Collecting Wood for Woodturning ….How to Use and Turn a Hollow Log

Cutting Up and Using a Hollow Log For Woodturning Projects

As a woodturner I’m always looking for new sources of wood for woodturning as well as new ways to turn pieces of wood or logs that one might think is better suited for the burn pile!

I hear chainsaws running in the neighborhood, I hear wood chippers chopping up branches and it drives me crazy if I can’t get there to see what type of wood I might be able to snag. I see trees that are being taken down or are down laying along side the road and I want to stop at each one ….looking for those perfect bowl blanks 🙂

I even watch TV and in the scenery there are trees that are crooked and gnarly and I think …..if only I knew where that was and could get there! I guess you could say I’m a little sick….. woodturning sick that is 🙂

My son put up a pole barn and had to take down 8 giant oak trees. Although we saved a lot, much of the branches were sent to the chipper and just about anyone who stopped by and wanted a trunk could have it. He wanted his yard nice and neat and I know he thinks I’m just crazy. If I can’t turn it, I burn it 🙂

Hollow Hickory Tree for the Mill or
Cut Up into Bowl Blanks

So, he brings down a 3 or 4 long trunks, 10 or 12 feet long. They were all solid on the small end but 2 of the bigger trees were hollow at the thick end. The wide end was close to 24″ wide, I could have gotten some awesome hickory bowl blanks but over half of the diameter of the tree was rotted through. Very disappointing to see most of the tree from center out was rotten.

Still…there was some good firewood in the rotted pieces, they would be easy enough to cut and split. So I just figured it would be fire wood. Also I could use it for my smoker, hickory makes excellent wood for smoking meat! Then a light bulb went off in my head and I had a brainstorm.

I had been Turning Spindle
Blanks into “Fishing Bats” & “Billy Clubs”

I was on a mission turning 3 to 6 inch branches into these bats along with vases, candle stick holders, tool handles and cups from what you could call spindle blanks which were for the most part branches.

Actually, I was currently making “fish bats” from 3 to 6 inch branches. I wanted to try and sell them to a couple of the local ‘bait and tackle’ shops in my area and thought I would put a few in my online store. So I had been working with my roughing gouge for the past week making long round blanks, which you could call spindle blanks for woodturning. I wasn’t sure what to call them, I guess they are a type of spindle blank. I just turn a piece until I get all the bark, worm holes and other defects out of the blank. Then I dry them …. drying long spindle blanks. This is when I decided to build a drying cage for spindle blanks.

How To Cut Hickory Spindle Blanks

I’ll see if I can post a picture of the end of one of these hickory tree logs. Basically it is hollow but there can be anywhere from 4 to 6 inches or more of good wood around the outside of the tree. This consists of the sapwood and heartwood in almost equal amounts.

Hollow Hickory Log for Woodturning Blanks — How to use a hollow log for making spindle blanks for woodturning

So…. if you were able to harvest the first 6 to 8″ of the outside of the tree you would have 2 colors, the light sapwood and the dark heartwood. Could make some interesting projects. However in this tree there really wasn’t enough to get a decent bowl blank out of for woodturning.

Cut Sections With The Grain Out of The 24″ Log

Hickory is very hard. If you try to turn it dry its like turning concrete. These trees were very wet getting ready for spring growth so they were filled with water and nutrients.

I thought why not take my 24″ log I just cut and slice it down the length into sections that I could make some wide spindle blanks? I’ve never run across anyone discussing or showing how you can dissect a tree like this for woodturning blanks. You could cut a 6″ x 6″ x 24″ spindle blank if you wanted to turn a vase. I cut a couple 4″x 4″x 24″ slices for my “billy clubs” and “fish bats” and they worked perfectly.

Cutting a hickory spindle blanks for easy woodturning, piece is from a center rotted tree

Since they were kind of square and had some rotted material on one side I took them to the band saw and knocked off the edges with a jig I made and cut the rotted material off. I also knocked off the corners of the long hickory spindle blank. Turning a square into a octagon shaped piece really made it easy to turn. Hickory is dense and even when wet it was pretty hard.

Since Hickory has a very light colored, almost white, sapwood, and the heartwood is dark brown there were some interesting pieces. I actually turned a couple of blanks for some new tools I wanted with big….long handles. I was going to use oak but now I think I will do a couple with these hickory spindle blanks.

Can Woodturners Use
Rotted Hollow Trees?

I made this post because I wanted to share a new source of wood for woodturning that I discovered. I can’t tell you how many times I walked away from trees that I thought were too rotted and would not yield any wood for wood turning.

I could probably get 2000 or more pen blanks with nice color and grain from these rotted trees…..and that doesn’t mean the blanks would be rotted. As I said, I normally would have cut up the rotted stuff and used it for fire wood.

So next time you run across a tree with a rotted center start to think how you might be able to harvest wood for projects that would go with the the grain instead of across the grain. You could make rolling pins, bowling balls, vases, cups and more cups, bats, light sabers, billy clubs, tire thumpers and fish bats ….you get the idea.

Now I look at rotted trees with a new perspective. It is actually easier to harvest on of these logs because you can cut 24″, maybe 36″ or more off of the dead tree. Then split that piece in half with the grain, maybe split those in half again with the grain and load them easily in your truck or car ….get them home and further process them on your bandsaw or finsih with the chainsaw.

Take What You Can Get

I do not do a lot of spindle turning or end grain turning.

I like to turn wood bowls.

That said, if you are like me you probably have ignored the tree trunk with a big hole going down the center. I hope now if you’ve read this you might look at that rotted tree trunk laying there as a gift 🙂 There is so much you can pull out of the first 4 to 6 inches of the outside of a tree that is really is worth your effort to harvest some of that and dry it.

Collecting Wood for Woodturning ….
How to Use and Turn a Hollow Log

Keep in mind, you might find a tree that has at least 12″ of good material around the outside but because of the way it is laying or looks you think the wood isn’t worth harvesting for your woodturning needs. You are wrong, I have 2 or 3 oak trees that are at least 36 inches in diameter and as they lay on the ground rotted and hollowed out in the center there is more than 12″ of solid wood that can be cut for either spindle blanks or bowl blanks that can be used for your woodturning addiction.

hickory woodturning blank from center rotted tree trunk

And ….. often times the lower part of the tree has a good amount of disfigurement, that is burls, crotches and other deviations that give those turning blanks character that you won’t find anywhere else.

I hope you have at least realized that there is another way to look at trees that can be used for our woodturing habit. A rotten tree may be a liability to a homeowner, it just might be a dead tree in a forest but to you, a wood turner, you can slice and dice your way to harvesting some awesome woodturning blanks 🙂

Root Balls As A Wood Source For Woodturning

Using Rootballs for
Woodturning Projects

If you have been turning wood for years or you are a newbie woodturner there is always one thing we all have in common…..that would be the need for wood or woodblanks to put on our woodturning lathes! You can’t be a woodturner if you don’t have wood!

So I always have my eye looking out for something that I can turn. I look for resources anywhere from wood floating down the river, laying on the side of the road, driving anywhere, to facebook marketplace and or craigslist. If you go to a landscapers work yard/office you’ll probably find a big pile of wood pieces, logs, branches and even root balls!

Wikipedia describes a Root Ball as:
A root ball is the main mass of roots at the base of a plant such as a shrub or tree. It is of particular significance in horticulture when plants are repotted or planted out in the ground. The quality and preparation of the root ball will determine how well the plant will survive this transplantation and then flourish in its new situation.

