The lure of turning green wood has been the cause of a great deal of frustration among novice and advanced wood turners. The potential rewards and possibilities are seemingly endless, and the appeal is so strong that it is tried and tried, again and again, with failure every time. The bowls always crack. This article is about how to turn green wood successfully.  This is one of the most important cuts in preparing green wood for turning, because the middle of the log is the location of the the pith/heart wood. It is the area of the log that is most likely to split, and therefore its removal helps prevent checking when the blank is going to be stored for an extended period of time. Learn why green wood turning is so important in this woodworking video.  There are some distinct advantages to turning green wood instead of dry wood, especially for bowls. Although working with green wood can make the cutting process easier, there are some downsides you need to know about. Watch to see if green wood turning is right for you. Related Videos: Drying Wood In A Microwave. Chemically Stabilizing Green Wood. You Might Also Enjoy The advantages of turning green wood are that it’s easier, less dust is created, its cooler on your tools (meaning less sharpening) and just plain fun. Let's hear it for turning green wood! When you receive your wood turning bowl blank, you can rough turn your item to speed the drying process. I use the 10% rule for wall thickness, but always leave it at least 3/4” thick when turning green wood. For example, when I am turning a 10 inch bowl, I will leave it Preparing Green Wood For Turning Rod one inch thick. A 20 inch bowl will be 2 inches thick. Mount the blank to your lathe between centers using a proper size spur drive i. In terms of drying the logs, just make sure they are well covered and have wind moving through them! It takes many years to fully air dry a 4" plank of wood or several expensive weeks in a kiln. Notes: None. Beautiful work, Preparing Green Wood For Turning Pdf I may have had this variety of tree that was illegally cut down in my yard by my neighbors, and, am wondering though they seem to not be popular, they seem to have value, that is, if one preparing green wood for turning values to cut a 20 or 30 inch tree down, it could make dozens of bowls, what do your products value at each? The fact that it has been "seasoned" for years will not prevent it shrinking when it dries a bit. Well, it depends what spices you use, and if you marinate it.

Thank you, Forest. Yes you will need to either air-dry or use a kiln to dry the lumber. Fabulous instruction for the novice like me. Thinking of a decking area, simple structure, fire pit. Can you recommend sites with ideas. Is this true? Some have said that in the Fallen winner you could spend up Preparing Green Wood For Turning 40 to 8 hours peeling one tree where if you wait till mid-spring you can peel the same Tree in 10 minutes.

What is the easiest way to peel in fall and winter and how long does it take per tree? Thanks for any help you can! What can I do to preserve it as long as possible? I live in Arviat, NU. In order for me to be as efficient as possible, I need to plan each stage carefully.

First, I want to harvest the logs. In the winter it gets very cold here, so is it better for me to go in spring or fall? Thanks in advance. Hi Abraham, thanks for your message.

I would recommend felling the trees just after the last snow clears and allowing them to dry out thoroughly over the summer. Should I cut to D log and store to dry or let the logs dry out before i cut.

Thanks for any information. Thanks, David. This advise has been extremely helpful. We are in Western NY. We are building a cabin on a hundred acres. Do you recommend we de bark them as they are being stacked? Also what should we use to treat the logs to preserve them? We have a beaver pond right next to where the cabin is being built. Good look with your build. If I build my log cabin with pine logs that have only dried for a few months what will most likely happen?

This cabin is only for somewhere to hangout not a home. Hi Doug, The reason we suggest leaving the logs to dry is that they will change shape and contract as they dry. If you build with them as they are, the cabin will settle and possibly shrink in height slightly. I have a red pine plantation I will be harvesting for my future log cabin.

The trees average inch diameter. I have read here and other sources to cut the trees in the winter for lower moisture content but I have also read to cut in the spring to make debarking easier.

So, if I decide to cut in the spring can I limit drying issues if I take necessary precautions by sealing the ends and stacking the logs to allow for good air circulation? I plan on leaving the logs for two years to dry. Best of luck with your build! Your email address will not be published. Name required. Email required, never shared. Enter Your Email:. Awesome tutorials.

Thanks for the information! Is it possible to build a log cabin with dead trees? Dead trees that are still standing?

Hi Rafael, Yes you can use, dead trees that are still standing. You can peel and treat the lumber with Borate after felling to maximise longevity of the timer. Hi Louis, Yes, you can use dead trees that are still standing. Good luck on your build and let us know how you get on.

Dry wood makes a distinctive sound -- a hollow crack -- when hit. So strike two pieces of the wood together, and listen for that sound. When you must burn green wood, do so outdoors where plenty of ventilation is available to counteract the smoke.

Before lighting the fire, split the wood into very small pieces, and mix those pieces with dry kindling. Place the mixture inside a suitably sized burn container or fire pit, stacking the small pieces so that air can flow around the entire pile that will be burned. The higher the pile's air intake is, the hotter the fire will burn and the faster the wood's water will dissipate. Stand clear of the wood as it burns, and expect to hear lots of popping and see its results, clear signs that the water is burning off.

Josie Myers has been a freelance writer and tutor since A mother of three, she was a pre-kindergarten teacher for seven years, is a Pennsylvania-certified tree tender and served as director of parks in her local municipality.

Home Guides Garden Soil Care. Both of my neighbors have them and refuse to trim or even water them. I fill a pump sprayer with a couple of ounces of cheap dishwashing liquid and water, then spray the bugs.

They perish almost instantly. It would have been most valuable to see a picture s of this species. If they are so common why are there no illustrations of an actual tree. I hate boxelder. These pictures make me think twice, but still hate it. The bugs are a nuisance, and the trees are also because of their desire for sun. I have 5 of those trees for every hardwood in all of my woods.

Nothing against anyone else. We have some boxelder bowls that were made from a tree on our farm. Some of them have the characteristic bug holes in them. My father is a logger and gets lumber cut all the time, he recently had some Box Elder cut and it is the most beautiful wood I have ever seen….

These Box Elder photos are so beautiful. Skip to content. Box Elder. More images Identification. Box elder turned, with jatoba and hard maple. Box elder sculpture. Box elder leaf. Box Elder foliage illustration. Box elder endgrain 10x.

Box elder endgrain 1x. Notes: None. Differences Between Hard and Soft Maple Find out exactly how each maple species stacks up—and how to tell most species of soft maple apart from hard maple. A few simple tips will help slow this shift.

Wood Filter Search, sort, and filter hundreds of woods from across the globe and break out of the ordinary! Notify of. I give permission to use my email address to send notifications about new comments and replies you can unsubscribe at any time. Inline Feedbacks. John Wesley-Knox. Reply to zeebon. Pluto Thor.

David Burns. Reply to David Burns. Mike Leslie. Reply to Eve. Reply to ejmeier. Well that makes a little more sense to me. Thanks for sharing. Larry Hine. WoodWorking Botanist. I assume Box Elder would be a poor choice for a timber frame building? Jay C. White Cloud. Reply to Matt. Janine Narayadu.

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