What free wood did you find today?

Decided to start refreshing my supply of cherry, so went out back and got at it.

Have a decent sized split trunk tree , so took the leaner off first. About 14" diameter at the cut.

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Cut a couple sections to get going.

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Started with a nice bowl blank.

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And roughed it out. Just a bit under 12".

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I'm hoping when I get to cutting the other trunk I'm left with a large crotch with some great figure.
 
trc65 said:
Decided to start refreshing my supply of cherry, so went out back and got at it.

Have a decent sized split trunk tree , so took the leaner off first. About 14" diameter at the cut.

View attachment 237499

Cut a couple sections to get going.

View attachment 237500

Started with a nice bowl blank.

View attachment 237502

And roughed it out. Just a bit under 12".

View attachment 237501

I'm hoping when I get to cutting the other trunk I'm left with a large crotch with some great figure.
Click to expand...
So cool to have your own Cherry tree to cut down! This is going to be fun to stay plugged into! Chuck
 
I've got more than a lifetime worth of trees here, just not as much diversity as I'd like. More honey and black locust than I can count, maybe a dozen mature cherry, lots of hackberry, a few maples and hedge apples. Only problem is most is not accessible by vehicle, so hauling out is by sled or small wagon.
 
trc65 said:
I've got more than a lifetime worth of trees here, just not as much diversity as I'd like. More honey and black locust than I can count, maybe a dozen mature cherry, lots of hackberry, a few maples and hedge apples. Only problem is most is not accessible by vehicle, so hauling out is by sled or small wagon.
Click to expand...
I bet there would be interest here on WB for Honey & Black Locust next time you take one of them down. One of them has horrible thorns, if I recall. Chuck
 
It always seems that Honey comes with stings, thorns or yeses! (for those not from Texas - yeses as in Yes Honey!)
 
That’s awesome Tim that you have all that at your place! I bet it’s a good workout as well hauling it home.
 
I cut most of my bowl blanks at 3-4" thick. That gives me plenty of wood for a tenon, and also enough thickness to adjust orientation on the lathe if desired to balance grain patterns.

Blanks as thin as 1.5" could be used to turn a very shallow bowl by using a glued on waste block for the tenon. Thinner blanks can be used for platters.

If it's a plain piece of wood, I make spindle blanks out of anything under about 2.5". If a piece of wood has lots of figure I'll make platter blanks down to about 1.25".

Note, all of the above are just my personal preferences for the way I turn. I'm not cutting wood to sell, but am always open to trading.
 
@trc65 @2feathers Creative Making
Thanks fellas. I knew the nominal sizes already. I was looking for more experience based input.. I have logs at mill now and more on Monday. Hopefully I can start processing some soon and bowl blanks seem to be popular. Needed an idea of what thickness would be a good all arounder. Probably should have said all of that up front. :blush:
 
Well, I thought I was gonna get a huge Palo Verde tree today. It had fallen over because the tree was dead and the roots were completely rotted away. About 30" OD at the bottom, and up at the first crotch, about 30-36" OD, then tapered down to about 20-24" up to the next crotch and now 14" OD.
Unfortunately, it was hollow about 12" ID up the full length of the tree, about 18-20 feet. I called the homeowner and told him I can't use it, but will keep cutting it into pieces he could handle until I ran of gas. He said thanks, I cut for 10 minutes more and ran out of gas. No wood to report, but pictures abound.
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My goal was to get a solid tree, but fate stepped in and said no. .................. Jerry (in Tucson)

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No trees to make big blanks from but a few pieces of some curly stuff that has some other wood ( ebony and possibly a rosewood) glued to it. Likely some luthier’s scrap.

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Nephew in law called today and said he had some crotch walnut for me. He is building a shed and has started cutting some trees down. This is what he showed up with for me. Four pieces one of which I cut up already. And these pieces.

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The small one I cut will give me a couple little platters.

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Going to need a little help with the crack running through it, but that's not a big deal. About 9 inches on the blank.
 
Nubsnstubs said:
Well, I thought I was gonna get a huge Palo Verde tree today. It had fallen over because the tree was dead and the roots were completely rotted away. About 30" OD at the bottom, and up at the first crotch, about 30-36" OD, then tapered down to about 20-24" up to the next crotch and now 14" OD.
Unfortunately, it was hollow about 12" ID up the full length of the tree, about 18-20 feet. I called the homeowner and told him I can't use it, but will keep cutting it into pieces he could handle until I ran of gas. He said thanks, I cut for 10 minutes more and ran out of gas. No wood to report, but pictures abound.
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View attachment 237576


View attachment 237578View attachment 237580View attachment 237582
My goal was to get a solid tree, but fate stepped in and said no. .................. Jerry (in Tucson)

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Click to expand...
To bad you couldn't turn a buck with it at a garden center. They seem to always want "natural" planters.
 
Mr. Peet said:
To bad you couldn't turn a buck with it at a garden center. They seem to always want "natural" planters.
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Or bird nesting boxes. Hollow trees make excellent nest boxes for birds or bats. And its a heckuva lot easier if mother nature already did the hollowing.
 
DLJeffs said:
Or bird nesting boxes. Hollow trees make excellent nest boxes for birds or bats. And its a heckuva lot easier if mother nature already did the hollowing.
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@DLJeffs , it would be suited more for Coyotes. The hole diameter was almost 14" in places. I'm now wishing I had taken a slab section just to see what the grain was like. But, not now........... Jerry (in Tucson)
 
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