turning practice!!

[M.cedro]

hey guys i have a quick question to ask. im fairly new to woodturning and was wondering is it worth buying bags of redgum firewood to practice on? ive also sourced a few green logs which i have now. where would be best place to find greenwood? i live in northern suburbs of melbourne so a bit hard to find stuff lying around?

thanks

[steamingbill]

Hello,

I have practised on freebies from local rubbish dump ( they like to call themselves a transfer station) - lots of pine pallets there

Bill

[nalmo]

My friends are always on the lookout for trees being cut down.
I regularly get calls when they see some - the trick is to get there as quickly as possible.
Pieces left on front nature strips often disappear in under 24 hours.

[Treecycle]

Do you have friends or rellies that have mature fruit trees? Sometimes a branch will die on an older tree and wood from fruit trees is a dream to turn.
Are you wanting to practice spindle or faceplate turning, or both?
I know that when you first start turning you think where do I get enough wood to turn from, but after a while when people start to know you turn, it will be offered to you in abundance. Wood clubs are also a good source of wood if you join one, as you have a collective of members who usually get free wood offered to them.

[issatree]

Hi M.credo,
As Dallas said, there is an abundance of Wood layinging on the ground. Sometimes in a Paddock. If so go & ask if you can have some.
Never take to much as you will find out, you will have a mountain of Wood in the blink of the eye.
I wood keep the Red Gum for future Projects, & don't Practice, do a small Project, or many of the same thing, to get your hand in.

[Rod Gilbert]

Many a good piece turned from the (fire)wood pile so yes you could get some useful turning pieces for practice but as stated previously you can find wood for this purpose in many and varied places a stick in the park can produce something amazing when turned,demolition timber scraps can be a good source of test pieces. The disease will get to where you will be gathering pieces every time you go out so keep you're eye's open and you will be surprised where you can find material.
Regards Rod.

[brendan stemp]

Any fiddleback timber is not particularly good for practising. The grain pattern/figure makes it difficult. The green stuff is better. Easy to cut and little/no dust.

If you can find your way up to Horsham I have an ever increasing scrap pile that has some good timber in it. It gets big in summer and smaller in winter but gradually grows in size. I obviously need to burn more of it, or give it away.

[Christos]

You will discover that wood will eventually come your way. It becomes almost second natural when you are traveling to keep your eye out for piece that might fit in the vehicle that you are traveling in.

In order to practice I made small things mainly between centers, bud vase, spinning tops, end grain egg cups handles anything that would allow me to become more familiar with the tools that I was using.

[mat_au]

i look on ebay and guntree under firewood you can usually get some stuff cheap or even free. i normally send them a email and do a trade for a bowl turned from the wood they give me

[greyhound]

Do you have friends or rellies that have mature fruit trees? Sometimes a branch will die on an older tree and wood from fruit trees is a dream to turn.
Are you wanting to practice spindle or faceplate turning, or both?
I know that when you first start turning you think where do I get enough wood to turn from, but after a while when people start to know you turn, it will be offered to you in abundance. Wood clubs are also a good source of wood if you join one, as you have a collective of members who usually get free wood offered to them.

I am having a much need clean up and found lots of goodies that I have forgotten about has been very exciting not knowing what I was going to come across next.
Have some good tuning timber I am going to dispose of suitable for you to practice on or do some project .
So if you want to come around I am sure you will find some that will suit your needs and the best part it is free.
I am in Wattle Glen.
Regards graham

[Christos]

....Have some good tuning timber I am going to dispose of suitable for you to practice on or do some project .
So if you want to come around I am sure you will find some that will suit your needs and the best part it is free.......

Well done greyhound, that's the nice thing about this forum.

[M.cedro]

thanks for all the feedback!

im in the process of joining a club and have collected a few pieces here and there and whatever i come across at work.

thanks for the offer greyhound i might hold you to that! ill send you a pm.

yes i do have family that own fruit farms so just waiting until there season comes to a end :)

[bookend]

Just a point no-one has mentioned yet. Be careful to avoid wood with cracks if you are new to turning. Firewood is notorious for cracks so cut them away before putting the blank on the lathe. The cracks are weaknesses that can cause the blank to split and send sharp pieces of kindling speeding in uncomfortable directions. Wear a facemask too.

[chuck1]

our local hardware shop still has a working sawmill, they sell off cuts of dry seasoned timber. like the post above. for practice turning crack and knot free timber will help with tool control and safety! then when your confidence has built and you have knotty timber it will be far easier to turn! and most of all pratice, pratice, and practice!

[jimbur]

You'll develop an eye for it. Prunings by councils along nature strips etc etc. In the end all you'll be seeing is useful bits and non-useful bits and the former will far outweigh the latter.:D

[Allan at Wallan]

thanks for all the feedback!

im in the process of joining a club and have collected a few pieces here and there and whatever i come across at work.

thanks for the offer greyhound i might hold you to that! ill send you a pm.

yes i do have family that own fruit farms so just waiting until there season comes to a end :)

Hi,
Welcome to the forum and woodturning in general.
"Greyhound" is a member of our woodturning club, "Northern Woodturners" in Browning St
Kingsbury, just behind the ambulance station.
Come along on a Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and say "Hello".
Woodturning clubs are a great place to swap pieces of wood and get to turn wood
under the guidance of others.

Allan

[Paul39]

M.cedro,

I have always hated to practice anything just to practice.

For practice I make tool handles, eggs, mallets, and mushrooms. I was having trouble with the skew some time ago and with some encouragement from and others, I persisted and spent about 50 hours making tool handles.

The early ones have some nicks and a a light spiral here and there, but the latest ones are nice enough to sell.

I have enough handles to put two or three on all of my turning tools.

I think it is good to make something and completely finish it so I exercise my mind with design, turn it, sand it, finish with Tung Oil, cut off the ends and sand and finish them.

This gets me in the routine of start to finish, even though I may just set it on a shelf in the shed.

I make mostly bowls, between center things are for entertainment.

[RETIRED]

I make mostly bowls, between center things are for entertainment.Ya heathen and heretic. :D

[powderpost]

Ya heathen and heretic. :D
Another well versed and intelligent man that understands real wood turning.... :brava
Jim

[Paul39]

Ya heathen and heretic. :D

I think going from calling that paint can opener an accursed skew to using it for entertainment a step up.

I did find by accident that a gentle curve on the cutting edge of a skew is nice for the planing cut.

I had a cheap Chinese carbon skew that I used for finishing ends close to the drive center and for parting with the toe. It became gently curved due to wear on the pointy end. I liked it so much I ground my Henry Taylor the same.