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What woo to turn

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Bvh56 
#1 ·
I'm totally new to turning. I'm wondering what are the best species of wood to turn. I don't have much money too spend so I was going to try and get wood from tree company's in the area that are cutting down tress. I know I'm my area there is a lot of Maples and Oaks. Does the wood have to be wet? Or can you turn wood that has been cut for some time in log form?
 
#3 ·
Wood often stays good for quite a while in log form. Look for large end checks that could run deep into the log and any cracks through the bark likely go down to the pith which will limit what you can do with it. Otherwise thats probably a great source. A lot of really nice stuff has been made from firewood. It's hard to turn it once they run it through the chipper though.
 
#4 ·
Wood often stays good for quite a while in log form.

Tying to understand that one.

Like sawdust said whatever you can get.
Drive down the neighborhood, and I'm sure you'll find something. To answer you question on what wood to use? My answer would be free wood.
 
#5 ·
you can turn all sorts of materials and wood. If you turn green wood you have to learn how to stop it from cracking which it will do. for some projects you will also have to learn how to keep it round since it will warp. You can find articles online and searching the various woodturning forums about turning green wood. You don't just put it on the lathe and turn it and your done. It's more complicated than that. At least if you plan to keep the piece.
Turning dry wood is fun. You can glue it up into larger blanks or do what we call segmented turning where you glue lots of small pieces into rings, stack them up and then turn that. There are learning curves for that also.
Feel free to ask questions. you'll have a lot.
 
#6 ·
Alright cool. Just didn't know if there is certain wood to stay away from? I thought a segmented bowl was made after the wood has been through the chipper :laughing:. I just bought a set of sorby lathe tools from rockler so it's time to turn. Thanks for the help. And I'm sure there will be more questions to come.
 
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