Where Do I Get Woodturning Blanks

I’ve never purchased a wood bowl blank or any other type of wood for a woodturning project. Mainly because there is so much wood around my area and I really do not have the funds to pay for a wood bowl blank! We are all at different places in our lives, if you work all the time and enjoy turning wood on your time off you probably do not want to hunt for woodturning blanks and you probably have the cash to buy wood bowl blanks but as I said, you do not have the time to go out with a chainsaw and harvest your own wood ….and that’s cool 🙂 …..I’m happy for you. I was at that point one time in my life, you just need to prioritize time and efforts.

Surprisingly, Ebay is a very good source for purchasing wood turning blanks at a great price. Click on Woodturning Bowl Blanks

Who Looks For Woodturning Blanks

Anyway I think most wooddturners are on some type of budget, most probably are on the broke end of the budget and need to consider different sources of free wood for woodturning. So woodturners are always looking for that golden goose when in reality you can find free wood from a variety of sources and you just need to have a chainsaw and desire to go out and cut up wood you find on free piles!

The Weather and Seasons Help Find
The Best Woodturning Blanks

Well, weather often times has something to do with where and how you find that honey pot of wood for your woodturning habit. Spring has sprung in North America and people are out in their gardens and yards trying to get things ready for their beautiful yards. That means trees are trimmed, trees are removed and some trees are even dug up.

You need to keep an eye out for those piles of tree and bush cut offs. Some counties have a special day to put them on the side of the road for pickkup …..find out when that is and cruise the area the night before looking for woodturing blank treasures.

Turning Rootballs on Your Lathe

I started writing this article because I ran into a pile of diamonds in the rough 🙂 Only a wood turner would consider a dirt filled clump of roots a diamond in the rough 🙂

We’ve been self-quarantining ourselves because of the Corona Virus but you still need to get out and pick up groceries and in this case …pet food. We made arrangements to have the food to be left outside the store and picked it up, felt good to get out and on the way home I spotted IT!!!

Pile of Root Balls found on the side of the road

There it was a huge pile of torn out bushes, mostly stumps and root balls. My wife navigated us into the side street and I jumped out to examine my new treasure. It was piled on the side of the road for local township pickup. Most was soft almost rotted wood, I was kind of disappointed.

Found …. 4 Huge Root Balls for Woodturning Blanks

Then I turned over a couple of pieces and there they were….about 4 big huge root balls. I could barely pick them up and get it into the back of the explorer. I was thrilled. Looked like some cedar, pine, and other coniferous low growning ornamental type plants. I could see colors in the roots and tops.

Large cedar root ball — A little digging and this cedar root ball came out of the pile

I know I’ll get at least 2 big bowls out of each root ball, or 3 or 4 vases out of each rootball.

Root balls are more difficult to cut up for mounting on your lathe than burls, there’s pieces sticking out all over, a little soft wood here and there. I’m goning to have to give a little thought into these pieces to get an idea of how I might get started.

Gonna Go “Furtado” On These Rootballs!

Al Furtado is the master of rootballs 🙂 I’ve watched him take what looked like a big mess of roots and tree trunks thinking there is no possible positive outcome out of this piece of garbage. But Al Furtado is the master, even if he starts the root ball as bowl and ends up with a vase …..it is always beautiful and stunning.

I found a big cedar root ball on side of the road

So…..I think I am going to try to go “Al Furtado” on you 🙂

I’ll try to do a video on how I dissect the rootball to get a piece or pieces for the lathe and video the project from start to end …..hope to get to it soon! So check back soon or sign up for notifications from me regarding woodturning!

Al Furtado turns a root ball into a spectacular piece of art

So …what’s the lesson?

1. Keep your eyes peeled while you are out and about. If you see a pile of wood that you might be able to turn, ask for permission to take it or if it’s obvious that its on the corner for township pickup …..you better grab it before someone else does 🙂

-make sure you have a vehicle you can transport roadside wood, explorer, suv, pickup
-might help if you carried a chainsaw around with you, all gassed up, filled with oil and ready to go
-battery powered chainsaws have come a long way, get one, keep it charged and you’ll be picking up more bowl blanks than you can imagine.

2. Pay attention to the time of year and weather. People do a lot of trimming in spring and fall, watch for their piles of trimmed trees and branches.

3. Did you ever see those guys trimming trees on the side of the road. Stop by with a case of water and ask them if you can have some of the bigger pieces…..I guarantee your vehicle will be filled with wood!

4. Introduce yourself to some of the local landscapers. Tell them what you are looking for, give them a card and ask if they can call you when they run into some decent wood for turning. Leave your card and some kind of gift ….like a couple of wood bowls…..they will call you, trust me.

5. City, county and township dumps always have trees, root balls and chopped logs just waiting for you to pick them up. Most cases you just drive up to the pile and take what you need.

Bottom line, you have to be a bit aggressive and get out of your comfort zone if you are not used to asking people for free stuff. In almost all cases, unless you live in the desert, you can keep yourself supplied with wood blanks for your woodturning habit 🙂

In my case I could see the root balls from the road as we drove by….part of the woodturning addiction I guess!

Turning a Root Ball

Turning a root ball is not for the newbie or faint hearted! It can be very dangerous and you need to be able to control your lathe speed and have good tools. If one of those turning root projections grabs you hand or arm it will break it!

You find a couple videos on different techniques for turning tree roots and root balls.

Guil The Bearded Woodworker turns a root ball bowl

Andy Phillip turns a beautiful wood root ball/resin vase

Can Woodturners Turn Cottonwood?

Small Cotton Wood Bowl or Cup

I see lots of questions on whether cottonwood or poplar can be turned. The standard answer for any wood is yes, it can be turned, how well it turns is a different story!

Cottonwood is not a very dense wood and has soft stringy fibers. When it is fresh cut or green, it holds a lot of water. So drying your logs and woodblanks might take some special care to avoid it drying too quickly causing cracks and checks.

As green cottonwood spins on the lathe it will spit water at you. It was a wet spring and summer this year so the wood held a lot of water, it did not matteral if you turned a spindle blank or a bowl blank, you were going to get wet.

Drying Cotton Wood for Processing

I cut my logs into 24″ logs. I read that these spring/summer logs hold a tremendous amount of water. Now, traditional drying preparation would involved painting/sealing of the log ends. Then laying them horizontally on the ground and stack them. Try to keep them in the sun but put something over the top of the log stack ….like a tarp, piece of metal roof or piece of plywood. They can now sit outside until you are ready to further process the cottonwood logs into woodturning blanks.

Dry the Log by Vertical Draining

cotton wood bowl blanks — Ebay is a Good Source of CottonWood Woodturning Blanks!

I learned a secret trick. Before you seal the ends and stack the wood, stand the logs on end for a day or so….as long as you can before you start to see any splitting or checking, gravity forces the water and nutrients to literally drain down the log into the ground. It will lose water weight quickly.

Once that water is drained it will want to start the cracking and checking process so you need to get out there and quickly seal the ends of those logs with Anchor Seal, Wax or some old paint (put it on thick) …Now they are ready to store outside or inside for further processing and drying.

