Thread: hi ppl

OK... I'll assume you're a novice to turning here; my apologies if you're not.

I'd put it to one side and start off with cheaper, more readily available woods. Not that there's anything wrong with mistletoe, well... I wouldn't really know, not having turned any. But it's not something I come across every day, so I'd keep it for something special or at least get some basic skills under my belt before tackling it.

Scrap KD from building sites (which is usually Vic Ash/Tas Oak), Redgum billets salvaged from firewood piles, even jarrah & kwila offcuts from decking are good learning materials. Learning materials? Hell, they're all just plain, good stuff to turn. Cheap is just a bonus. It makes turning so much more enjoyable when you're not worring about cost of materials.

The only things I'd suggest you stay away from, for a while at least, are softwoods like radiata and oregon. They're mongrel stuff to get a good finish on at the best of times.

Originally Posted by davos2006

i would like to buy a smallish lathe for turning, i have been told that mistletoe would be a good timber to start with but am thinking it may be a little hard to tackle? have you any ideas for me please?

I picked up a few mistletoe/blackbutt blobs last weekend with a mate and they are definitely not for beginners. Lots of loose bits and so on - could be a lot of ducking involved! Go with Skew's suggestions - much safer option.

PS: Send the mistletoes to me to look after while your learning the ropes!

I know it must be a Aussie tree, but I've never seen one. Where I live, mistletoe is a green parasite that grows in trees, and I've never seen a stem on it bigger than an inch... hang it over some chick's head, at Christmas, and you get to kiss her. )))

So... someone tell me about the Mistletoe/blackbutt 'blob' stuff mentioned in TTIT's post. )

Originally Posted by OGYT

I know it must be a Aussie tree, but I've never seen one. Where I live, mistletoe is a green parasite that grows in trees, and I've never seen a stem on it bigger than an inch... hang it over some chick's head, at Christmas, and you get to kiss her. )))

So... someone tell me about the Mistletoe/blackbutt 'blob' stuff mentioned in TTIT's post. )

Certain types of trees here tend to fight\react to the mistletoe and create a kind of burl (burr to you guy's) where the mistletoe attaches. I thought I was being Robinson Crusoe again when we collected them but as usual, next day on the net, I found someone else (under Turners, Michael Harvey) had turned them before. Will try and post some pics tonight.

Originally Posted by OGYT

So... someone tell me about the Mistletoe/blackbutt 'blob' stuff mentioned in TTIT's post. )

Pics attached - these are all off Blackbutt trees and have been dead for some time. Depending on how these turn out, we may go back and try to get some green ones. A mate has the 4th one - will post some pics when either of us get something finished.

Those look sweet!!
How big are they?

M

They are neat to turn, the ones I have done have not been hard. I was concerned that the difference in hardness between the woods would be an issue. They are not really a beginners piece, trying to cut a straight line through space without having bevel support the whole way around is a bit difficult to start out on. To me they are really neat because you can see an immense amount of detail about the interaction of the two plants.

Originally Posted by PAH1

They are neat to turn, the ones I have done have not been hard. I was concerned that the difference in hardness between the woods would be an issue. They are not really a beginners piece, trying to cut a straight line through space without having bevel support the whole way around is a bit difficult to start out on. To me they are really neat because you can see an immense amount of detail about the interaction of the two plants.

Got any pics PAH ?:confused:

thanx for that guys i had no idea that turning would be such an art. not much has come out as yet lol. will try with kd first.

what would be a fairly easy thing to turn first please?
im thinking of a cup as i have 120 by 100 block

TTIT

I am afraid I do not, am in the process of getting a new computer (at home) and when that is up and running I may be able to get to it. I am not sure which bit you are asking about, it is the wood density bit the mistletoe and the euc are very different densities and so the cut can proceed differently in both, that was not so much of an issue in the ones that I have done. If it is the cut through space bit, as you open it up you open voids, if you have any! lateral pressure on the gouge you cut slightly deeper on the next part that actually hits the wood, it takes a bit of practice and technique to avoid that. I initially thought that it was impossible, practice takes care of that. If you mean the interaction you will see is when you do the piece, basically you have mistletoe wood surrounded by bark, on the host side of the bark you will suddenly see small root like things terminating at the hosts bark. They are the roots that take the water from the host, it is rather neat, I am a trained biologist and never thought about it untill I turned one.

Davos
From that sort of block you could make a bowl but you don't give the third dimension or which way the grain runs. I would make the same advice which I did not do untill well after I started turning, get a green stick of wood, and either split it and rough turn some bowls (or try for thin green warped bowls) or do the sorts of exercises recommended in Raffan's turning wood book. The time taken to do those things makes a great difference in your enjoyment of the woodwork later. The best thing that i started to do was rough out bowls to finish later and do dimple spindle exercises to learn how to use a skew and to hollow end grain properly (not claiming to be an expert but much better than when I started). One thing that I still love doing is spinning tops, the first bad one took me 45 min, I can now do it in less than 5.

Mistletoe here in US is a small Parasite that grows in the top of old trees. very small branches and I can't see how you can obtain a piece large enough to turn. Never thought of turning it. Interesting. Puzzlment to my small mind, Is the plant larger in the Wonderland where you reside?

Or is it the same Parasite with small white berries (poison) that you get kissed if you are under it at Christmas time?

Sorry to drift from the primus of the posting but.... my little noggin was in disarray.... As for the starter wood for beginners, You lucky "Blokes" have so many beautiful woods that practice pieces shouldn't be hard to come by.

Hickory

Yes it does get relatively big, pieces the size and rough shape of your american footballs are common. However it is not the branches that you turn but the piece that connects the branches to the host. They do get berries and there is a mistletoe bird, however they are not from the same family as the european/american type.