Author Topic: Apple logs  (Read 7634 times)

Offline malcy

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Apple logs
« on: March 19, 2013, 08:03:18 PM »
Attached is a photo of an apple log. I acquired 5 like this today, out of the blue. They were cut this morning, I have put them each into a polybag for the moment to stop them drying too fast. Suggestions please as to what to make and how to dry. I was thinking of cutting one along the length through the pith to make a couple of bowls. They are all about 11 inch diameter and 9 inches high. Thanks. Malcolm.

Offline Bryan Milham

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2013, 08:51:05 PM »
Woody is the Log expert!
Oh Lord, Lead me not into temptation…

...Oh who am I kidding, follow me, I know a shortcut!

arcos

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2013, 09:34:06 PM »
C'mon 'Woody The Log'....  ;)

What would YOU do?

woody

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2013, 09:37:22 PM »
All fruit wood is best part turned wet to about 1" even thickness all over make a note of its weight and store it in a plastic bag full of shavings in a cool shady place till the weight is stable then return to the lathe and finish if you want to try drying logs they are best split and over 4 ft long and seal the ends but there are no guarantees there is always the chance it may split then you have a design challenger good luck

arcos

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2013, 09:48:12 PM »
Thanks Woody...

I have a follow on question please.

Turning green to 1" thickness and then storing...

I have horrendous trouble remounting a piece that I have taken off the lathe and then decided to try and sort out a problem within 30 minutes of it coming off the lathe.

How on earth do you remount a piece that has been drying for weeks/months/years?

woody

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2013, 10:29:19 PM »
When you turn the bowl make a spigot on the bottom and on the inside when returning it to the lathe use the spigot on the inside first true up the outside and the spigot then turn it around and do the inside then reverse mount it on button jaws or make a disk to fit your chuck cover it with several layers of cotton cloth and staple the cloth on to the disk place the bowl over it bring up the tailstock and remove the outside spigot save the disk for next time it can also be used to make a bowl with an off set foot but that's another story LOL

arcos

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2013, 07:46:27 AM »
Thanks Woody!

Very helpful!

Offline malcy

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2013, 05:08:26 PM »
Thanks for those suggestions and comments. What do you suggest about the pith? Leave it after rough turning, or drill out and plug before drying or after? Thanks. Malcolm.

Offline BrianH

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2013, 11:48:46 AM »
If you are roughing out an end grain bowl the pithe will pass through the base. The rim, which needs to shrink the most, is likely to move rather than split during drying.
When planning side grain bowls cut away the pithe and its surroundings, which will pass either below the base or above the rim, completely.
These procedures will increase the chances of success but expect to lose at least some of your roughouts cos woodsprites sometimes get out of bed on the wall side..... The little boogrs ;)
Another option I sometimes employ is to make THIN walled pieces straight from the green and then allow the sprites to have their fun. Most times you will get a lovely rusticy looking piece after drying...But sometimes its rather more comical so its all the fun of the fair when playing with green timber, thank god its free ;).
All the best
Brian

ravenge

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2013, 02:25:20 PM »
Apple is a lovely wood to turn once it's dry, but it is well known for being a "little bit" difficult to get it to dry without problems, roughing out first will help, and also if the logs are big enough splitting them will lessen the problems, after doing so don't forget to seal the end grain, try to get rid of the pith (centre of log) when splitting/sawing and this will also help, then put in a shady place with good air flow and cover from rain, then cross your fingers :D

Good luck!!!

Mark Sanger

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2013, 05:58:20 PM »
Hi Malcy

I hope you don't mind I have taken the picture of your log and added some graphics to help me explain.

Great advice, I just want to add a few bits. ( If I am teaching you to suck eggs I apologise).

The log you have here is 'Reaction wood', this is wood that has grown under stress and results in the pith being off centre and the growth rings condensed to one side.

Reaction wood is of little use for the turning of end grain hollow forms or vases, yes you can rough it out but the resulting uneven shrinkage during seasoning means that a form has to be roughed much thicker and seasoned much slower than 'Normal' wood where the pith is central and the growth rings concentric. Often such a processed form will crack unless turned to a thin wall and allowed to move as a result I generally only use it for bowls as shown. And you will find that it is not worth the bother.