Cottonwood requires sharp tools you might even consider trying carbide insert tools to hollowing and shaping. But check out this ebay listing. Lots of cottonwood blanks to chose from. Once dry, cottonwood is fairly light. It is not as dense as oak but it is stringy. Still, it makes for beautiful woodturning projects once you get to understand how to work the wood.

Did Some Drying Tests on
Smaller Pieces of Cottonwood

I grabbed some branches that were about 6 inches plus in diamter and cut them into 6 to 8″ pieces. I made myself about 12 pieces like that, I knew I was going to use 2 right away, the rest I slapped on some old paint sealer and set them aside.

End Grain Turning On Cottonwood Logs/Branches

I thought I would try some end grain turning. So I stripped the bark from the pieces and proceeded to turn the stock cottonwood to a round cylinder. Since these were rather short pieces I used a tenon instead of a recess. The tenon can be grabbed by the scroll chuck and not split the project apart, as might happen if you tried to use a recess or mortise.

First Attempt At MicroWave Drying

I was talking to some FB friends over on facebook.com/groups/woodturningbasics and they suggested drying the blank with a microwave. I had not tried that technique yet but I figured this would be a good first time.

I shaped the outsite of the vessel and gouged out the interior of the project. They say that the wall thickness should be 10% of the total diameter. So the project at this time is finished shaped on the outside and rough shaped on the inside.

Finishes…..What Should I use?

I wanted to finish the experior with a lacquer matte finish and the inside I was going to use a food safe epoxy finish that would allow the project to be used as a cup, soup bowl or maybe mortar and pestle.

I finished the ouside and sanded down to 1200 grit. Then I added some lines to the outside by using a thin wire while the project was rotating…..they look like dark lines.

Food Safe Cottonwood bowl, lacquer outside food safe epoxy inside. — cottonwood bowl, dried in mircrowave, lacquer on the outside and food safe expoxy on inside

Time For The Microwave Drying Test

I had some oak projects, hickory, and ash projects along with the cottonwood. The cottonwood took the longest to dry.

I put each project in the mircowave seperately on high heat for 60 to 90 seconds. I would let it cool between heatings and since it was late I might be able to give it 3 or 4 treatments. I’ll keep my comments to the Cottonwood. It took about 3 days of treatments to get it to the point where it would stop losing water. I weighed the pieces each day, when a piece stopped losing water it was done.

This is the scale I used Weighmax Stainless Steel 90lb scale.

Next I applied Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer to the outside of the piece and sanded down to 1200 grit. One more coat of deft sanding sealer. I like this sanding sealer because it literally dries in 5 or 10 minutes and if you apply it while the lathe is turning it will be dry in 60 seconds…..ready for another coat.

I applied a couple coats of Satin Lacquer finish on the exterior part of the cup/bowl. Lightely sanding in between. You should really let it set up for 6 to 8 hours before sanding again. After the fininal coat of lacquer let it dry 24 hours and buff it out with a soft cloth, either on the lathe or a dedicated buffing station. Be careful because, although it is hard to the touch it is still soft and a hard buffing will cause the finish to melt and get disfigured.

Finish Interior of Cottonwood Bowl/Cup

End grain turning on cottonwood bowl/cup — This is an endgrain turning on a piece of cottonwood to form a cup/bowl.

At this point the project should be at its final interior shape, sanded and ready for finish.

I chose to use a food safe Epoxy Finsh by Max Clear . It is clear, it is very hard and it is food safe. So I could turn this project into a mortar and pestle, or it could hold hot soup or hot coffee.

Final Thoughts On Using
Cottonwood for Wood Turning

Since both Poplar and Cottonwood are kissing cousins, both perform in a similar way for woodturning projects. It is a little stringy, you will need sharp tools and you will need to make your final cuts with traditional tools and know how to make them cut and not scrape. You can use scrapers to get the piece of wood in shape and then use your tradional turning tools to cut the fibers of this wood. Each woodturner develops his/her own technique for getting a project down, what tools work best with what wood. ….which machine is the best and even what finish is the best. Things we can only learn through time by experience or advice from fellow woodturners

However, if you can’t get clean cuts and you end up with some torn endgrain then it is time to start doing some sanding. Start off with 80 grit if you have to and get down to 500 or so. It was my experience that when sanding the wood when wet would really load up the sanding paper in seconds, so you must get the final sanding done when the wood is dry.

Apply Sanding Sealer on
Tough Stringy Wood

I usually use Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer. And I dilute it with 25% to 50% Lacquer Thinner. It can be applied while the project is rotating on the lathe with a paper towl. You can do a quick sand after the first coat and give it one more, then let it dry …5 minutes do a light sanding and apply your finish of choice. Applying sanding sealer to the wood when it is dry will help you to sand it down to as smooth a finish as possible. At this point you can apply the final coats of lacquer finish.

Cottonwood live edge bowl — Live edge bowl made from cottonwood log, beautiful colors and bark hung on tight

The inside of the project is a little trickier. It is a small project so you will not have a lot of room to work. I use a scotch pad wrapped in sandpaper and carefuflly sand the inside until it is ready to be finished.

I am now ready to apply the Food Safe Epoxy Finish . This is an art in and of itself. Apply a thin layer first and after it dries apply a thicker layer. I used a cheap rotisere motor to rotate the scroll chuck as the second coat is applied. Use a light spray of acetone to take out bubbles and a heat dryer will help to elimate the rest of the bubbless.

This last second is more art than skill. You’ll have to experiment in how to coat the inside or outside of a project with an epoxy finish. Ther are a lot of youtube videos on how different woodturnings set up their turning stations.

Should I Make This a Mortar and Pestle

By now you are tired of reading about my cottonwood bowl 🙂

But I had a thought, this would make a perfect “Mortar & Pestle” the epoxy finish is hard, super hard and I could easily make a “pestle” for grinding herbs and the like into the cup. Keep in mind, you should apply the expoxy in layers….not too thick, let it dry 24 hours and apply another coat. You should need very little sanding. If you were to use it as a motar and pestle, let it sit for 3 to 5 days before attempting any heavy use.

I’m still torn between the cottonwood soup bowl and/or cup.

I guess the lesson here is that you never know what you are going to turn. What starts out as a bowl ends up being a kitchen utensil 🙂 On top of that, you never know what the wood is going to give you. Who would have thought that cottonwood would make a good turning blank. It ends up being an excellent piece of wood to turn, whether straight end grain or a log sliced into a bowl blank.

Since I will have about 50 blanks of cottonwood to turn I am going to experiment with dyes and resins……I might save that until this winter.

Rough turrned LIve edge cottonwood bowl — Rough Turned a live edge cottownwood bowl from a log, bark stayed on well, its now drying waiting for foodsafe finish

However I wanted to show you a bowl I’m in the middle of, its from the same tree, the bark has stuck solidly, I turned the rough shape and then started to sand, it clogged up any sandpaper I had so I let it sit for a couple of days to dry. The I finished the outside with deft sanding sealer, sanded the outside pretty good and sprayed on some satin lacquer. The beauty behind satin lacquer is that after a couple of coats, let it dry for at least 24 hours and you can buff out a beautiful deep low sheen finish.

Since it was so wet when I turned this bowl, I decided to let the inside stay unfinished for a couple weeks in the open air. I checked it on my scale for water loss and on with my moisure meter. I did lose 3 oz already and is now slowing down.

