What to do with this piece of wood?

[DigBaddy72]

I found this at our city's compost site. It weighs about 52lbs and is pretty big. I would like to get some bowl blanks and maybe some pen blanks out of it but I don't have a clue about how to start this thing curing or drying or whatever. Anyone have any suggestions? Any ideas about where to make my cuts? I posted this on Woodbarter and had some suggestions to leave it as is to use as a taxidermy mount. While that is a cool idea, I don't do taxidermy :biggrin:

Also wondering if anyone can ID this wood as well? Thanks and sorry for the noob questions. I'm in uncharted territory here.

 

[Herb G]

It kinda looks like a Crepe Myrtle trunk.

If you cut it up, I'm sure someone would buy it for a taxidermy mount.

 

[SteveG]

I can picture a shallow bowl or even a low, wide hollow form, that is about 12 inches 9or a little larger) diameter and centered around the 6 inch mark on the tape measure. This would possibly yield a turning with lots of natural voids. This could work out beautifully, or end up in the trash, but I think you have a nice find. Just remember that the nicest turnings that display such beautiful live, or natural edge, are appealing to the eye partly because the turner knew that he must toss a lot of the raw material iot have the treasure that remains become his master piece.

 

[Loucurr]

Make your cuts where you see the most probable use and then anchor seal the ends. To me it looks like root wood of some sort and if so could have some unique grain patterns. I just cut up some live oak root for pen blanks and the grain is amazing. Will need to dry for awhile though.

 

[DigBaddy72]

Make your cuts where you see the most probable use and then anchor seal the ends. To me it looks like root wood of some sort and if so could have some unique grain patterns. I just cut up some live oak root for pen blanks and the grain is amazing. Will need to dry for awhile though.

Once I get the pieces I want, I plan on letting them dry till next year.

 

[low_48]

Small diameter pieces like that don't dry easily, especially bowl blank sizes. Roots grow like branches, so there is a center and that is where the cracking will start. It's best to rough turn the bowl to an even wall thickness and then seal and dry. Less wood to dry unevenly and crack.

 

[DigBaddy72]

Small diameter pieces like that don't dry easily, especially bowl blank sizes. Roots grow like branches, so there is a center and that is where the cracking will start. It's best to rough turn the bowl to an even wall thickness and then seal and dry. Less wood to dry unevenly and crack.

What would you suggest I seal the bowl with? Is that where Anchorseal would work?

 

[low_48]

I turn a lot of big bowls. I actually turn them to finish dimension, from green to finish in one shot. I core out the insides and get at least 2 more bowls from each blank. I usually let the 12-14" dia bowls at about 1 1/2 wall thickness, if I let them dry before final turning. If I want to turn them wet, then I turn to the wall thickness I want. All I do is place them in a paper bag for a week. The second week I open the bag but let the bowl stay in it. Third week the bowl comes out of the bag and into a converted old refrigerator with a fan and light bulb in it. If the wood is something that dries with some difficulty, everything slows down. I may rotate the wet bowl into a new bag, or a landscape double wall bag to slow it down more. All this oak work came from one piece of a log. 42" dia x 36" long. A very nice commission job! The big bowls are 18" diameter. Hollow forms range from 8" diameter by 12" tall, to 6" diameter.

 

[SDB777]

Does it smell like PinSol....cause that looks to be a pine tree root.


Scott (someone washed the dirt off) B