turning stock

[turningfool]

anyone in my neck of the woods who might have some wood turning stock for sale?matters not what kind..green or dry..log form or blocks,making christmas stuff for next year already

[farmerdoug]

What sizes of material are you looking for?  I know you are looking for box elder but what else turns your fancy, pardon the pun of course?  I know that a couple of guys were selling burls.  I see you found one but try the for sale section.  Reid and Frank had some they were trying to sell.

I am on the east side of the state so it maybe a little to far but I am sure we come find something here if you are ever around this way.

I would like to see some pics of your work.  There is a thread on posting pics here to help you get started too.  Here is the link.
Posting Pics

Farmerdoug

[turningfool]

thanks farmer..my girl live near detroit so i spend a lot of time out east so to speak..anything but poplar and willow..too darned soft..have posted pics in my  gallery now

[farmerdoug]

TF,

Cool pics.  You definitly have more patience than me.  I would make alot of firewood though.

Where in Detroit is your girl.  I am north west of the Blue Water bridge a ways.

Farmerdoug

[woodmills1]

I have a bunch of figured maple send me a message.

[Sunfield Hardwood]

Hi Turningfool, I'm in Sunfield, between Grand Rapids and Lansing. I have a block of spalted maple in my shop, If I remember right it's about 12"by 12" by 18". [I havent looked at it in awhile] I'm sure it would make two of something,I also have lots of logs of various species, so if your comeing through my my area give me a call and stop by. my email is in my profile, see ya.Bill

[turningfool]

if anyone here has stuff just lying around ,as in wood.. that they want to be shed of....the rule for me is you get the first turning off from it..i never know what thats going to be most of the time..i just wing it..fairs is fair..will look you up between lansing and g.r. the large spalted blank would make a nice hollow form i am sure..you'll be hearing from me ;D

[farmerdoug]

TF,

Let me know if you are wandering over this way.  I am sure we can cut you a piece of something.  What size of material do you look for?  We have box elder but now really big as I like to keep it cut.

Farmerdoug

[SwampDonkey]

TF, ever find any staghorn sumac around 6 inch diameter? I knew an old timer than got a piece from a neighbor and made some jewelery boxes, but it looks a lot like butternut.

[turningfool]

Doug:size really doesnt matter,its a lot of fun mounting and spinning a 100 pound chunk getting it to run true slowly and cranking up the rpms to make long ribbons of wood fly..but small or large the end product is what catches the eye ,any size thats chuckable is great

[Dana]

I put a 5' long spalted very wormy piece of basswood on e-bay last week. Only got one bid for $1.00  I thought the carvers or turners would have been  interested.

[beenthere]

Post a picture for us, and let us see what it looked like? 
Maybe it just didn't get the right attention, and maybe the picture didn't sell the piece.
:

[Furby]

The other thing is the fact that ebay is swamped with wood.
50% or more don't even get bids.

[turningfool]

basswood from what i hear is great for carving but have never really heard of anyone turning it..its grain pattern is pretty much lack luster and doesnt cut very well even with sharp tools..too soft and too much tear out..and furby is correct there is indeed tons od wood on ebay..as far as turners go ,they (at least i do)look for whatever catches their fancy from plain to wow!

[SwampDonkey]

Some folks get permits from DNR and pick up nubbins on the logging yards. Sometimes there are trimmings when cutting for veneer grade. Might find a curly or small section of birdseye, or even a burl. I know a couple of sections of birdseye in maple ridges. One right beside a friend's camp and another may have been clearcut by now. I was driving by some of their yard wood and there was a lot of birdseye figure in some of it, but most was hollow or mineral inside. Barely made pulp. We are talking virgin timber and the stuff was at least 250 years old, and a lot of nasty, narly,twisty wood.

[turningfool]

there is some state land near where i work where i hunt for fall "honeydew" mushrooms..a few years ago i stumbled upon the biggest root type burl i had ever seen..i drive a club cab 4x4 and its easily 1&1/2 the times the size of my truck..it has 9- 20-36" dia.red oaks coming out of it but alas its on state land and way too far back in to ever harvest it..but i make a point to see it several times each year..yup..woodturners are a "crazy" sort

[Dana]

I haven't loaded any photo's in a while and forgot how to insert the photo code into a post. The basswood that I sold for a dollar is in my gallery, for anyone wants to see it. I think it sold so cheap because I used the freight calculator in the listing. It quoted over $200.00 to move the wood within my own zip code/town.