I love the way the bark shows on this piece. I’ll do a more thorough video on how I did this piece once I get my cameras set up again. …..getting close 🙂

Can I Use Cottonwood For Woodturning

Short answer…..you betcha. Turning it green makes for easy shaping. The bark sticks very good if you want to go for live edge. Once the outside and inside is dry, sanding is easy and finishing is a breeze.

I’m always looking for something different to do with my bowls and other turnings. Cottonwood could lead itself to some very nice designs by burning it with a torch as it spins on the lathe. Or, you might want to experiment with some stain, lightly stain the wood to bring out the wood grain. YOu would be best to see how this works by staining a flat piece of cottonwood or poplar and start off with a small amount of stain and work your way up so you might see what it would look like.

I wish I had a bigger lathe.

I have some huge hunks of poplar and ash and oak that I would like to turn some 24 inch bowls or sinks. Until then I will work with what I have and hopefully find out ways to turn cottonwood into some trophies 🙂

Thanks for reading 🙂

Collecting Wood That Was Destined for The Fireplace and Using it For Making FREE WoodTurning Bowl Blanks

First Piece From A Portable
Bandsaw Yields [14] FREE 12″
Cherry Bowl Blanks

This article is kind of an add on to a previous post I did on collecting free bowl blanks by interacting with a variety of sawmilling people and businesses. If this post interests you please check out Free Source of Wood Blanks From Slabs.

We picked up some oak, hickory and cherry logs. A homeowner basically clear cut his yard to build a new home. I might mention that they were millennial’s from the city and they didn’t like trees. They wanted to move to the country and get out of the cement city. But they did not want trees for some reason. On one hand its sad to see some old growth forests taken down but on the other hand, it is either firewood, building timbers or free wood bowl blanks for me!

It was actually kind of tragic since whatever wasn’t to be used by us would get burned up in one big pile. And they did not want any trees in their yard….. so 200 year oak trees along with many other trees were clear cut so they could have a lawn!

Harvesting Logs for Woodturning
From New Construction Site!

I’m not a tree hugger, but I hate to see a forest, that is a 200+ year forest removed because some yuppie wants to build a house. I’m thankful that we were able to collect and use some of the wood for firewood and some of the trees were milled into lumber and some will be used for wood bowl blanks.

I have 2 interests when it comes to trees, logging and making things out of the wood you get from harvesting a tree ….my main excitement comes from the wood I harvest for turning bowls. I have been learning the best way to harvest this wood and the best way to dry it so I can share it with other wood turners.

What you see in this video is the first cut that comes off the log as it is on the bandsaw mill. The sawyer tries to cut a “cant” which is basically a piece of wood that is square or longitudinal. Once the cant is shaped he will cut it down to dimensional lumber or whatever you want. So the very first cut is the “slab” which is semi-circular on the bark side and flat on the cut side. You can usually get the “slab” for free or next to nothing and they make excellent bowl blanks!

Collecting Slab Cuts for Woodturning Bowl Blanks

Since I am kind of new at this I was interested in that first piece that is cut off of each side. Years ago I would go to the local sawmill and pick up these slab pieces for free and use them in my wood stove to heat my house.

Now I see another use for these “slabs” or first cuts. They are the perfect shape for bowl blanks!

If you can talk the “sawyer” into adding an inch or two to the first cut you will end up with some pretty awesome bowl blanks, you can do some pretty nice live edge work and even if they might not be as thick as you want they can easy make platters or shallow dishes. Of course if you hired him to cut a log then you can tell him how thick you want those pieces. Or better yet if you really start to get into making and collecting your own free wood bowl blanks you can get a small gasoline bandsaw mill for under $2000 and you’ll have enough bowl blanks for a lifetime. In fact, I plan on cutting up a few logs and harvesting these free bowl blanks and selling them at some point in time. There are lots of folks in my woodturning facebook group that are always looking for wood to turn …..so the market is there and I would be helping my fellow turners.

Up to Now We’ve Been Following The Bandsaw Around and Helping
Him For Some Free Bowl Blanks

Up to this point I have been talking about following the “sawyer” around and snagging the stuff nobody wants. It is a very good source of turning materials. Make sure you give the guy a couple of your nicest bowls 🙂

There is another option. And I’ve mentioned if briefly.

#1 Hire Out The Services of A
Local Sawyer and His Bandsaw Mill

You can find someone with a portable bandsaw mill that will come to your property and literally cut up a log into any size pieces you might want.

Let’s say a storm comes in and blows down a hickory tree. You can try to cut it up into wood-turning blanks with a chainsaw ….and that’s cool. You will end up with a lot of stock.

You can have a portable sawmill come in and slice up every trunk, branch or whatever is available into the thickness you need for your turning projects. At this point you can dry the pieces for yourself or you might even consider selling some. Or perhaps share the cost with another woodturner or woodturning club.

Lets say you have a 12′ log on the band-saw mill. You can have the sawyer cut a couple of slabs that might be bowl blanks ….remember to tell him to make them bigger than normal ….tell him why and he will began to understand what you want. That log will give you 4 slabs at least 12″ wide and 4 inches deep. Then you can cut the middle of the log into lumber that could be used for spindles ….so 2 or 3″ thick and then you could cut some bigger bowl blanks 6+ inches thick. You would be amazed at how many blanks you will end up with. Just remember to treat them properly for drying so you don’t get checks and cracks.

Make sure you tell him how you want to handle the pith. You do not want that pith in the middle of your thick blanks.

Then tell him what size you want the tree to be cut up into. For instance, lets say you want some big bowls so you tell him to cut 6″ or 8″ thick slices. Once you get your slices you will need to quickly cut them into blanks sizes ….say 14″ and seal the ends. Then you need to dry them, either in shavings or a dehumidifier of some sort or commercial drying company.

One big tree could get you all the wood you every wanted for your woodturning needs. Or it might even set you off on another adventure where you collect, process and treat bowls blanks for others to use.

My FREE Woodturning Bowl Blanks

Free Wood Bowl Blanks from portable bandsaw mill — Cherry “slab” cut that I cut into 14″ long blanks.

This slab yielded me about 12 free cherry bowl blanks that were about to be cut down to 12″, each had a unique shape.

The slab had been sitting outside for a year so it was getting dry. The bowls I made from that piece where further dried in the microwave …..60 second blasts, maybe 4 or 5 times a day.

It was beautiful wood. I did some with live edges and the bark stuck hard, some of the bowls/platters were traditional and only took about 4 times in the microwave …..which I’m guessing would have been 4 months in a bag of shavings.

This picture was from one of the small cherry bowl blanks. It was a 12″ blank I cut on my bandsaw and about 4 inches thick. One thing you don’t want to do when turning these small and thin platters/bowls is to use a recess to mount your cut. That will eliminate the amount of wood that can be gouged out of the bowl. You should use a tenon, to turn the bowl and obviously cut the tenon off at the end of the project.

cherry bowl from bandsaw mill slab — A bowl blank was taken from the first cut of a log called the “slab’ it was 14″ long and about 4” thick. The natural curvature of the outside of the first piece lent itself perfectly to the bowl shape.

My whole purpose of this post and video was to show you that there are many sources of wood that you can find and use to turn your creations. And, further processing can be expanded from buried in shavings to using a microwave to hurry the process so you can finish it and put it on the market.

