se7enthdevil

my mum isn't always too please when the conservatory, dinning room table and the garden are taken up with firewood and bowls... what diameter is the walnut??? i think you said it was 4" thick, is it dry? what would you want for it?

ebay is a good resource for lathes that people bought but never used much. what's your budget??? here's a decent one, Record DML24X woodturning Lathe | eBay

i think a chop saw would be better. my dw708 will do most of what that will do and with a cleaner cut too...

seeing as there is a place called ploughmans coppice next door does any one think it could be one of them???

the collapsed tree would not have to look that old as the tree's your seeing would only be new ones. the original may have been around for 2000 years but these newish springer uppers might have only started to grow 100 years ago, hence the fresh faced look. two trees in to one sounds likely and i'm no expert on this but i did see something very similar in windsor great park and there was only a semicircle of trees the size you have in the picture left. i suggested it because they trees you have in the photo look like they are slightly set in a curved fashion. is that just me or do they sit like that in real life???

if soaking wet i leave them on racking in my workshop to dry until no surface moisture is evident on the surface as there is reduced air flow and the air is still quite moist so it's easier on the drying wood. once dry to the eye i then transplant them to the conservatory where they live under a dust sheet to keep some moisture because if they were unprotected from direct sunlight they will crack very quickly. i keep a hygrometer in the room to monitor the temperature but more importantly the moisture content of the air. if the air gets to dry for too long a period i can dowse the bowls with water if i wish to try and prevent cracking... once they are dry i stack them on the floor ready to be finish turned. i make sure i monitor the weight of each bow from the moment its turned so that i know what percentage of weight has gone from the bowl, i can use this as a future reference for drying wood of the same species. for example, i had lots of hornbeam which lost on average 30-35% of its weight, cherry laurel only lost 20-25% but my neighbours cedar tree lost 55% showing just how different each species can be. still the only way to be 100% sure is to keep weighing each bowl till no more weight is lost then you know its dry.

just a thought but could it be the case that these are the remnants of an ancient tree that was so old it grew in to a ring of trees (as they do) and this is the only section of that ring left??? one side does look like it had a few internal roots that once arced in to the center

just so you can see here is what i intend to make London Skittles

cant have the spalted stuff james as that probably wont be hard enough for the purpose i need it for. you keep it for the project you have in mind and i'll try and take what others might not want.

never done it myself so not sure what you do exactly. sounds like an awful lot of hassle for what its worth... i rough out my bowls to about 1" thickness then leave them to dry for six months. go to page 13 and 14 to see what i did. after about 200 i've only had a couple fail beyond repair and for any woods that are prone to splits you can coat the end grain for extra protection...

split them in to half logs and seal all endgrain this will reduce the amount of tension in the wood. 8-10" will take 5-10 years to fully dry. you can convert them in to smaller bits and it can take as little as a year.

looks like a good thinning out would be the best option rather than felling it...

they don't have to look that old to be ancient. my understanding is that the only part of the yew that is not poisonous is the red fleshy bit of the berry as birds eat them they pass the cone and so don't get poisoned. i may be biased but leave the tree, it was there first...

i live in maidenhead not maidstone. still a fair distance though. also i think boxwood is rated harder as on this website cornus mas has a janka hardness of 2820 but buxus sempervirens is 2940. dogwood Global Species : Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry) box Global Species : Buxus sempervirens (common box) the 3" robinia is of interest and i'll pay for a courier.

it's a possibility john the only problem is that jarrah (janka 1860) is actually softer than the blue gum (janka 2370) we have growing in this country. also they are usually full of splits as the sleeper were cut and just plonked in place only 6 months after. they were never treated with preservative chemicals (jarrah doesn't need it) hence why they are used in child friendly outdoor environments... they would be a good idea for turning in to bowl blanks if you can cut round the splits though.

holy tough stuff but it is too soft, only 1100 on the janka hardness scale where as things like holm oak, hornbeam and robinia are around the 1700 mark and eucalyptus is in the 2300 area.

muttley, your inbox is full. do you have any pictures mate. 20% would probably be ok, i'm interested in all of it as i've not turned any before as i could use the 2" for bowls.

please do alec. is it still sound???

hi all following on from my hardest timber thread i'm looking for a board or two of the southern blue gum, eucalyptus globulus for these cheeses i might be making. does any one have any eucalyptus at all??? ideally in dry 12" x 3 1/2" planks that are not split. i'll consider anything at this moment...

i do want hornbeam to try out as the pins they throw these things at are made from hornbeam. eucalyptus is a good idea (what this thread was intended for) but it may not be heavy enough??? if i can get any i'll be happy to give it a go. anyone got any eucalyptus planks???

i thought thorn had a good potential for splitting???

is it bone dry?

i may be revising my opinion about robinia. does anyone have bone dry 3"+ boards of 12" wide? short lengths are ok. hornbeam is also desired as thats what the pins are made from.

possible but if i found a bit big enough it would split badly. the cherry laurel i've been turning recently has been hard enough but there were too many bits splitting. anyone know of any 14" laurel stems?

i've considered greenheart and it may be something i could use but it does like to split and the club members don't want to get splinters. i already turned one from ekki but it started t crack and they didn't want it anymore. alec, pear may be a possibility but it must be dry first... my book says it's the same weight as beech so that may be a cheaper bet.