devon TWiG
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Everything posted by devon TWiG
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I would try Liberon finishing oil, or danish oil , turn the table upside down and do a few test patches on the underside of the top to see how it goes . Both oils are fine but LFO is a bit easier to work, less sticky , and easier to clean of your hands !! Why is the table unfiished ? do you want a matt , satin or gloss finish ?
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I had 2 harnesses in 20 years , climbing full time , I still have my 2nd a Willans t22 but hardly use it now . They are very robust and do not really wear out , I think the only thing that will weaken them is UV and petrol over time ! .
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There is I believe a Crataegus monogyna " biflora" which as the name suggests flowers twice ! It can also be known as the Glastonbury thorn linked to Joseph of Arimethea . However I am sure it is white . I used to quite regularly pass a Laburnum on the outskirts of Helston in Cornwall that was in flower in autumn as well ,these could be a case of seasonal confusion , related to temperature , sunshine etc Others will say this is absolute proof of global warming !! ha ha
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Keepin natural colour In wood. What oils?
devon TWiG replied to Big Beech's topic in Woodcraft Forum
Big Beech are you going to be carving / shaping the wood yourself ? -
nice touch and nice work ! I was admiring some very nice cherry paddles in a major kayak shop a while back thinking they are nice enough as a wall ornament , they were far to good to use !! (plastic is far more practical )
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A bit like others have stated already, try to be as ambidextrous as you can to even out the work load esp on long prussik climbs , get a bigger ladder , get a groundie to help pull you up etc , always do a bit of stretching and warm up before any serious effort , I used to find getting back to my top anchor after coming down for dinner or 2nd day on big job hard work but never had any problems in 20 years .
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It is nice to turn , cuts cleanly, often has burrs ( as this one has ) which can be utilised to make a more beautiful / saleable product , has a novelty/ rarity kudos and is a lovely golden colour to the heart wood and white cream sap wood but like so many timbers it goes dark brown in time !! Many woodworkers are unable to distinguish between Mulberry and Robinia esp with burrs ! I would not pay a great deal for it as I have too much other nice wood to be getting on with at the moment and do not want a whole heap of one type of wood ! Good chance that someone will though . Nice to see it still in large lumps though and not sliced up in to less usable pieces from a turners point of view ,... well mine anyway !!
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Just out of curiosity ( no UKIP agenda !!) are many / any eastern europeans entering this industry ? I come across plenty in agriculture but have not heard of any in this industry yet . Plenty of Brits , myself included have worked overseas .
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Keepin natural colour In wood. What oils?
devon TWiG replied to Big Beech's topic in Woodcraft Forum
I use Liberon finishing oil on most of my turned wood ,it will cause yellowing to some degree on very pale wood ,sycamore etc , however on that piece of walnut ? I think it could be the best oil finish you will get , it is a pretty durable finish and easy to work . What does a piece like that cost ? ... -
Laburnum bole for turning/milling, what's it worth ?
devon TWiG replied to Gareth Smith's topic in Milling Forum
If I was nearer I would be interested, sounds about £50 pounds worth , more if all the branches 3 inch plus were also included , Laburnum is useful in small sizes as well as the bigger bits , in fact the bigger they get in my experience the more the centre is likely to be decayed , but still useful wood . It is worth any one putting this sort of wood to a shaded corner of their yard for sale at a later date , shame to log it as others have said !! Just seen your pics and would have liked the Monkey Puzzle as well !! -
Any tip sites for wood and chip near rock in Cornwall ?????
devon TWiG replied to i-am-tree-climber's topic in General chat
I know Rock is a very wealthy area , but a Monetary Cypress ?? lol -
It is not very forgiving ! it is prone to crack and split and warp in my experience , and this time of the year with relatively warm and dry weather any problems will be multiplied !! It is often the case that timbers with the higher values , have these values not just because they are rare ( in large size ) but also because the fault rate is high and I think Cherry falls in to this category . Lovely wood though , and smells beautiful !! good luck !!
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Seems a bit of a shame to put such a fine finish on something that is just going to be battered about !! nice work mate !
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I have just finished a walking stick handle for myself from oak burr and know exactly what you mean about wanting a smooth finish , but like the figuring , so I crushed up a bit of charcoal from the fire to a fine dust and mixed it with Titebond glue and rubbed it into al the small cracks , then once totally dry sanded it back and all the small cracks now still look like cracks but are smooth and flush to the surface and natural looking . I will oil it a few times to finish it once it is joined to the stick shaft .
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With trunks like this , which are not really movable from site in one piece ( not worth bringing in lifting gear ) or not really suitable , time and mess wise for milling , I personally would cut in to rings slightly longer than the diameter , then cut each ring vertically from bark to bark through the centre ( or pith if off centre ) so I had 2 "D" shaped pieces that were more easily movable , each of these would make a good large bowl blank , after trimming to shape with a chainsaw , I cut a great deal of my blanks this way anyway . Seems a shame it was not used, but unless you know a turner and what he wants this will always happen , and as many others have said before not many turners want to pay much , but for example if these chunks were in a yard near me cut as I said , I would pay in the region of £10 per lump .and by looking at that lump would expect it to yield 8-10 blanks ....
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Could any one give me a rough idea how much it would cost to train as a tree surgeon nowadays ? This would include all necessary cs units , for chainsaw use and climbing, aerial rescue etc ... ( training and assessment costs please ) I am not considering doing this , I did it all years ago and have now retired from full time tree work , but am curious as to training costs in relation to potential income in comparison to other trades / professions .
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I have not done any craft shows etc for years , when I did it was mostly cash and cheques, but I have been considering doing a few this year and was about to start researching this my self , as few people use cheques and cash now , so thanks for starting this thread and I hope some useful responses come up ! I have seen some people paying via mobile phone at some events but know little about it . By the way Badgerland what crafts do you do & sell ? ( mine is turned wood mostly ) ...
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I recently had to climb and prune a tree I planted ! It kind of gave a strange perspective on life . Full time commercial climbing is really a young man's game but being able to do a job now and then is a bit different though .
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What if for example... none of the branches on the side of the tree to be pruned are over -- for example- 2" how could you climb or use a ladder to carry out pruning works safely to avoid trespass ? Perhaps he has thought about this and considered a small alloy scaffold tower and long reach saw / loppers to carry out the work ! ? Which seems quite sensible to me .
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A griselinia bowl !
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I am certain as I will ever be that it is Griselinia littoralis , from NZ originally, down here in Devon they are plentiful and some quite large , 30 foot + in height and 2 foot dia , I have turned quite a bit of this over the last year or so from one especially large specimen , nicely figured wood and very dense / close grained , sold a few bowls and have quite a few more " roughed out " and ready to finish when time / demand permits !
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I have seen this plenty of times whilst loading firewood in the dark mostly it was very pale ,partly rotted oak sapwood .
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Pyrography machines are only really for small designs , ( I sign the bottom of my turnings with one ) the tips are quite fine , probably too fine for what I think you want too use them for , perhaps try a poker in the fire when you are on site ?
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What is your mostest favourite wood then ?
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You can also make things like this from Yew , ( this piece about 300mm tall ) this was turned from fresh ( green ) wood and although Yew can be a bit prone to cracking it distorts very little during drying , its colour can vary greatly but the uglier and knottier the better for me !!