This was on of my first microwave dries. I put it in the microwave about 6 times and varied between 60 and 90 seconds. If the bowl gets too hot to touch then you need to reduce the time. So far so good, I keep the microwave procedure going until my scale showed that weight loss had stopped. That means there was no more water to evaporate. I was please, no cracks or checks and I will getting a dedicated microwave for the shop! Thanks to Al Auth from the facebook group who encouraged me to give this procedure a try.

You will need a scale, I like this one …can actually weigh up to 90 pounds but I use it in the kitchen when I get the urge to whip up a gourmet dinner for my favorite wife 🙂

And its nice to have a moisture meter, this one works fine for me

I plan on doing a lot more on my woodturning blog, however, if you haven’t please check out my facebook woodturning group. https://facebook.com/groups/woodturningbasics you’ll find a great group of people there. Some are clueless as to how to start and what to use but then there are the guys that have been turning for 30 or 40 years and can answer any question you might want …..all very good people. I keep the facebook group clean. If you need to swear or make lude and crude jokes or just make fun of someone …..you will be deleted. I want this group to be a family affair. Some of my favorites are Guilherme Eduardo, Al Furtado and I see Capn’ Eddie just signed up…..I think Capn’ Eddie videos were some of the first I started to learn on….. great guy, great wood turner and he served our country, he lived enough life to throw some golden nuggets our way….wish he were my neighbor!

All 3 of those woodturners have excellent woodturning channels on youtube and if you get stuck, you might want to check them out:

Guil ……. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChVVt0WnzTJ81S1V7itCEqA/videos

Al………………………. https://www.youtube.com/user/Alfurtado1/videos

Capn’ Eddie………….. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgEbScotUCk64Mnw1jU9jFw/videos

I think this is a second channel Capn’ Eddie started, there is another one with a ton of videos on when he was feeling well and a little younger 🙂
You might want to visit his site to support him, he sells turning tools, equipment and has free tool plans and project plans ….you will learn a lot and he is someone who deserves the “pass it on” mentality http://eddiecastelin.com/

Free Source of Wood Bowl Blanks From “Slabs” Cut By Portable Sawmills

Sawmills As A Free Source of Woodturning and Bowl Blanks

I know there are a lot of people who turn wood and enjoy the hobby have a hard time finding wood.

That’s a little difficult for me to comprehend because we have so many trees that they fall on our houses, or in my case the garage/shop!

There are a lot of good posts on where and how people find different sources of wood. How they collect it and how they process it.

I have one source of wood you might find interesting. There are many sawmills around the country/world large and small. There are many portable sawmills that will come up to your home or property and mill a tree into pieces that you tell them to. You can use these for construction or in our case, get them milled into sizes that we would want for bowl blanks or whatever you happen to turn.

Here’s a source I thought you might be interested in. Portable bandsaw mills are located around the country. You just have to find them. Search for sawmill, portable sawmill or contact any of the manufacturers and ask them if they have any of their mills in your area.

A portable bandsaw mill is basically a trailer with a gasoline powered bandsaw on it. A log is loaded on the trailer and positioned. The saw head is then lowered so the bandsaw blade can make a cut down the length of the log. The sawmill operator is looking to make a flat surface across the top of the log, it is then rotated and another cut is taken. This first cut is usually called a “slab” and this slab will have varying thickness.

This first piece or “slab” is usually worthless to everyone except perhaps for firewood. For woodturners, particularly “bowl turners” this first piece could be gold. Depending on how it is cut you might end up with blanks that could be ‘platters’ up to ‘bowls’. If you were able to convince a sawyer to add an inch or two to the first cut you would end up with as many bowl blanks as you can use since it runs the length of the log.

We had a guy come out and cut up some oak, cherry and poplar logs we had. Nobody wanted the slabs, I asked him to add a couple inches to the first cut and he thought I was crazy. But I ended up with 2 slabs that were 12′ or so long of Cherry. I then cut the slabs into 14″ pieces so I ended up with about 10 or 11 bowl blanks per slab.

These ‘slabs’ as bowl blanks offer 2 types of bowls. You can turn live edge bowls or flip it around and you can cut some nice platters or bowls.

Take this one step further. One of my son’s purchased a bandsaw mill. It is a manual mill, hard work to load the load and then turn it while on the cutting rails. But….I can now cut that first piece any size I want!

Sawing wood is almost as addicting as turning wood. I suppose if I were younger and stronger I might want to a little more sawing 🙂 Keep in mind if you are interested in sawing wood, you can get a sawmill that is all hydraulic, no muscle required! But for the occaisional log here and there I can cut blanks for the next 10 years 🙂 Seriously, I started this article by talking about the first cut for bowl blanks because you can get those free from most sawyers. But if you had your own mill, or had someone come out and cut up a tree for you….. you can have the sawyer cut the log in slabs with the thickness that you desire.

I recently grabbed a cottonwood tree, actually about half the tree came down. I can now cut the slabs and then cut some middle pieces that are 6″ or more thick and then cut them in 12″ pieces that I will seal and stack for drying.

Slab Cut Into Bowl Blank Widths

The picture shows the Cherry “slab” that I cut into 13 to 14″ pieces. The slab sat outside for about a year and was 15% to 20% moisture level. I should have immediately sealed the ends of those pieces but I didn’t. I just don’t have the energy or strenght to do too much anymore …..very depressing but that’s my life. I eventually did seal the ends to keep them from checking and cracking. I think I had about 10 bowl blanks.

Turning the Cherry Bowl Blanks

When turning bowls its nice to have the option of turning live edge bowls. The problem with live edge bowls is that the bark doesn’t stick and gets ripped off. I found this piece of cherry had some decent bark adhesion and it was possible to turn some shallow live edge bowls.

If you try to turn live edge bowls and it almost never fails …..a piece of the bark will rip off and leave a space on the edge. You can sand and shape that edge or you can grab some of the bark and use some CA to glue the bark back on the edge of the bowl. Usually you need to use one of the 2″ sanding disks to shape and blend it into the existing bark …..but a little practice will make it look like it was never missing 🙂

Mounting The Slab Bowl
Blank on Your Lathe

Next would be to turn a bowl from the “slab” bowl blank by making the ‘flat’ side of the blank the top of the bowl. I usually will drill a 2-1/8″ hole with a 2-1/8 inch forstner bit for the jaws of my Super Nova 2 Chuck (click here https://amzn.to/2JUGzXq) and chuck up the flat face against the chuck with the jaws into the recess that I just drilled.

I will next shape the bottom of the bowl so that it looks like a bowl bottom. Normally the bark will fall off your bowl blank or you can pull it off easiy ….no so much with this piece. I read someplace how a turner would remove bark before putting it on the lathe, he used a small air powered chisel to pry and rip off the bark. So……first however I use a cheap harbor freight air powered chisel to take the bark off. The natural profile of the bottom is close to the profile of the bowl. So I will turn a tenon on the bottom of the bowl…..I like recesses but a tenon makes more sense since these ‘slabs’ are usually not too thick and a tenon helps to keep you from blowing through the bottom of the bowl.

I looked around for an air powered chisel and I think I found you a better deal, you get 4 or 5 chisels instead of one and it costs less than $20. You’ll find yourself using this tool a lot but for our specific purpose it and easily strip the bark off a short piece of long in no time.

You ask, “Why do I need to strip off the bark. First let me say, if you are doing a live edge bowl then you might not want to use this tool. But if you are going to turn a bowl that doesn’t have any bark inclusions on in when finished ….this is what you want to use.

