Wood and log encyclopedia

[brainiac]

Borrowed my (very kind) neighbour's mitre saw again and cut up some recently collected green wood.
Workers cut back tree growth under phone lines near here. They couldn't get a chipper close
enough - it's a footpath - so they left the cuttings by the side of the path.
There was usable beech, ash and holly.

Here's the ash I took. Got two blanks from this piece. Drilled one of them out, second is in reserve.

Also cut, stripped and drilled a holly blank. All my previous holly blanks have split during drying,
in less than a fortnight, even when I waxed the ends. All except one.
A guy who makes bowls on a lathe from green wood came up with the idea of wrapping his blanks
in about 30 layers of newspaper to control the drying process. My holly blank was cut and wrapped
five weeks ago when it's moisture content reading was 31%. It's now down to 19% and no splits.

Here's today's drilled holly blank pre and post debarking.

That remaining bark is in a small depression in the side of the blank and I'm leaving it in for now.

We'll see if those lovely curves survive the drying process. It's now in 30 sheets of newspaper
Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

. Oops got confused... material was ceramic not wood.
Edited.

 

[brainiac]

Rustic #3
Now this one's seriously rustic.
It's a section of ivy stem with a strange grey/blue patina with some brown markings.
Yes, it looks a bit weird but I don't mind that at all.
It has sanded to a fine finish and feels silky smooth to the touch.
Also it's shape makes it feel natural and comfortable in the hand. It's a very tactile piece.

No two ivy units are ever going to be the same.
It's lovely wood to work with and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for some more of it.

 

[brainiac]

Well, I bashed out a few oak and pine handrail units and then got back to the Rustic project.
This one's #4. It's from a branch of an apple tree that got damaged when the tree next to it
got blown down in a storm. I debarked it, drilled base and heater wells and wrapped it in newspaper
until the moisture content was down to 15%. I rounded and smoothed the top and drilled the connector apperture but other than that did nothing to the wood. It's fine grained and works nicely. It's also
quite solid with a pleasing heft. I would happily make another of these.

Pros and cons of drilling a blank whilst it's still green: it's much easier to work when it's green and the drilling helps it to dry out much faster. On the down side - there is some shrinkage and some warping.
The latter is no big issue for a Rustic but the shrinkage means that I can't get a washer down that heater well to make it look tidy. Doesn't bother me much but someone else might see the piece as unfinished.

The big issue with green wood is the likelyhood of splits occuring during drying. I thought I had it under control with the 'wrapping them in newspapers' gambit. But the warmer weather - I'm guessing that's what it is - is causing splits in most of my stock blanks. Probably just requires somewhere cooler for
dry-time storage. I'll have to work on it. Plain sailing it is not - here are some failures:

Three plum blanks that didn't make it. And, what was going to be my Venus de Brainiac ...

looks great on that side, but...

That's ivy, btw. Oh yes, and remember that Sycamore unit with the lovely pale yellow hues?
It's back on page 2. Well, the yellow's gone a bit brown . Exposure to light, I guess.

It's still mostly trial and error for now - and learning, lots of learning.

 

[brainiac]

Just to add to that dismal catalogue..

We'll see if those lovely curves survive the drying process. It's now in 30 sheets of newspaper
Will let you know how it goes.

Sadly, they didn't.

Perhaps it's not wise to get too fond of an undried blank. I've now considerably extended the drying
times to months rather than weeks so we'll see how that goes. Here's the latest batch.

Apple on the left, six scots pine and three walnut.

Here are two contiguous apple blanks that might work out well.