# Silver maple



## barry richardson (Aug 3, 2017)

Was back in Missouri last month for a family gathering. My cousin had a big old silver maple in his yard that had split down its middle and half of it was down. Helped him cut it up, and kept some crotch sections. First results, I'm happy, got several more rough-outs. Was my first time with silver maple, tear out in the end grain was challenging, but the bark stays on great!

Reactions: Like 4 | EyeCandy! 18 | Way Cool 5


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## Tony (Aug 3, 2017)

Another beauty Barry! Tony

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike1950 (Aug 3, 2017)

Very nice

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Ray D (Aug 3, 2017)

Fantastic work. Always look forward to seeing your turnings.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## gman2431 (Aug 3, 2017)

Nice!!!!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## duncsuss (Aug 3, 2017)

Wow ... looks great.

I'm having trouble visualizing how you got this out of the piece of tree -- is it simply lying down across the trunk in the feathered region just below the crotch? (Nah, can't be that or there'd be pith running through it ... )

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Tom Smart (Aug 3, 2017)

There is a bunch of figure in that piece and you have really enhanced it, Barry.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Aug 3, 2017)

duncsuss said:


> Wow ... looks great.
> 
> I'm having trouble visualizing how you got this out of the piece of tree -- is it simply lying down across the trunk in the feathered region just below the crotch? (Nah, can't be that or there'd be pith running through it ... )


Duncan, I had some very large chunks and I don't remember exactly how I cut them all up. It was a very large crotch and would have had plenty of material between the piths to cut this one, so your assumption is probably correct

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (Aug 3, 2017)

That wood is jam packed full of character! Very, very nice! Chuck


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## Nubsnstubs (Aug 3, 2017)

Stunning!!!!!!! ......... Jerry (in Tucson)

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Karl_TN (Aug 3, 2017)

@barry richardson , Well done. Nice how you were able to get the curl to show on all sides. 

What tool helped you the most with cleaning up any tear out (i.e. sharp gouge, scaper, lots of sand paper, etc..)? 

How hard was it to turn the inside with all that figured grain? Got any inside pics to show off?


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## ripjack13 (Aug 3, 2017)

Holy smokes...well done sir.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Blueglass (Aug 3, 2017)

WOw!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## TimR (Aug 3, 2017)

Very nice, the natural edge opening is a cool touch. I've had some great finds with interesting grain in silver maple and it's burls. Hope you got a decent hoard of it!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## robert flynt (Aug 3, 2017)

Very eye pleasing!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## DKMD (Aug 3, 2017)

That's a beauty! Interesting colors in that piece... most of the silver maple around here is white all the way through.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Aug 3, 2017)

Karl_TN said:


> @barry richardson , Well done. Nice how you were able to get the curl to show on all sides.
> 
> What tool helped you the most with cleaning up any tear out (i.e. sharp gouge, scaper, lots of sand paper, etc..)?
> 
> How hard was it to turn the inside with all that figured grain? Got any inside pics to show off?


I started turning it green with a gouge, but any little catch would cause bad tear out, so I switched to a scraper, presented at an angle for kind of a skew scrape, slow going, but without the risk of nasty tear out. On this particular one, I turned it to final thickness, scraped and sanded it as smooth as possible while green, then parted it off. It warped to a pretty symmetrical oval shape as it dried (can't tell it in the pics though) when dried, I gave it a good sanding and done. The inside was pretty ragged, and since I had already parted it off, I couldn't re-turn it. I could get at some of it with my 2" angle sander, and did some hand sanding on the rest, enough to make it feel pretty smooth to the feel, still lots of pits in it though.....

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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## Graybeard (Aug 4, 2017)

Great product, excellent technique. Great about the bark, did the tree come down in the winter or does Silver Maple tend to keep it's bark?


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## DKMD (Aug 4, 2017)

Graybeard said:


> Great product, excellent technique. Great about the bark, did the tree come down in the winter or does Silver Maple tend to keep it's bark?



We've got a lot of silver maple around here, and it does seem to hold its bark pretty well... better than elm or walnut.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## barry richardson (Aug 4, 2017)

Graybeard said:


> Great product, excellent technique. Great about the bark, did the tree come down in the winter or does Silver Maple tend to keep it's bark?


It was cut and sealed very fresh after it came down and roughed out about a week later, In my experience turning it as fresh as possible helps in keeping the bark on wood in general. Let the wood lay around too long and the bark starts getting loose. First time for me with Silver Maple, but based on what Doc says and my experience so far, I think it is a great candidate for natural edge stuff...

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mike Hill (Aug 8, 2017)

That is simply gorgeous!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## NYWoodturner (Aug 9, 2017)

Very nice Barry. I love that contrast around the top

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## GeorgeS (Aug 9, 2017)

Thats stunning!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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