Of course you can leave the bark on and use your tools to cut through the bark and get down into the good wood. Unfortunately this is going to give you one hell of a ride. Some bark is attached to your bowl blank like the mountains of the Grand Canyon and other bark might be attached like the gentle rolling hills of the great planes.

Assuming you want to get rid of the bark so you can turn some wood, the bark has to come off. Embedded in the bark are stones, sand, and metal. You never know when stripping the bark will test you patience because your tools will become useless afterwards. I mean, you’re gonna have to go and sharpen them again so they might be cutting good again.

I can’t remember who turned me on to a small air hammer with a chisel to strip the bark from a bowl blank, or log …..but it has been a real blessing to be able to strip the bark off in a couple of minutes rather than using my hammer and chisel to clean the bark off a project whether it be bowl blank or small log. For 20 bucks you just can’t beat it and it might be one of the best wood-tuning investments you make 🙂

As I turn the tenon I will shape the bottom of the bowl/platter. Even if it is wet/green I will shape the bottom of the bowl and then take it through the progression of sanding from 80 grit to at least 240 grit or higher. This 2″ drill powered sanding disk is one of my favorites https://amzn.to/2JSk9WN

I then flip the bowl around, attach it to the tenon and began to square off the front of the bowl. I usually will figure out how deep to take the bowl. Then I will attach a drill bit or forstner bit and drill a hole in the center to the maximum depth of the bowl. This keeps me from gouging out the bottom of the bowl and making a funnel 🙂

Since the “slab” usually isn’t too thick I usually forego keeping pressure on the bowl from the tail-stock. It makes for quick gouging and shaping of the inside of the bowl without fear of the bowl flying off the lathe. That is another reason I like using a tenon on these….. you can crank down on that tenon as hard as you can without damaging the tenon and feeling confident that the bowl will stay on your chuck.

So I finish he inside of the bowl with my Big Hurricane Scrapers and then sand once again through a progression usually starting at 80 or 100 to 240 grit.

After sanding I will either finish the project or dry it. I use a couple different drying methods. If I think the water content is low I will set it on a shelf to dry. If I think it is over 20% moisture (use a moisture meter https://amzn.to/30UNIg9 or https://amzn.to/32V7xFQ ) I will put it in a bag of shavings and let it dry. Or…..my new technique is to put it in the microwave at 60 to 90 seconds. I’m still experimenting with the microwave treatment but I think I like it. You can literally and actually dry a piece within a 24 hour or less period of time and then mount it back up on the lathe ….sand it and apply your desired finish.

Wow!

All I wanted to do was tell you about portable sawmills and “slabs”. Sorry, got a little carried away but I hope you might find some if not all the info helpful.

For those of you who are having a hard time finding wood in your local area ….check out some of the local sawmill operators. Contact these guys ….they really are cool and enjoy doing what they do. If you have a relationship with one, when that tree comes down you might be able to get him to come out on the cheap. You also might be able to come out a job he is milling up ….make sure you give him a couple of bowls and you will have a source of wood for your tuning for a long time 🙂

If you haven’t checked out our facebook group, please do. Lots of good people there, lots of cool projects and if you have a question ….I’m sure you can get it answered. And if you are a woodturing pro or expert …..we can use your advice and you can help newbies out https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodturningbasics

Buy Wood Turning Blanks Online, How To Dry Wood Bowl Blanks, How To Make Wood Bowl Blanks, Large Wood Turning Bowl Blanks, Live Edge Wood Bowl Blanks, Round Wood Bowl Blanks, Wood Bowl Blanks, Wood Bowl Blanks For Sale, Wood Bowl Blanks For Woodturning, Wood Turning Blanks Sale, Wood Turning Bowl Blanks, Wood Turning Tool Blanks, Woodturning Ring Blanks

Harvesting An Ash Tree For Woodturning Cutting Bowl Blanks From Logs

Harvesting A Blown Over
Ash Tree for Woodturning

About a 12″ dead Ash Tree blew over from some Northeast winds the other day. Thank God, because if it were the regular Southwest winds ….my neighbor’s Gazebo would have been tooth picks!

Ash is great for turning, finding dead trees that are not rotted is tough — North winds were strong and blew down about a 12″ ash tree, been dead for a while and I was hoping it would be dry.

Looking to Start Cutting Bowl Blanks From Logs!

Been a rough week or so for me, health wise….so hard to do anything physical when you feel like crap all the time. But, I finally gathered up some strength and went down to the river (where the tree fell) to cut a few pieces off the downed ash tree. I grabbed a wagon, my small Stihl 180 chainsaw and cut up a few pieces to see if the Ash Tree was in good enough shape to turn some woodturning bowl blanks. So I was ready to start cutting bowl blanks from logs.

But first I had to began Collecting and Preparing Wood for Woodturing. And unless you are made of money, most woodturners will want to start to learn the process of collecting local woodturning wood from their area. It doesn’t matter if its a new tree that has been sawn down or a tree that has been laying around for a while. Get a chainsaw and get yourself some free woodturning wood blanks!

Turned Bowl from ash tree, thought it was dead and dry but it was not! — Thought ash tree was dead and dry so turned a bowl with some pith, big mistake because it was still wet and I got some good cracks and checks!

Chainsaws for Cutting
Woodturning Blanks From Logs

Chainsaws are important when cutting bowl blanks from logs. Just a side note ….I have up to a 660 Stihl …..so all you chainsaw experts don’t laugh at my little saw 🙂 My son, Christopher, actually purchased the 660, I told him to get the 880 but he got the 660 Stihl, monster of a saw ….in fact, he rides dirt bikes and said the engine on the 660 and 880 were like dirt bike motors! I can pick up the 660, not sure I could use it 🙂 The thing is a monster! Really, really, really, sucks being sick and getting old 🙁 Sorry for that little chainsaw rant, but all you chainsaw geeks, millers and sawyers share my passion! and I though you might appreciate the story.

Looking For 12″ Trunk Size for 12″ Bowl Blanks

Anyway when thinking about cutting bowl blanks from logs, I was looking to max out the bowl size on my lathe…that would be 12″ I would need 12″ logs for bowl blanks….turns out I’ll probably get 10 or 15 bowls around 11″ and a whole bunch of small bowls, vases, cups …etc.

Identify an ash tree that is good enough for woodturning — Ash is good for turning, keep your eyes open for a solid tree, sometimes you need to make a couple of cuts

I would say this little Ash Tree was dead for about 3 or 4 years. To my surprise, all the damage on this tree was under the bark. So far, no worm holes in the tree. It’s still wet …although I’m guessing, probably 50% or more dry. The wood is strong. The grain is not punky! No soft spots anyplace on this beautiful tree 🙂 I expect to be able to use almost all of this Ash Tree for making woodturning bowl blanks and other woodturning blanks!

Save Ash Limbs for Future Woodturning Projects

Even punky and worm hole ridden ash makes for nice pieces, do not forget to take ash limbs down to a 1-1/2″ diameter for ash tool handles, billy clubs and vases! I will cut limbs between 24″ and 30″ long. When I feel like turning but really do not want to think about starting a big project I will put a couple of these on the lathe and just turn them to round. So I might end up with a stash of ash rounds that are 1 1/2″ wide to 6″ or more wide. I store them low, and let them dry slowly. If they are wet, I will paint the ends. I might even move them up to the 4 foot level so they dry a little faster.

