Turning Glue Lam Beams?

[wyone]

I was wondering if anyone has tried to turn glue laminated beam sections. I was working on a jobsite and came across a section of a beam that had been cut off and it has some amazing looks to it. It is made up of lots of small fibers pressed together under pressure and glue.

I thought that it would be really cool to turn and see the effect, but having NO success. I think it has to do with the extreme pressure and some specialized glue. I trimmed the corners off, thinking it would help. But it is like turning rock.. or so I would assume. I tried Carbide as well as freshly sharpened gouges and it hardly made a dent in it. I even went so far as to try George's Flap grinder trick, and I have used it very successfully on METAL before and it did nothing.

Any ideas? or just a lost cause?

Oh and yes, it is HARD, pushed too hard trimming the corners off in my bandsaw and slipped and slid my finger into the bandsaw blade. Luckily it hit the fleshy part of my finger and although it was deep, and ugly, did no serious damage and needed only a good cleaning and a couple band aids.

But makes me want to WIN against that piece of wood now! lol

 

[greggas]

Mitch;

SHARP Tools ( I use a bowl gouge), patience and a grinder nearby for all the times you will need to sharpen the tools. Sometimes a scraper helps but I find it depends on the type of engineered wood you are turning. Very cool look when done, but plan on spending triple the time of a normal wood bowl.

good luck

 

[wyone]

Greg... I did find that using a gouge.. and sharpening every couple of minutes did seen to work much better than my carbide, but wow.. never anticipated it being THAT hard. I have a new respect for the strength now... but am determined to make it work. Maybe I should cut off a SMALL chunk and try to make a pen with it. hmmm

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've never tried the laminated beams, but I do have two pieces of solid wood beams that are cut about 2 feet long and are 16 x 16 square that came out of a construction project from TVA.... I've had them stacked in my shop for about 5 years now -- they make a great table -- but still plan to turn them one day... they were given to me in exchange for a lamp I made... the guy who gave them to me said they were White Cedar.

I've glued small sheets of plywood together and made a couple of peppermills from them... they looked pretty cool with all the wood layers.... not as hard as the laminates you're describing.

 

[JohnU]

As said above, sharp tools! I've made a few. Probably blew up as many as I finished but I did mine cross cut and sanded them to shape after getting them close. I'm thinking of stabilizing some in cactus juice for next time.
Good luck !

 

[KenV]

Sounds like LVL == "Laminated Veneer Lumber" which is essentially a beam make of non-dyed spectraply like material.


That can make some spectacular hollowforms too --

Lots of glue lines and the glue tends to be the abrasive type.

Have fun and let us see the pictures

 

[MesquiteMan]

I believe you are talking about either LSL (Laminated Strand Lumber) or LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber). LSLs look almost like little worms and LVLs are basically large pieces of plywood. Glue Lams are usually 2x material stacked on top of each other and glued up making a large beam. I was a custom home builder until I went full time with Cactus Juice and I used a LOT of LVL's and LSL's.

Here are a few I did 4 or 5 years ago with LSLs dyed and stabilized.

 

[wyone]

You are of course correct.. they are LSL.. I could not think of the proper name, but figured someone would help me. I am going to try again once I get a few things done, but truly one of the hardest wood products I have tried to use so far. But see, now that you showed me yours.. I want to make them even more now.