# Mystery Woods from Ralph Muhs



## kweinert (Jun 26, 2012)

I got a nice box of walnut and maple - and the maple had a nice bit of curl in it.

There were also two mystery woods that i'd like some assistance identifying.

Mystery Wood Number One

[attachment=7166]

[attachment=7167]


Mystery Wood Number Two

[attachment=7168]

[attachment=7169]

These scans aren't quite as nice as I'd like - if you need me to redo them just speak up and I'll get on it.

Thanks for your help - and to Ralph for throwing them in.

Ken


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## Ralph Muhs (Jun 27, 2012)

kweinert said:


> I got a nice box of walnut and maple - and the maple had a nice bit of curl in it.
> 
> There were also two mystery woods that i'd like some assistance identifying.
> 
> ...


At first glance, mystery wood number two might appear to be walnut, but it is not. Kwinert will agree, when it is placed beside walnut, it is different. I have more of both woods, but not as much as other species. 

I first thought mystery wood number one was ash, but now I don't think so.


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## Mike1950 (Jun 27, 2012)

2 sycamore?????


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## Ralph Muhs (Jun 27, 2012)

Mike1950 said:


> 2 sycamore?????



No, I have sycamore, and it is very different. Sycamore is much lighter in color and it has a tighter grain.


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## Twig Man (Jun 27, 2012)

Could it be butternut


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## Ralph Muhs (Jun 28, 2012)

Twig Man said:


> Could it be butternut



Could be. I don't know what butternut looks like, but I know the tree is very much like walnut. Butternut has disappeared from Illinois because of a blight, but this lumber could be 50 years old. I think you had a piece in your box too.


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## Twig Man (Jun 28, 2012)

Ralph Muhs said:


> Twig Man said:
> 
> 
> > Could it be butternut
> ...



I did ralph and it reminded me of butternut when I saw it.


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## kweinert (Jun 28, 2012)

Twig Man said:


> Could it be butternut



I'll try to get a picture up tonight of some butternut that I have. From memory I'd not say this is a good match.

There is, of course, a lot of variability in wood so it could still be butternut. Or my memory could not be as good as I'd like to think it is :)


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## kweinert (Jul 2, 2012)

Well, I still don't know what Mystery Wood #1 is, but I know what it's going to be.

Went to an all day demo given by Michael Mode at our local Woodturners Club and, as a result, that piece of wood is well on it's way to being a bowl.

So far no major mistakes. I got it cut going the correct direction so the grain should flow well. It's about 1/2 way to its glued-up configuration out in the shop right now.

I can post up some pictures if you'd like. This one is going to be pretty straightforward (as is fitting for the first attempt at doing something new.)

Here's an example of one of his single laminate bowls. This technique seems to be a very good one for a flat piece of wood you might have that has some nice figure or burl.

For me, the scariest part of doing this is that the bowls are so thin. That's definitely new territory for me.

Ken


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## kweinert (Jul 3, 2012)

So, here's the resulting bowl from my attempt to recreate the demo I saw on Sunday. 

[attachment=7389]

As usual, I learned something from this effort:

* I need to spend more time on the fit and finish. 
* The glue joints aren't as tight as I would like
* There are a couple of spots on the outside that I didn't see until the finish was on

* I need to learn to turn bowls
* I depended *way* too much on my 60 and 80 grit turning tools to make the inside look OK
* reversing and remounting still seems to be an issue for me. It didn't run nearly true enough after reversing and putting it in the chuck

* I need to be more comfortable with all types of chucking
* I had to finish the bottom off by hand because after I turned the inside I couldn't use cole jaws to hold the bowl in place
* I guess I just don't have enough confidence that I can whip up a jam chuck to hold something securely enough :dash2:

Other than that it went OK :)


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## Kevin (Jul 3, 2012)

rbaccus said:


> ... typing is a real bitch for us with high IQ,s:irishjig:



Whassat mean der, "_Idiotic Questions_" yeah? Tellya what I'ma gonna did. I gonna sit in dat chair rat der ina dat shady spot yap, and swallows me up some nice homemade iced some tea der yaeh and thunk about dat rat der yeah.


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## Ralph Muhs (Jul 7, 2012)

kweinert said:


> So, here's the resulting bowl from my attempt to recreate the demo I saw on Sunday.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Pretty bowl. Still don't know what the wood is??? Big windstorm in WV. Power outage for eight days and still counting! The silver lining to the dark cloud is the abundance of downed trees. There must be fifty on my property and hundreds on my neighbors' property. Mostly oak, white pine, maple, hemlock. Many are huge! Some will have up to two thousand bd ft in a single tree.


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## DKMD (Jul 7, 2012)

Cool bowl! I'm happy to help with the chucking reversing stuff as well... Give me a shout or stop by the shop if you're interested.


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## Ralph Muhs (Jul 8, 2012)

Heh, It's nice to see someone actually made something nice from all this wood I have been trying to peddle! It makes me feel good! But not as good as I now feel after 9 days without electricity in WV! It's on!
Wow, what a storm! Hurricane winds in West Virginia! Who would have thought it? Huge trees down everywhere! Hundreds of them! Makes a guy with a sawmill drool!


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