How To Use Your Ash (Limb) Rounds

You would be surprised what these Ash round/long blanks can be used for. I first of all use them for custom tool handles. You can make custom ash wood mallets for woodworkers, ash billy clubs, ash fish clubs, ash vases …you really are limited to your imagination. If you have a nice small clear piece, make some really cool ash ornaments. These are great pieces to make ash snowmen from. If you know any kids or young baseball players you can make some really cool custom Ash baseball bats. When I played baseball ….almost all the bats were from ash trees.

Round Blanks Not Limited to Ash Trees

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Collecting limbs for woodturning to make smaller 1-1/2″ to 6″ round blanks is not limited to Ash Trees! You can collect limbs suitable for turning from just about any tree. Most woodturners will ignore and bypass the limbs when collecting wood from a downed tree, they go for the big pieces that will give them nice bowl blanks ….and I understand that. However you are leaving a lot of good turning material behind if you do not investigate and grab some of the larger branches that might be available for future woodturning projects.

For instance, there was a boxelder tree that came down not too far from me. The owner told me I could have the whole tree but someone snuck in and ripped me off, they grabbed some of the nicer pieces. It didn’t matter, they couldn’t lift the big trunk pieces so I got those ….but they thief left some nice branches behind, 2+ inches up to 6″ or so. So, I grabbed those and threw them off the the side. I tried to turn a vase out of one of them and to my surprise it had a nice red/purple streak going through it.

I had several Oaks go down over the last 2 years. Once again, the branches….most people burn/chip or throw away were a gold mine of handles and other spindle related turnings.

It does take a bit of effort to cut up the branches, load them and then store them but once you do….. you’ll be sitting pretty for a long time. You will never be looking for a 3×3 oak blank for a stair balaster 🙂

Or, the smaller branches can be easily cut into pen blanks or …..I think they are called “scales” for the wood handles on knives.

Learn to Spot Woodturning
Gold ….Trees For Turning!

To the uneducated eye, this would be a junk tree ….worthy of being cut up and burned on the fire pile …probably not even good enough for firewood. In fact, that’s probably what I would have done with it 4 or 5 years ago. I now look at trees with a different eye 🙂 So I see behind the shredding bark, broken branches laid a perfectly fine Ash tree. Lumber from the tree would be perfect for cutting bowl blanks from logs but could be used for just about anything. A small mill could get a whole bunch of paneling or some framing beams, more importantly ….I can get all kinds of wood for turning!

Pictures of My Ash Tree Harvest
For Woodturning Projects

In the pictures you see the wagon with my chainsaw and lengths of wood as I get ready to cut some bowl blanks from the Ash tree. I used my bandsaw to split 2 of the larger logs and cut some round bowl blanks from them. I actually mounted one on the lathe and started turning the bowl, formed the ouside of the bowl and sanded it. I put it on a shelf to dry a little.

The other pieces are for tool handles. Ash makes really good tool handles. I’ll use the rest for vases, billy clubs, fish clubs, cups and some boxes. Probably could do a lamp or two ….lots of good turning wood in that downed tree. I plan on cutting it up and putting it inside the shop or garage for use latter this year as it slowly dries and is kept out of the weather!

Hoping to Help Some New Woodturners Find and Process Local Trees For Their Woodturing!

I just thought that some of the new woodturners would like to see the thought process when trying to find and harvest some turning lumber. I see questions asked on how to harvest wood for woodturing, where to get wood for woodturing and what to do with it when you find some wood for woodturning. Bottom line, grab it! Take it home and then figure out how to process it.

Quick Look At Cutting A Log For Woodturing Bowl Blanks

Let’s say you want to turn bowls with a 12″ diameter. You’ll need logs that are at least 12″ in diameter, to be on the safe side your logs should be at least 14″ wide. Then you should cut the log 14″ long plus 3″ or so to allow for damaged ends or crooked cuts. You’ll then split the log in half, you’ll then have 2 log halfs to make your bowl blanks from. At this point you can use a bandsaw to cut a circular bowl blank or use your chainsaw to nip off the ends ….making it a somewhat chainsaw circular bowl blank. Hope that makes sense. If not, check out youtube for processing logs for woodturning.

Videos Show How to Cut Bowl Blanks From Logs

Here are a few videos that will give you an idea of how to process a log for creating some bowl blanks. Remember, everybody takes a different approach, its up to you to figure out what works best for you. Remember a chainsaw is a viscous tool, accidents happen in milliseconds so please be careful.

Notice in this first video that the chainsaw creates shavings, this indicates a nice sharp chainsaw blade ….that goes a long way to helping you make your bowl blanks

Stephen Ogle is one of my favorites and he shares how he processes and cuts logs for bowl blanks. Pay attention, he is a great teacher on all things woodturning!

Brian Havens is an excellent teacher of woodturning …all aspects! Some of his stuff is a little old, I wish he would add some new things but maybe he got burned out or just did a brain dump over a couple of years and doesn’t have much new material to share.

This video he was given an apple tree. He did not record the process of cutting up the apple tree into blanks but he brought all the pieces back to his shop and put them together and then explains why he did what he did ….excellent video for the woodturner who is looking to understand how to dissect a try to get the most out of it ….pay close attention and I guarantee you will learn much 🙂

#CuttingBowlBlanksFromLogs
#PreparingBowlBlanksFromLogs
#HowToCutABowlBlank
#HowToCutABowlBlankFromALog

Cutting Bowl Blanks From A Log, Cutting Bowl Blanks From Logs, How To Cut Bowl Blanks From Logs

Woodturner’s ….What Is Your Favorite Wood To Turn

What Is Your Favorite
Wood To Turn

A good question came up on our facebook group, a member wondered what the best wood to turn was or what is your favorite wood for woodturning.

I think once you start turning wood you really do not pay much attention to the wood that you turn. Also, we need to consider budget. Some woodturners have big budgets, money isn’t an option so they can buy from anyone who sells blanks …that might be local woodworking stores, online suppliers from amazon, ebay, craigslist and so on, along with picking up wood from the side of the road or something that has fallen in your yard. Other woodturners without a budget, in other words, those of us that really do not have 50 bucks to spend on a blank will do our due dilligence and look for local sources of free wood for woodturning…..and for us, that us the best wood to turn!

If you want to pay for a bowl blank or any other type of turning blank then I think ebay, amazon, craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are some of the best places to get good deals. Woodturning blanks that cost money can be found at your local woodworking store.

If you check out Facebook Groups you’ll find a whole bunch of groups that sell different types of wood for woodturners, burls, blanks of many different species and sizes.

From this point on, I’m thinking that the best wood I like to turn is free wood. So, let me share some free woodturning wood sources.

Free Wood For Woodturning

You’ll want to check out Tree Services, most local governments…cities, townships etc have a local dump site for free wood and chips, contractors often have land cleared for new construction, I’ve seen so much cut up and left on the side of the road this year.

Check with your local start parks or conservation areas. They are always dealing with tree maintenance and clearing. They will burn the wood simply because they do not know that woodturners like yourself will gladly take it off their hands. You just need to make an introduction and tell them what you do with the wood, it doesn’t hurt to show them a bowl or 2.

Free Bowl with Your Business Cards

Got a chainsaw dealer in your area, make a small bowl …fill it with your business cards and ask them to hand out to those buying chainsaws ….never know who might pick one up. Ask them to display the cards next to the cash register ….if all goes well, you could be buying yourself a nice new chainsaw, gas or battery!

