How to Maximise the wood I have.

[Oiliver]

Preface: I'm just a young turner from New Zealand, I am a complete newby, I only recently bought a lathe so this might seem a tad daft; sorry if it is silly!

So I recently received a stack of ten or twelve pieces of Kauri that had been salvaged out of an old Villa that had been pulled down. For those that don't know, Kauri is a beautiful hard wood from New Zealand, it is probably our best-known wood/tree, and is semi-hard to come by, as there is very little comercial cropping. Of course being a poor student, and an avid recycler, I not only couldn't turn down these blocks, but I want to make them go as far as possible. :2tsup:

There lies the problem though, as they are recycled, each 110x145x70mm block has two holes on the top face, and one slightly smaller hole through the center (See picture One).
I was wondering if anyone could recommend either a way to cut the blocks to maximise the wood I get out, or alternatively project(s) that would suit such a piece.


A slightly easier question (maybe?) :? is I also have stacks and stacks of olive wood, it has some beautiful patterns, but the logs are kind of squashed rather than round. (An example in pictures 2 and 3).
Therefore, do you think it would be best to:
-just try and get one piece out of the logs from the centre and have it skinny?
-cut the logs in half and try get two pieces out of it?
-is there a better use for the logs which look like this, should I try and save it for inlays and detailing and little bits and pieces?
-something different alltogether?
NB I have already made a handful of coasters and a vase and a very pretty little bowl, but I wasted a lot of wood making them, using a whole piece to get one blank. Very nice, and I have a reasonable stash of the wood, but I'm a real miser, and want to always have a bit available :)

Sorry for the long post :rolleyes:, but I guess you have to learn these things from someplace! Thanks in advance to anyone who reads this, and anyone who has any recommendations :) :D

[wheelinround]

Hi welcome to the forum

" The first shall be last"

Have a look at the shape of http://www.woodworkforums.com/f8/camphour-vase-150967/ for the second one although you may not feel confident to try this never hurts to put a nice piece like that aside till you and the wood is ready.

The first one you could use an alternate colour timber make dowls/plugs to fill the holes. Clean prep edges and glue together givig you a blank of 220x145x75 then make your blank position the holes either way toward the centre or outwards.

[dabbler]

Thread link not working wheelin.

Oiliver,
Hi. I'm surprised no one lept up and said "send it to me".
I'd sit tight until your skills progress. Looks like some nice lumps of kauri you've snapped up. I'd practice on the olive wood rather than use all your kauri.

I first thought you were posting pictures of completed work. I was disappointed to see you just wanted to brag and tease us.

Can't really offer advice on best cuts sorry. Others are more knowledgeable than me.

Tell us how big your lathe is though and what sawing tools you own can access. It might help with advice from others.

[wheelinround]

Thread link not working wheelin.

Oiliver,
Hi. I'm surprised no one lept up and said "send it to me".
I'd sit tight until your skills progress. Looks like some nice lumps of kauri you've snapped up. I'd practice on the olive wood rather than use all your kauri.

I first thought you were posting pictures of completed work. I was disappointed to see you just wanted to brag and tease us.

Can't really offer advice on best cuts sorry. Others are more knowledgeable than me.

Tell us how big your lathe is though and what sawing tools you own can access. It might help with advice from others.

Ok here mods may have fixed it.

Pracitce on Olive wood its like gold beautiful to turn and scent :rolleyes: love it.

Just don't make pens out of what you have unless its offcuts.:;

[RETIRED]

Fixed link.

[hughie]

Well its not too difficult, much of your answer lies with what you want to turn with your Kauri.
Then there is no imperative to turn anything right away, by that I mean its very common amongst all turners to have wood on hand. That they have no idea what to do with, we simply have there till some idea/concept or whatever inspires us to use it.

As to the olive, I see its in log form and so ideally you should be removing the pith, unless of course its completly dry. If its not dry, then leaving the pith will have a very negative effect ie it will crack/split etc. Then the decision on what to turn will taken out of your hands :C

At the end of the day its better to get experience under your belt and as well join a local turning club and or locate some local turners to see if they will offer to mentor you.Sometimes the turning blanks may not be capable of being utilized in full size because of the faults etc.


Plugging holes, well theres a myriad of methods and ideas as perhaps as there are turners.
But I note that the blocks are square and it would be better if you could cut them to a more round shape for ease of turning. This then gives you some wood for making plugs which will be as close as your gonna get to the right colour.

[Oiliver]

Wow, thanks guys, heaps of great ideas!
To be honest I hadn't even thought about filling the holes, it seems so obvious now that you say it :doh: But I agree with you when you say to stick to the olive wood for now while Im still getting the hang of it all, I don't want to waste such a nice set of Kauri.

WheelInRound; I agree that the olive is loveeeeely to turn, I might pop up some pictures of my first few pieces at some stage, and I love the smell too :) -and don't worry, pens dont hold all that much appeal yet. With the Camphour Vase suggestion, would it be okay for me to turn it from the end as it is a reasonably small log? Because I have read quite a few pieces about not turning end-grain until you are reasonably experienced? When making my simple vase and small bowl I did turn end grain and it worked out fine, so I am guessing so. Maybe I have mis-undserstood the term though, if you can shed and light on the matter it would be great! (added a photo)

Hughie; The logs of olive have been drying for 5 years under the tree they were cut from so they are well seasoned and only have a few 'hard' cracks on the very end of the 2m long logs. Incidentally, the wood comes from the very tree that my placenta was buried under when I was born (my name is Oliver, meaning of the Olive tree) - how's that for special :D

Dabbler; Haha I'm surprised too, although being in NZ when it seems most of you all are in Aus probably has something to do with it! Now don't laugh when I tell you, but I have a really simple lathe- It is a Dynalink 4 Speed, model 190-93-01000. It is pretty modest, but it is the best I could get with my savings at the time. As for cutting tools, of course I have a range of hand tools, then also a bench saw, various chainsaws, a little jigsaw and I'm HOPING my brother ends up getting a bandsaw, that would be great!

; Thanks for fixing that :)

Also, I have questions just spilling out of me being a beginner, so where is the best place to post them? Do I make a new thread for each, try and find a similar/relevant thread if I can, or is there a thread I have overlooked somewhere that is designed for this purpose?
Thanks for all the replys!

[robo hippy]

I know there is a club or two in New Zeland. Try to get in touch with them. They will offer many opinions as to how you can get the most out of your wood. Most turners are very helpful, and personally, I love mentoring. Unfortunately, I am half the world away from you. The dry wood will keep, no problem. The olive log sections will start to crack soon.

robo hippy