green eucalyptus

[Tonyz]

council have been prunning the local flora and I got a couple of logs about 150/200 mm dia and 1500 long straight as a die/dyke (opps) Questions:
1. are they worth keeping we have an old cheap lathe here.
2. When should they go on the lathe
3. If kept till dry how to prevent severe cracking
4. any other suggestions Iam new at this.

regards Tonto

[rowie]

council have been prunning the local flora and I got a couple of logs about 150/200 mm dia and 1500 long straight as a die/dyke (opps) Questions:
1. are they worth keeping we have an old cheap lathe here.
2. When should they go on the lathe
3. If kept till dry how to prevent severe cracking
4. any other suggestions Iam new at this.

regards Tonto

1.all woods worth keeping.Even if it ends up as firewood:eek:
2.asap.or see 4.
3.no matter of ;painting, waxing, plastic wrapping, u name it , will stop those logs from splitting while they still have the heart/pith.
4.u could split em in 1/2,do one of the above,hide it out of the sun & hope for the best.
hiho silver away. (is that the one?):) :rolleyes:

[hughie]

4.u could split em in 1/2,do one of the above,hide it out of the sun


Keep em out of draughts etc, seal the ends with some sort of sealer.

I rough turn mine and then soak them in soap for up wards of a month. Then dry em out in a paper bag or cardboard box, checking on them regularly. Keep the CA handy for slowing down splitting or cracks.

The slower the process seems to be best.

Ya gotta have patience :mad: there ain't any instant gratification in wood drying :D

hughie

[rsser]

There's a lot of ordinary wood out there ... do a cut and see if there's some interesting figure.

Otherwise I wouldn't bother; takes me about 30 mins to get each sealed hexagon bowl blank out of a log, another 30-60 to rough turn and reseal. Then wait for 6 months or so. It's got to be worth the effort.