Contact Local Sawmilling
Businesses For Free Bowl Blanks

There are more and more guys with milling businesses, portable bandsaws that mill logs. Look them up, drop and email …better yet ..give them a call. They could be your best source of free wood. You might even get them to make you a 16′ slab that is 6″ or more thick in which you can cut blanks from!

Free Wood Through The Laws of The Universe

There are a lot of firewood providers in the upper midwest. If you can make contact with some of them, let them know what you are looking for they will set aside a few logs if you ask nicely ….again, use the bribery method….give them a turned project every now and then ….you should get everything for free. Don’t be surprised if they give you a call one day and ask if you want a truck full of willow, poplar, hickory or oak ….whatever grows in your area. My fellow woodturner’s, its just common sense ….back in the day people used to treat each other as they wanted to be treated. Treat people nicely and they will repay, give of yourself freely and you will get in return ….it’s the law of the universe!

Tree Farms and Nursery’s
A Source of Good Woodturning Wood

Nursery’s and tree farms are always trimming or removing dead trees. These are really good people to leave a bowl or other turning project with. If you are looking for specific species, they will know what is available or what will soon be coming….treat them nicely. Keep in mind, people contact nurseries all the time to heal their ailing trees, these people know who will have dead trees so they are an excellent resource if you extend the effort to develop a good relationship with them.

Use Your Website Equity To
Trade for Free Woodturning Wood!

I haven’t mentioned it before before but you should have some type of website. If you don’t have a website, please contact me sparat@gmail.com and I can help you get a quick site set up. If you have a website you can put a website link that points to the tree farm or nursery that you are getting the wood from. All websites like relevant links, people will pay anywhere from $100 to $1000 a year for a good backlink that is relevant. This backlink method will work for anyone who has a business and works for wood, and has wood that you might be able to get for free to turn.

Storms Provide Free
Wood for Woodturning

Every bad storm leaves trees or limbs down. Just listen for the chainsaws or take a ride through your area after the storm. You will find more than enough free wood for woodturning if you ask and maybe even carry your chainsaw with you!

Facebook, Craigslist, Ebay for Free or Cheap Wood for Woodturning

As mentioned before, check Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, type in “free wood” or “firewood” “dead tree” “free tree”

Construction Sites Provide Free Wood for Laminated Woodturning Projects

Construction Sites Provide Free Wood for Laminated Woodturning Projects. Stop by a construction site or housing development. There is almost always a pile of framing lumber cut offs of various size on the ground, in the house that’s being framed or in a dumpster. Of course you need to ask permission to salvage the pieces but you can take these and glue them up for some really interesting turning. When I was framing houses we would throw away the cut off ends of 2×4’s, 2×6, 2×8’s, 2×10’s or 2×12’s laminated beams….these make beautiful bowls ….if you are lucky you might find one.

Give A Bowl Away to Get Free Wood for Woodturning Approach

There are not a whole lot of manufactured house factories around, there are more truss and beam factories in all states. If you might be close enough to one of these facilities, take a bowl with you to give away and ask if they have any scraps you can take ….I guarantee you will find a years worth of wood to turn.

In almost all cases if you make a small bowl, 6″ or so, put some business cards in it and give it to the person or business that deals with wood in one form or another …you never know what will happen.

Buy Your Favorite Woodturning Blank

Of course you can always buy blanks. Almost all woodworking stores have blanks. Facebook has some groups specifically dealing with blanks for woodturners and there is ebay, do a search for woodturning, woodturning blanks, etc. …..but you will pay for these. The longer our Facebook Group is up and running the more I find woodturners that buy wood to turn. So for some, this is the most viable option.

Free Wood for Woodturners

As a woodturner there are many woods I would like to turn, unfortunately, I am a poor woodturner so I am always looking for free wood. I have a chainsaw and trailer so I can grab wood on the side of the road, in someones yard, at a municipal wood dump or anywhere free wood might be offered.

I think I must be a little ADD because I find a wood I like to turn and I’ll do that until I get tired of it, then I look for something else! Lets not forget that if you like to turn on species of wood, lets say Oak ….it will differ from species to species, tree to tree. I found some boxelder, it was awesome. Then I found another boxelder tree, totally different but just as beautiful. You might find you like to turn cherry, then you figure out there are more than 10 differnet types of cherry in your area …on top of that, maybe green cherry is what you like until you try dry cherry.

Is There Really Such a Thing as Favorite
Wood For Woodturners

If you have been turning for 30 or 50 years then you probably have a favorite wood to turn. If you have been turning wood less than that then you probably have a favorite wood of the month type of thing. I know that happens to me. I might turn some poplar and think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but I turn poplar from another tree and it doesn’t impress me as much. So, the best wood for woodturning or favorite wood for woodturning is purely speculative and depends on the log, the day on how you feel that day!

Favorite Wood For Woodturners Conclusion

The question was, “What is your favorite wood to turn and where do you get it?” I hope you find some of my sources helpful and I truly do hope you find your favorite wood….which means you have turned a whole lot of wood!

How to Indentify an Ash Tree As A Source Of Wood for Woodturning

How to Indentify an Ash Tree

I’ve been turning a lot of ash …not sure if its white ash, black ash or green ash ….most if is dead ash! It’s really ashamed because I had 20 or 30 ash trees on my property …some probably 100 years old or more. Now they are all dead and in varying degrees of decomposition.

I told someone I had was turning an ash bowl ….they asked how I knew it was Ash ….it caused me to think because I just always knew it was Ash. So, I did some googling and checked out youtube. I found a really nice video on how to tell what type of Ash tree you might have.

Most Local Ash Trees Dead

As I said, I can identify some of my local trees but I have a hard time identifying ash trees. Most of them are dead so the leaves are not around to identify.

I found a great youtube video on how to identify Green Ash, White Ash and Black Ash Trees using leaves, bark, and shape. Very good video.

Ash Tree was Mis-Identified

To my surprise I wrongly identified a local tree. A neighbor had a tree go down …maybe about 24 inches at the trunk. I thought it was Beech or maybe Boxelder. My neighbor said it was Ash! The root system failed, the tree just fell down and had all its leaves ….I thought to myself, “no way this is Ash” ….after I did a little more research I am quite certain it is White Ash

ash tree leaf — Identify an Ash tree by it’s leaves.

Making wood bowls from ash trees A couple of Ash Tree Wood bowls turned from a piece of white ash tree

I always try to collect a leaf sample when I pick up wood for turning. However, if you get a tree limb or stump from a dump …you’re probably out of luck when it comes to finding any leaves.

I like turning ash, its very, very hard …can be used to make tool handles, mallets and the like. I didn’t know how useful it was or how ard it was until I started woodturning. It makes great bowls and vases. Ash finishes nicely, and even the distressed ash (worm holes and defects) look great.

woodturning shavings

It would be to your benefit to get some Ash and try to turn it. It will further help you if you can identify Ash from a log section when you only see the bark. Keep in mind, there is White, Green and Black Ash …each has a different bark. People marvel at the projects I turn in Ash and I prefer it over Oak.

If you turn an old piece of Ash that is dried ….it will be pretty tough to turn. Yet the results will be pleasing. If you are lucky enough to get a green piece of Ash …it cuts like butter, and is easy on your woodturning tools.

Here’s the video on how to identify ash trees: