se7enthdevil

eddy-t, plane can be a tough interlocked wood but its not heavy enough. bellringer, that beech may be useful, i was going to ask if anyone had any particularly hard bits kicking about. big j, you got any of that wheatly elm in 3"+ all heartwood? muttley, the holm oak would be something i'd like to try but i know it's a bugger for splitting hence why i didn't suggest it, worth a try though...

a heavy elm would be nice, had some wheatly elm from big j and that was hard as rock and fairly heavy. robinia is hard but it's not heavy enough for my needs and would also split as time goes by. i'm making one of these cheese things for a skittles club which currently use lignum vitae. i know i wont get any of that but i'm trying to identify the best substitute as they want to put together a set of pins and cheeses that would be used by paying customers (that will batter the things) rather than the club members that will look after the equipment. i'm thinking either hornbeam or beech but wondered if anyone knew of a tougher timber that is as heavy as possible that's relatively easy to get hold of.

i know i'm a know it all on this subject but i know only about the more commercial timbers. i wish to know if anyone can suggest an unusual timber that could be very hard, heavy and tough once dry. have we a better suggestion than hornbeam. i'd need sections of plank 12x3" so can't be too small a tree. any help appreciated.

just thought i'd show everyone the potential of some of the stuff that generally gets thrown on the fire or chipped. these are all laurel bowls, prunus laurocerasus. these were all turned at differing points in the rot process the freshest being the two nests of three that were quite wet when cut. all the little ones were about 6 months dry i believe and had been kept off the ground but had some discolouration in them. the oldest bit in case you hadn't guessed its the multicoloured orange and black bowl that i think must have been in contact with the ground and was much drier than the other bits. you wouldn't think they were the same wood, would you... .

by the sound of it you are using bits with the pith in, am i right? as it's only last years wood it will be no where near dry enough as even small branches under 3" would need 2-3 years to be 100% dry. get wood that is split from small logs if want to continue turning mushrooms and tea light holders. if you wish to progress to bowls then you may need to rough turn them or buy kiln dried bits from a shop or someone on here. ebay would be a good place to find some cheap boards to cut in to blanks for turning. if you wish to rough out the bits to dry them further then take a look at what i've been doing for the past 4 months. http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/woodcraft-forum/65439-bowl-turning-thread.html if you look at page nine you can see that i've turned bowls that have an even thickness at around 3/4"-1" thick. they then warp and shrink a little but have less stress in the wood so have less chance of splitting. keep an eye on the weight of them so you can see how much they loose. 25% is an average but some loose more some less.

be interested in that plus the stem. not turned hazel before as it gets tossed on the fire too quickly for us turners to get a bit. i'd happily give £20

that's a biggie for MP, can you show the result to stihlben, he had a thread for a puzzle that was near 3' wide but didn't have the time to slab it or something. show him some pics of this a say its worth it.

is that the bit of beech you showed? it almost looks like a liquidambar with the contrast between heart and sap.

yes they'll come back to life easily enough and on the plus side, try breaking one... they're pretty much indestructible... buying old is usually better when you're talking about old tools like these and even though mine isn't that old i was happier buying that than some new crap that will probably fall apart in 5 mins. it's usually cheaper too. wd40 and a little wire wool + elbow grease = one working vice:thumbup:

it's not just the knots mate it's the whole tree. millions of years ago they were washed down to the sea and got seriously flattened et'voila jet...

heres another one wanting tons of dosh for not much. walnut timber | eBay most of it's rotten.

£3 is a fair price id say...

i'm currently finding it a nightmare to turn a bit i got from luckyleaf. it goes from very hard to soft in comparison. the knots blunt your tools too.

just for putting it through a planer wont add that much on it... i know of lanarkshire hardwoods and wonder how they can be in business. if a board is downright stunning then you can charge an awful lot for it but it must be AAAAA grade to command those sorts of prices.

sound advice by muttley there. there should be no major problems if stacked and stored properly. pine should be milled more often in my opinion as we get some good quality logs over here and they usually go for firewood rather than joinery which they would be perfect for.

you see a few numpties on ebay trying their luck not having the faintest idea that a bunch of 8" stems is the same as firewood prices.

probably because you are charging too much. this one works out at £150ft3 Lot 4005 Cedar Ripple wood/timber/plank/board 213cm x 19.3cm x 2.1cm | eBay you've listed some nice timber rob but i'd never buy wood at the prices you are asking.

i think the 60ft is adding all the branches and twigs up...

correction, i have a 53e. mine is still yet to be fitted in to a bench (i'll do it one day) but these were what we had at my old joinery place. it still has the threaded studs for putting a pair of jaws in it as most have lost them and people just use large screws instead. as you can see in the last photo i have modified the back plate and cut away the corners so that the bolt tangs can pass it. this allows a little more opening of the jaws and mine now get 14 1/2" inside but this is without any jaws so i expect 13 1/2" when they are fitted. this is still slightly bigger than the 11 1/2" that most vices allow. the 53e may be the biggest opening vice but i'm not sure.

you'll want a record vice to do woodwork. i've a 52 1/2 (i think) which does the job. ones like this should suffice. Job Lot Of Record Vice No 52E 53E 52 1/2 | eBay

supposed to be good for joinery purposes, not turning. the wood is very light and should be excellent for model makers interior doors or any use where hemlock or fir would be considered.

an ebay chancer... wood | eBay you'd need a bloody big wheel barrow to get your moneys worth out of this one.

at that diameter the base should be planked as it should yield some good quality timber.

just because the tree was hollow does not mean it was dead or dying... that should not have any bearing on the final moisture content anyway. stack it and store it as others have said and leave for a year after that either bring it in the house or take it to a kiln to finish the job. walnut rots quite quickly and is a bugger for woodworm so protect it asap. as wisewood says, get your self a decent moisture meter to track it's progress. i would also cut a sample block, weigh it (write it on the block) and take it in the house and let it dry over the next few months. weigh it again when its dry and you will be able to work out how much it weighs per ft3, with this figure now known for this tree you can work out how heavy the boards stacked should weigh. this will let you know if they are anywhere near dry or not. are there any thick bits for bowl turning???

in theory that's how it should be done. bodgers always used to split trees that were only 8-12" for use in the chair industry as that wood had superior strength. i would have thought the same would apply to handles.