix same 45cm guide bar as Ian's not quite as efficient as the petrol one, but close enough given that I can run it at least 3 times as long without being the scourge of the neighbourhood. The problem is once cut you have to season it and that takes space so be a bit selective in what you keep so 4 years later you are happy that you gave it that space. You can speed up the drying by rough cutting the bowl to about 1" thick.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page