[asy]

Hey TF, welcome!

We love turning, and we like fools ... So you'll fit in well...   smiley_turkey_dancing smiley_turkey_dancing smiley_turkey_dancing Need more fools around here, It was gettin' lonely.

Pity you aren't just a LITTLE closer, you could have as much timber as you could turn off our place, no problems, so long as you let me come drool over your magic works.

Thanks for posting photos, they're amazing. I LOVE the hat!

asy :D

[turningfool]

thanks for the welcome..have turned a few aussie timbers/seed pods..but nothing major

[asy]

Can you get Banksia pods easilly over there?

asy :D

[turningfool]

banksia pods can be had but are in general very small..and i personally dont get into really small work..but have done a few small candle holders from them

[asy]

I think the biggest we get here are about a foot long.

We have a few banksias on the farm, but nothing really huge, but I do see lots of them when we go bushwalking.

If I see any that look like really good turning, I'd be really happy to send them to you, but could you check out whether or not your country will allow them through customs? I'd hate to send them only to have them confiscated.

asy :D

[turningfool]

WOW! the biggest i've seen around here are only a few inches long..i will check with cutoms

[turningfool]

added a few box elder hollow form pics to my gallery..trash tree to some folks..but i like how it ends up

[SwampDonkey]

Tom, see if you can find some big sumac. Ask some farmer for that big one in the middle of the clump.  ;) I've seen them up to 6" diameter. We have them near river valleys. Might be a clue where to look. I'm too far out from the river here and have none. The grain is like walnut or butternut.  Might be quite burry when turned. Your lathe reversible?

[turningfool]

not reversible as of yet..but thinking of getting the upgrade kit for it..do you turn?

[SwampDonkey]

I turn yes. But not a lot. Mostly for my furniture projects.

See a couple threads I have in the 'Drying and Processing' board. I turned the legs on the night stand and will be turning the bottom of the legs of my new desk. I have turned a handful of bowels 10 years or so back.

When ever I have a bunch of scraps on the floor and start cleaning.......hmmm I can't through them away. The noodles start cooking and I wonder what I am going to make from those. After a while them pieces start getting in the road and end up in the stove.  : I might use a bunch of them and make some complicated gadget to collect dust.  :D :D Actually, I gotta make a couple things for the forum auction some day....some day being keywords here.  :

cheers

[turningfool]

scraps?..i know that feeling..i have a dozen plastic 55 gallon drums of so called scraps that i cant seem to toss  went from girls to wood almost over night ;D

[SwampDonkey]

I'de like to see Kevin turn some of that red hearted box elder. I don't know what you'de use to keep it's color. I know that Varithane diamond finish didn't turn my butternut and it won't yellow. But, I don't think it's a good finish for turnings. Sure ain't food save. But, if you polish the piece and finish it with this it will look like glass. I'de leave her right on the lathe until finished and put some felt on the bottom after the piece it hard cured. It's water based.

[turningfool]

know anything about sanding sealers?  they are supposed to prevent the finish from soaking into the dryer spots on the project..i do a fair amount of redwood lace and have had my share of disappointments after finishing..want to try them but wary of the chemicals in most of them

[turningfool]

the color fades only slightly after the piece is finished and to the human eye ,actually seems to get brighter as the balance of the wood fades to an almost bone color as time progesses..i'm always working on something box eldery and have had really good experiences from it as it cuts well..albeit with some tear out of end grain..but finishes well and moves little..try it..you'll like it  the last few pieces, i have applied pentacryl to after preturning to get rid of unwanted wood and have has great success.with no cracks as it dries and the stuff actually make the piece dry much quicker than the end grain sealers do

[SwampDonkey]

There's your queue Kevin, get turn'n  ;D

[turningfool]

any turners out there using sanding sealers? want to try some but am wary of the results..any info would help

[turningfool]

found a local farmer and a 10"dia. sumac that i will cut come spring..will give it a whirl swamp donkey..have turned butternut and love the shimmering gold tones in it

[SwampDonkey]

Wow  10 " is a monster sumac. The grain is very similar to butternut. I wish you could get a good scan of the end grain and sawn surface for the forum. ;D

[turningfool]

come spring after the sumac is felled i promise pics...i think your a dang nice guy too swamp donkey and i aint gettin no stock from you..the folks here are down right friendly...all of them ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Tom, well you know...the typical ribbing among a bunch of fellers.  ;)

Keep on keeping on. 

[turningfool]

i know all about the ribbing thing sd..been on the other end lots of times :D found a yew that someone had tossed in some state land near me..soi snapped it up..will get into it as soon as i can locate it..seems i've been blowing the snow from the driveway over top of it..it'll show its face again in the spring :D

[SwampDonkey]

Tom, have you seen our new 'General Woodworking' board for members. It's something you may not have noticed when scrolling through the main page. Sometimes, even I have to look twice and I know it's there somewhere. ;D :D :D

[turningfool]

sd..yes i discovered it not too long ago..found kevins box elder listing in there and a myriad of other articles that are just as informative..thanks for pointing it out tho ;D

[333_okh]

I am currently cutting Pacific madrone, Pacific [big-leaf] maple, myrtle [laurel/pepperwood], redwood, walnut, and a little of the oaks [tanoak, and live oak].

They will all we wet right now except the splated big-leaf curly wood wit ha tad of wormy in it.


PM me with specific needs.

[turningfool]

anything big and burly

[333_okh]

Depends on how large and burly you want.  I have some redwood cants with a little bird's-eye and burl, but they are 8x14 inch and 12 feet long. I also have some ropey grain curly redwood in blocks.

I have a round of Pacific madrone sealed that has a burl on the side.

I also have some very seasoned spalted Pacific maple that has a little burl and fiddleback in it.

[Sparty]

Turning fool-
I live between Ann Arbor and Adrian and have a lot of stuff you may find interesting.
I have a block of spalted, curly maple that is 3' high by at least 2' square, actualy I have two of these.   They are big heavy stumps that are 90% solid.  I'll post some pictures this weekend.  Also have a 6' long by 10" diameter mulberry stump, lots of thick ash stock that is still air drying (up to 5" by 23").  In two weeks I am taking several large logs out of a huge walnut, if you are intersested in any of the upper branches or crotches, I could harvest those as well.  Let me know if you are ever in the area.  I have family in your area (G.R. and Ionia), but they usually come this way to visit.   

[turningfool]

i travel east of me quite often sparty and what you describe sounds very interesting..tell me more ;D

[SwampDonkey]

I found a big old yellow birch burl once on an old growth tree. The tree was big enough and the burl was even bigger. I bet that dang thing was well over a ton. Some folks I knew have a camp near it on a crown lease and one of the guy's nephews was the woodland manager for the area. I think they (forest company) cut it when they were after blow downs and skidded it out to a trailer for a friend of theirs.

[Sparty]

well, lets attempt some pictures....
this one should be a board I ripped off one of the curly spalted maple stumps.  Not a strong curl, but those marks that look like planer marks are the curly figure.

[Sparty]

Here's the biggest maple chunk.  I took a better look at it today and it's a stump from a tree about 25" in diameter and is about 30" high.  The ends are checked a little, but not bad for a maple.  You can see the figure on the outside of the log.

[Sparty]

And here are the two chunks, the shovel in the lower right side should give you an idea of size.  Anyway, I would imagine there are plenty of turning blanks in there.

And here's another look at what is inside those chunks...its solid wood, not rotted.

[SwampDonkey]

red maple Sparty? Get a lot of curl in red maple stumps here.

[Sparty]

Swampdonkey-
I'm not the best at I.D. by bark only, but I think this is sugar maple.  The bark (whats left of it) looks more like sugar than red.  It came from an area where sugars dominate, but I did not see the tree, just the stump that I got from a tree service after they hacked up the rest of the tree.