Thread: Sheaok Vase??

Hi Neil,

I hope this one turns out for you!! What a ripper of a sheoak log!!

I have to agree - a natural-edged vase would look a million dollars from this log!

Cheers
Wendy

Good luck and I hope it goes well for you!!!

Pete

On a piece like this, minor splitting will not be noticed in the finished product. I reccomend turning it to an almost finished diameter, of around 4mm, put it in a freezer for 5 days, and then take it out, let it defrost, and then place it in a fridge for 5 more days, finish it, and it will be dry as.

If I was turning it, I would turn it, finish it, and then let it dry, a piece like this, will look great with a lot of warp, a few splits, and a high gloss finish.

With the natural edge, do not make it to wide and overpowering, leave it around 1/2" wide, so as to create a nice contrasting band up the top.

Hope it works out,
Joash

Thanks Joash. I was planning to do an overhung lip as per the sketch, but it may not work out, probably end up with a small lip as you suggest.

My freezed is pretty much full of food, no room for a large lump like this. I did have a few slices of the same log for clocks in the metho/detergent mix for 4 weeks. When I took them out I put them in shavings, but they still ended up with star cracks I thought I could still resin fill, but within a few weeks I had a heap of little pieces .

Gopherit Neil, looks like a great challenge to take on!!
It won't be big of a piece to chew on if you take small bites
I really want to see the finished piece!!

Neil, I have a couple of bits of She Oak here that unfortunately split pretty badly. My fault though I didn't get them sealed soon enough . That one looks great and with the outer surfaces the shape they are it should make an awesome vase. Look forward to seeing it. Have fun with it and good luck.
Wayne

ah well, if it cracks then you get some for pen blanks, hey?

That is a nice lump of wood though.

i wonder why i never seem to hear much about sap replacing in containers of water?

Originally Posted by tashammer

i wonder why i never seem to hear much about sap replacing in containers of water?

Maybe 'cos it doesn't work as well as containers of alcohol or LDD?

I've never had much luck force-drying sheoak either. Nuking in the microwave works, but I've only done small pieces that way. I'm not too sure how well larger pieces would nuke... the odd few I've come across I've always sealed and racked. Too exxy to experiment with.

You could consider perhaps an easier shape ... with that kind of cross section a martini glass form can look spekky. Do a google for Brian Clifford's website in the UK which has a pic and some tips.

I managed to turn the beast this weekend. I ended up going for beeds and coves instead of the original shape I sketched. Should have stuck to the orginal, don't like it now - the trunk is too thick and long and it looks out of proportion. My wood talking translater must be broken

It started cracking while I was turning it, and along with a few chunks coming off from the edge, I did a fair bit of CA repairs. After turning I soaked it and burnished it with Organoil, then gave it a coat of Danish Oil, but it still continued to crack

I will give it a few more coats of Daish Oil then take some pics. I also kept the spigot on as I can see myself re-turning it after it has finished drying.

Two questions:
Very interested to read Neil's experience with his she oak and the responses. Today, acting under instructions from SWMBO i have been doing major pruning work on some trees on our driveway including four she oaks, but are they what Neil and others are describing?
If so I will certainly sort out some of the best pieces tomorrow - mostly at least 400 mm dia for later wood turning.
We have known these trees as Casuarina, and from the books, probably C. cunninghamiana "River she oak", in Readers Digest -Gardeners encyclopaedia of plants and flowers - Australia and N.Z.

I'm so wary of the unfamiliar Australian names for timbers.

In the freshly cut limbs there is a hint of the grain of Banksia integrifolia, although quite white rather than the rich reddy brown of the Banksia which I have been "blank banking" with water soluble wax recently.
I've never heard before of Joash's freezing method of speeding up the drying process. Is that generally succesful?

Keep talking to the wood, and hug a tree today!

Cheers,

ROB NZ

I've been playing with some sheoak lattely.

Radial shrinkage on this stuff is huge. the outside has further to shrink than the inside therefore splitting is inevitable unless you do something to relieve the posible stress.

I have microwave dried some small stuff with good success.
But this shrinkage is wild.
I rough turned a couple of bowl like objects . I turned a spigot on the bottom for the chuck in expansion.... recess about 55mm ID....after drying a couple of them were oval recesses about 48mm across the short diameter. thats more than 10% radial shrinkage and these logs were far from green and I had already cut arround one lot of cracks.
These were half log crossgrain bowls.

Turning whole log..... best of luck.
That centre core at the bottom of the vase will be where your problem comes from.
When rough turning.. be very generous with your recut allowance.

No matter if it does crack......you can fix it with some resin "Mr Resin King"

cheers

LDD ? And i can't see alcohol lasting to long around some of you lot; stick it in the tractor or the vegisolarcar.

Originally Posted by ROB NZ

she oaks, but are they what Neil and others are describing?

I have 3 sheoaks, what I call Casuarina (Beach Sheoak - Casuarina equisetifolia), what I call Rose Sheoak (Allocasuarina torulosa), and this one that I just call Sheoak (River sheoak - Casuarina cunninghamiana)

Originally Posted by soundman

That centre core at the bottom of the vase will be where your problem comes from.
When rough turning.. be very generous with your recut allowance.

No matter if it does crack......you can fix it with some resin

I turned this one to final, sort of, the inside still has walls of 10mm so I can still re-turn. I did seal the spigot end with some paint I had lying around. The crack to date are on the sides.

It has and no doubt continue to crack, and yes I intend to fil with resin. There are limits however, if it cracks and warps (ie crack no longer line up), it may not be worth filling the cracks.

Post some piccies tomorrow.

Cheers