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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Rockhampton CQ
    Posts
    120

    Default Purchasing Wood for Turning

    I was perusing the American site "Woodworkingtalk.com" today and in the "Best Timber for Turning" thread, the OP stated about cocobolo that, "That will be one of my next purchases". Purchase?? What you talkin' about, Willis?

    "Purchase" as in buying, I guess. What a novel idea. Is this an American wood turning thing, or do Australian wood turners do it too?

    I am only a novice in this game, but I reckon if it ain't free, it ain't good enough to turn!

    Cheers,
    "A".

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Minbun, FNQ, Australia
    Age
    66
    Posts
    12,881

    Default

    Free is good, I have however, bought & sold timber for turning.... not just an old bit of pine or a gum tree & I have never bought or sold a lump of mango timber but, some of the nicer stuff that is hard to get in your area is worth paying for.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Emerald, QLD
    Posts
    4,486

    Default

    Being raised by a bloke that filled a 1/2 acre block with logs stacked 6 foot high left me thinking the same thing before I joined the forum and met people that didn't have much choice. A lot of the blokes in the smoke don't have access to easy timber like we do, nor the room to process and store it. I did actually buy a log once but I usually just trade what I collect myself to get the species I can't get with a chainsaw
    .
    Updated 8th of February 2024

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Bristol, UK
    Age
    66
    Posts
    1,540

    Default

    It would appear that you have more liberty with chainsaws and wild trees than we do. Just going out and 'helping ourselves' to woodland trees is mostly frowned upon.

    However the sound of a chainsaw always attracts and making friends with the local council Parks Authority or Tree Surgeons usually pays dividends, along with that universal saying - 'Buy yourself a drink.'
    Dragonfly
    No-one suspects the dragonfly!

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    When I started I only ever bought blanks face-to-face. Some woods are good to learn on; others aren't, and a reputable supplier can advise. The blanks were all waxed, dry, round and sound - which meant they were ready to turn and finish and no investment in a bandsaw or chainsaw was needed. And there was a wide range of species. Not everyone can wander into the bush and score a lump of Huon or Tiger Myrtle eg.
    Cheers, Ern

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    298

    Default

    I haven't bought anything yet, I just harvest the urban forest - whatever is left on the roadside by people over the weekend.

    I can't at the moment thought, I've run out of space to put it all!

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    Yeah. That's a drawback of a good find or donation. You often end up up to your ears in it. And blocking down isn't a trivial task. Swapping or sharing is the way to go.
    Cheers, Ern

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    North Of The Boarder
    Age
    68
    Posts
    16,794

    Default

    Ssshhhhhhhhhhhhsss don't tell the yanks a fellow here in Oz is making good money selling Burls to them.

    I have bought timber for turning Rosewood & Huon & Burl other than that FREE is best.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Flinders Shellharbour
    Posts
    5,689

    Default

    I tend to buy my burls, all be it reluctantly. But I must confess, usually at whole sale rates and it does involve a little more expenditure.
    The rest I glean,swap,beg, borrow, and hassle my local wood loppers sorry 'tree surgeons' Plus I have several well meaning friends who keep an eye out for me and deposit lumps at the front door
    Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. — Pablo Picasso


  11. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    belgrave
    Age
    61
    Posts
    7,934

    Default

    Might have to buy a bit of cocobolo one day cos it doesn't seem to grow round here. :S But also I feel that local customers actually like the fact the wood is local as well. I have found a local bloke with a few properties full of drying slabs. He is definitely on my xmas card list.
    anne-maria.
    T
    ea Lady

    (White with none)
    Follow my little workshop/gallery on facebook. things of clay and wood.

  12. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Melbourne, Aus.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    12,746

    Default

    If you're into selling your work, a story attached to each piece often helps.
    Cheers, Ern

  13. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    North Carolina, USA
    Posts
    2,327

    Default

    I have turned up my nose at "store bought" timber. I have driveway, side, and back yard full of all kinds of timber, all picked up here and there. I heat with wood, so not all is for turning.

    Two months ago I saw an exquisite mushroom made of palm timber in my local hardware and exotic wood supplier. Later a chunk of palm showed up, and after hemming and hawing for 3 weeks I bought it for $27.

    Today I sawed off a slab and started a bowl. I used a pruning blade on a reciprocating saw, it took forever and dulled the blade.

    I started with a high speed steel bowl gouge which was dull after three passes across the bottom. The carbide tipped Easy finisher did the job, slowly and with piles of fine dust.

    See photos for the texture. The blade of the square is 305mm.

    I'll start another thread for the palm bowl, so as not to further hijack this one.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    So much timber, so little time.

    Paul

  14. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Horsham Victoria
    Posts
    901

    Default

    Is there such a thing as free wood.

    I often get given logs but there is still a lot of effort, time and expense in breaking them down and drying it. There is the cost of the fuel and oil for a chainsaw, (you need to have spent money on the chainsaw in the first place), there is the bandsaw and the electricity to run it, the consumables such as blades or chains and end sealer, and then you need the space to store the wood as it dries. There is also the cost of transporting it from the location to your home. Perhaps a trailer is needed, these cost money. And then there is the waste. Just as an example, there is a redgum mill near where I live and the owner has told me that 20% of his quota ends up as top grade timber. The rest is second grade, fence posts or chips. And even when all the timber you have stacked and stickered is finally dry there will be lots that can't be used because it is cracked or perhaps the borers have got into it.

    If you add up all the money spent on owning all this equipment it would come to quite a lot, not to mention the time. When people ring me up with a the offer of a log I do not contemplate it if they are asking some money for it. I know all too well how much it costs just to get it to usable boards.

    THe only free timber is the stuff that is delivered to your workshop ready to turn. Occasionally this happens but not often.

    I have tons of timber lying around my place but I still buy the occasional piece of wood. There are some species I can't get or then there are those very special bits of fiddleback or otherwise highly figured timbers that I can't resist.

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast
    Age
    63
    Posts
    847

    Default

    When I first started turning, I was given stuff by family, friends, co-workers, club tutors and of course I picked stuff up from the road side and my own garden/yard. But, because I didn't have any safe and convenient way to re-saw and prepare blanks I also bought ready to turn blanks from a local woodworking/turning supplier, TWW shows and my local club.

    Although most of the free stuff can best be described as "ordinary", it serves a purpose. Because I was inexperienced, the same could be said about some of the ones I purchased too.

    I've added to my machinery collection especially to prepare my own blanks safely and easily but I still need to purchase most of my timber because strangely enough, species selection is limited in Gold Coast suburbia. I keep looking for harvestable Jarrah burls but don't think one will turn up and while admittedly I have an unlimited free supply of highly figured ironbark through a family member but it just eats my chisels and saw blades. Besides, it's nice to walk out of a timber merchant with 15 to 20 different timber types.

    Now that I'm turning pens, my "need" for a greater range of timber species has just increased.

  16. #15
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Burleigh, Gold Coast
    Age
    32
    Posts
    15

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dabbler View Post
    I keep looking for harvestable Jarrah burls but don't think one will turn up and while admittedly I have an unlimited free supply of highly figured ironbark through a family member but it just eats my chisels and saw blades.
    Hi Dabbler.
    Apologies for interjecting; perhaps then you'd be able to help me with sourcing a strip of ironbark, also being from the Gold Coast?
    Maybe PM if you have anything you're willing to part with.

    Jack

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