O Christmas Tree

**joe greiner** · 6th March 2007, 09:09 AM

In early January, I rescued my neighbour's large Christmas tree from
roadside oblivion. He thought it was Douglas Fir. Later investigation
suggested it's actually Noble Fir. FWIW, the distinction is in the
needle pattern. In the Douglas Fir, the needles radiate around the
branch; in the Noble Fir, they're splayed on two sides. Turning a
Christmas tree is messy. Sap flies everywhere. The uniform of the day
is coveralls, latex disposable gloves, and face shield with an old
T-shirt made into a Yasser Arafat babushka.

This wood is quite soft. Lots of tearout. Gives new meaning to the
expression "roughing gouge." I did the final outside turning with a
detail gouge and a small skew chisel, both held almost perpendicular to
the lathe axis. Also used a regular wood chisel on the neck of vase #2,
to exploit its sharper bevel.

Pic 1 is a practice piece to assess the turning behavior, and to test
my newly-made hollowing tool (1/8" square HSS cutter in a round shank).
Minimum thickness is barely 1mm - almost made a funnel. This one taught
me that knot regions like to warp locally, or dimple, if the wall is
too thin. I didn't bother finishing the bottom; chuck impressions still
showing. 50mm dia x 90mm high.

Pic 2 is a small box or lidded bowl (take your pick). The knob/finial
design is derived from the onion domes seen on Russian Orthodox
churches, most famous of which is likely St. Basil's Cathedral in
Moscow. The single large crack is filled with a mortar of epoxy and
fresh coffee grounds. 95mm dia x 105mm high.

Pic 3 is just a vase. I located the top and bottom to capture most of
the knots in the wider portion. 104mm dia x 125mm high; about 5mm wall.

Pic 4 is a Romanesque vase, but without gargoyles, grape clusters, or
dancing maidens. I sort of stuffed it on the knot placement. I
originally intended it to be a deeper vase, but I chickened out on the
hollowing. It probably would have been wiser to defer the natural rim
turning until I had better established the knot locations and/or
thought a bit more about the hollowing. 110mm dia x 135mm high; 5mm
wall.

Pic 5 is a goblet. Natural edge at both the rim and the foot. I had to
re-mount it three times to get the foot centered, as its location was
about 50mm from the spur centre. The foot diameter is somewhat out of
proportion. The decision to make it that way was mine; the size itself
was established by God; please direct your complaints to Him. I
attempted to reduce the disparity by tapering the stem from 17mm to
14mm. 90mm dia x 210mm high; 6mm wall.

For all of these, I sanded at 100, 150, 220, and 400 grits; burnished
with shavings; paste wax, buffed on the lathe. [CA on the bark.]

I still have about 550 mm of trunk left. Probably two to four more
pieces in there someplace, depending on the knot patterns. And of
course, one of these or them will go to the neighbour.

Joe

**Gil Jones** · 6th March 2007, 10:11 AM

Nice save from oblivion, Joe.

**BernieP** · 6th March 2007, 12:55 PM

G'Day Joe

Like em all but especially #'s 2 & 3. You say used CA on bark, do you soak it or how? have a disc of campour I want to use and save bark on it.

Cheers
Bernie

**TTIT** · 7th March 2007, 09:24 AM

Interesting stuff Joe. I've never seen Fir over here but I'm sure someone has grown/used it. The only xmas trees round here are plastic - think I'll give it a miss

Nice work.

**silentC** · 7th March 2007, 09:41 AM

I grew up on a dairy farm in south eastern Victoria and cypress pines were common in windbreaks for the cows. I used to climb them as a kid and we always cut down a small one at Christmas. I remember sliding down the banks on the side of the road that were covered in brown pine needles.

When we moved to NSW, there were no cypress pines, so we made do with a small she oak each year. They look enough like a pine tree to pass.

Now we use a plastic tree. That's progress

**joe greiner** · 7th March 2007, 02:13 PM

Real Christmas trees are sort of an endangered species here, too. A lot of folks still buy one each year. Some even buy a live tree each year and plant it after about two weeks indoors. Makes for a gradual buildup of landscaping.

Bernie, I just dribbled the CA on the bark, while turning by hand, and let it drip into the cambium; wiped it with a paper towel to get it thin enough to dry. Almost got a few shreds of paper on the bark, but managed to pull it away just in time.

Joe

**silentC** · 7th March 2007, 02:34 PM

Real Christmas trees are sort of an endangered species here, too.

I thought it had been that way for a long time. I was watching TV the other day and Green Acres came on. Remember that? Used to watch it when I was a kid in the 60's.

This was a Christmas episode and Oliver Douglas had been reminiscing about the difficulty of getting a real tree in New York and was looking forward to having a 'real' tree for christmas, now that he was in the country. He tried to buy one at the local store, but all Sam Drucker had were aluminium trees that exuded artificial sap and came with a bag of pine needles to scatter on the floor.

So he decides he will cut down his own tree but soon discovers that it is illegal to cut down trees due to a conservation order. I didn't see the end of the show but he was prepared to do it, even though he faced a fine and he came up against the 'county agent'.

**Cliff Rogers** · 7th March 2007, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by silentC

...watching TV the other day and Green Acres came on..

Another day of alternate reality? (a state of boredom)

Originally Posted by silentC

.....I didn't see the end of the show but he was prepared to do it, even though he faced a fine and he came up against the 'county agent'.

Hell, now you have me in suspense...

**silentC** · 7th March 2007, 03:06 PM

It was actually quite a surreal show that.

Don't worry Cliff, I'm sure it all worked out in the end, in a quirky, surreal, yet amusing in that off-beat 60's American way

**TTIT** · 7th March 2007, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by silentC

....... I was watching TV the other day and Green Acres came on. Remember that? .........

Who could forget hot-water soup!!

**Cliff Rogers** · 7th March 2007, 03:13 PM

Green Acres theme (you have to buy it

)

Green Acres TV Land

**silentC** · 7th March 2007, 03:16 PM

If you want to hear the Green Acres theme, just turn on Fox Classics at about 1pm weekdays! Straight after Mother and Son

**BernieP** · 7th March 2007, 07:29 PM

G'Day Joe

Thanks for info will give it a go

Cheers
Bernie

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