So the best option is if any to cut through the pith aligning the growth rings to be balanced out across the bowl either side of the pith.

'Reaction wood' means that its shrinkage rate is greater with it being far more prone to failure than normal wood due to the stresses under which it has grown. People often think that by balancing up the symmetry of growth rings that it will act like 'normal' wood, this is not the case.

This is not a major issue you just have to take a few things into account.

1/ Reaction wood will shrink and move more than the same species when processed from 'Normal wood' , so it has to be roughed out to be thicker in cross section, as indicated on the picture, 20% of dia for 'reaction wood', and 10%- 15% of dia for 'normal' wood ( depending upon the species). Fibres that have grown under a higher level of stress than normal require sympathetic seasoning, with it being slowed down to to a minimum, around twice as slow as normal. This allows for the fibres to shrink and relax slowly without failure.

Fruit wood by its nature is slow growing and therefore dense, with fibres that are less flexible than with a faster growing woods, such as sycamore and Maple. So fruit woods of all kinds have to be seasoned much slower or the fibres will fail quickly with the wood cracking.

I leave my fruit woods in plastic bags, reversing the bags every 3-4 days, whereas Sycamore I will do it every 1-2 days. I then keep it in a open bag again for twice as long as for sycamore, around 2 months.

Hope this helps.









« Last Edit: April 02, 2013, 06:59:52 PM by Mark Sanger »

Offline TWiG

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2013, 10:10:37 PM »
Further to Marks very good explanation of reaction wood .....  Reaction wood is the trees response to stress in the wood  eg from the tension and compression that occurs on lateral branches or on leaning trees or trees regularly exposed to prevailing winds , the tree responds to this stress by increasing growth where extra strength is required , interestingly this is on TENSION wood in Hardwood species , and COMPRESSION wood on conifers !   an old timber merchant I often used to work with used to just look at the trunk ( when felled ) and say ?!"%*ing useless the middle is not in the middle !! so it is no good for planking .   Terry...

ravenge

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2013, 12:39:02 AM »
Great explanation by Mr Sanger!!!
Don't know how long you have been turning, but sometimes when I was starting to learn I would mount the most nasty pieces of wood that people had given me (friends and family and such) and turn them knowing they would split/crack just for the practice (try different cuts and such) and just whittle the wood away, I'am a real cheap-skate and hate throwing it away without getting some use from it (the wood that is)
If you are not new to woodturning and are a competent turner then please accept my apologise (I'am new to this forum sorry!!!)

Offline woodndesign

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2013, 11:08:02 AM »
Great explanation by Mr Sanger!!!
Don't know how long you have been turning, but sometimes when I was starting to learn I would mount the most nasty pieces of wood that people had given me (friends and family and such) and turn them knowing they would split/crack just for the practice (try different cuts and such) and just whittle the wood away, I'am a real cheap-skate and hate throwing it away without getting some use from it (the wood that is)
If you are not new to woodturning and are a competent turner then please accept my apologise (I'am new to this forum sorry!!!)

Ravenge, Welcome to the forum and all comments are welcome, keeps things active ..  ;) ... so don't be sorry, look forward to reading more from you and seeing the results of you're whittling, that's a first in turning terms.

Mark & TWiG thank you for your enlightening explanations.

Cheers  David
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,"  By Dickens ''''

Mark Sanger

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Re: Apple logs
« Reply #14 on: April 04, 2013, 12:13:02 PM »
Great explanation by Mr Sanger!!!
Don't know how long you have been turning, but sometimes when I was starting to learn I would mount the most nasty pieces of wood that people had given me (friends and family and such) and turn them knowing they would split/crack just for the practice (try different cuts and such) and just whittle the wood away, I'am a real cheap-skate and hate throwing it away without getting some use from it (the wood that is)
If you are not new to woodturning and are a competent turner then please accept my apologise (I'am new to this forum sorry!!!)

Welcome to the forum

The more the merrier, don't be shy and I am looking forward to seeing your work.