newbee needs help

[smeds]

Hi all well i've been to the brissie wood show and have come away with a new jet electronic lathe and a heap of new tools. But just the other day i was lucky enough to come across a bloke who had just felled a mango and jacarada tree and all the timber was free for the taking. What i need to know now is how do i get it ready for tuning, most pieces are about 300 to 400mm across and about 1mtr long, some are longer. Should i get out the chainsaw and cut them into usable sizes for drying or just leave them to dry the way they are. If i do cut them up do i take of the bark, if so how is the best way to do this. What is the best way to dry them. Any help would be great.

[powderpost]

Hi Smeds, the jacaranda is fairly placid timber and there doesn't seem to be much of a problem with borers. Mango is quite susceptable to lyctus borer and also the auger beetle. Lorsban is a good deterent for borers. If you don't like chemicals (I don't) them remove the bark and coat the whole piece, round or slabs, with 'Mobilcer "M"' if you can get it or "endcheck", both water based wax emulsions. Two or three coats of a water based paint will do for second best. Mango tends to rot from the inside out. So I reckon it is better to rip the logs into about 100 to 125mm slabs to assist drying, then coat the slabs. As a rule of thumb, allow one year per inch of thickness to dry. Of course that will depend on a where and how it is stored. Good ventilation and seperate the layers with 19mm square stick to help ventilation. Consider also rough turning blanks with about 19mm wall thickness, and storing in a bag of sawdust. Weigh the blanks monthly and when the weight has stabilised, finish them off. Hope ths helps.....
Jim

[Baz]

Smeds your best bet is split the logs down the centre (lenghtwise) then cut into 3 or 4 pieces, you said they were 300 to 400 wide, draw a circle to the max dia and trim the excess off with the chainsaw. Attach a faceplate to the blank and turn, slow speed at first, the speed up as the blank becomes balanced. By the way water will be flying out of the timber. Leave a spigot on the bottom, remove the faceplate and grip the spigot with your chuck and remove the guts of your blank. Make sure you turn off any of the pith and leave the bowl thickness about 25-30mm. You can coat the bowl with any end grain sealer or bury the bowl in the shavings or put the bowl and some shavings in a bag. Store under the house. In 5 months the bowl is dry and ready to be finished. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Barry

[smeds]

thanks all for the help, i just have to decide on which piece to turn first

[Grunt]

newbee needs help

Most of the people on this board need help. Especially those who have been around for awhile.

Who stole my pancakes? My foilie?

[ozwinner]

Most of the people on this board need help. Especially those who have been around for awhile.

Who stole my pancakes? My foilie?
Just cant help you self can you Grunt?
I, on the other hand............................

Al :rolleyes: