Thread: Rougher than usual

Must be the season for it Geoff - Just finished roughing out a green hollow form myself to test my new support rig. That spalted pepperina is spectacular looking stuff Don't forget to post pics when they're finished.
Wouldn't even hazard a guess at the mystery piece but the effect of the knot on the inside looks good

Nice turnings!

The "Mystery wood" kind'a looks like Silky Oak?!?!

Ed

Wow.

I'd love a bit of timber that looked that good, that is a real find.

Wet turning is fun (so long as you aren't getting soaked.)

The splatted timber shore is spectacular a very good find indeed

Originally Posted by TTIT

Must be the season for it Geoff - Just finished roughing out a green hollow form myself to test my new support rig. That spalted pepperina is spectacular looking stuff Don't forget to post pics when they're finished.
Wouldn't even hazard a guess at the mystery piece but the effect of the knot on the inside looks good

couldn't say it any better meself.

new support rig?

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

............

new support rig?

Shhhhh! Not ready for posting here just yet.

Originally Posted by Seventh Wood

G'day All,

I have tried some wet rough turning (inspired by Cliff Rogers and his recent turnings) and the results are interesting.

I picked up three pieces of pepperina from a recent tree clearing at the Clare (SA) oval and several pieces of some feral (possible an oak of some kind?). One of the pepper tree pieces has had water ingress and some spectacular spalting, as the photos show. I got the three rough-turned bowls from one half of the piece, but the pith had started rotting and limited the bowl depth by the time I had cut it all out.

The other bowl has some remarkable figure - any ideas as to what timber it is? All bowls are about 250 mm diameter.

I just about needed a raincoat to turn the pepper tree and had to clean the sap off everything with the WD40 when I had finished. I also dicovered that I needed to put a plastic sheet over the base when chucking the bases of the bowls, as the first stained from the reaction between the sap and the chuck jaws. I have a much larger lump of pepperina (about 400 mm diameter) with good colur but not much spalting and I will try it before it dries out too much. It will allow much deeper bowls.

Now to see how much they warp and split before I finish them off!

Cheers,

7th Wood

Yeah, interesting pieces of wood, no doubt...!
I didn't see you mentioning any particular "coating" of those green rough turnings, and I wondering if you are going to leave them like that or not. I would strongly suggest that you coat them with a good timber stabiliser, to allow the timber to dry in a more controlled way. I use the Fungishield from Feast Watson, and I give them 1 soaking coat after turned and other the next day, before I put them away to dry. Anything that one can do (use) to prevent green turning to crack or warp beyond repair/use, is a good thing, mainly with unusual and one off type timbers like those of yours.
Whatever you do, good luck with them!

Cheers
RBTCO

That spalting looks awesome but make sure you have a good quality face mask/filtration when you do the final turning.

I'm with Ed on the mystery wood, when I first saw the picture I thought could be Silky Oak, but the grain doesn't look tight enough (compared to the limited pieces I have seen before). I think I posted a pic of silky oak in the past, I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks for the comments, Guys,

I note the advice on sealing freshly turned green timber. I am still a novice but am having mixed results - some timbers are OK but others are prone to splitting. I have just wet turned a piece of fresh SA Blue Gum and it has split after one day! However a piece from a tree branch that dropped two years ago has been fine. The Raffan Bowl Turning book says he doesn't bother with sealing and loses only one in 20 to splitting or warping, but I think I will experiment.

The mystery timber is a lot denser and heavier than Silky Oak. I have green turned a silky bowl recently from a tree felled by a neighbour, and it is a lot lighter and a finer texture, but then not all trees are the same. It certainly has the strong rays and a texture like silky but feels more like oak. Nice timber though - I still have to do the other half of the piece.

Cheers,

7th Wood