Gloat

Since Christmas I have been cutting bowl blanks. A friend called me that his son had cut a large sweetgum tree. It was large enough that I could cut an 16 inch bowl blank off each side leaving an 8 inch slab with the pith. From this I can make two 8 inch bowls on each side of the pith making 6 bowls from each section. So far I have 24 large blanks and uncounted small ones. There is nearly that much left but with the 70 degree weather I can only keep at it a couple of hours.

Anybody ever used sweetgum for bowls? It is beautiful brown with tans and oranges mixed in. Looks sorta like petrified wood.

Reply to
Gerald Ross
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On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 13:54:12 -0600, Gerald Ross wrote (in message ):

sounds like you hit a wood bonanza! am mildly puzzled about the reference to

70 deg. weather, and thus only able to "keep at it a couple of hours" I'm thinking this is a gentle jab at us snowbound folks who would be willing to do *anything* all day long, if it were 70 degrees... not just for a couple of hours. Humor. That's it, it must be humor. I guess I'm chuckling a little. heh.

If the roads are open tomorrow, I might snowshoe into the back 40, and get me a few chunks of frozen birch to mess around with.

Good catch on the sweetgum! (I don't mean "catch" like might could happen with a chisel, I mean you done a good thing)

tom koehler

Reply to
tom koehler

I just did a search on Google and found quite a few bowls that were made from Sweetgum. I had never heard of it before. It is nice looking wood. Nice find.

I just brought home a maple tree trunk that was 25 feet long and about

30 inches in diameter. Gorgeous wood. A friend of mine brought his portable saw mill to the sight and we cut them into fairly large chunks. I have some pieces that are 24 inches wide by 10 inches thick by 5 feet long. Real heavy stuff. I have already rough turned a 19 inch bowl out of it and cored it to make a smaller one from the inside piece.

So much to turn. Too little time. Ted

Reply to
Ted

Here is some input from The "The Wood Explorer" software tool... [ stars are like votes. Easy to glue is voted 3x more than difficult to glue... Some things to think about - Turning is fair to Very Good.

Martin

Silica Content

  • Siliceous

Toxicity

  • Dermatitic effects Ease of Drying
  • Requires careful seasoning to prevent degrade
  • Moderate
  • Dries at a rapid rate Blunting Effect There is only a mild blunting effect on cutting edges because of gummy deposits.

Boring

  • Good (75+ pieces out of 100 will yield good to excellent results)
  • Easy

Cutting Resistance

**** Easy to saw

  • Cutting Resistance with green wood is easy

  • Cutting Resistance with dry wood is easy The wood is generally easy to work and has low resistance to sawing. Gummy deposits in red gum may cause cutting edges to blunt slightly

Gluing

**
  • Easy
to glue
  • Good gluing properties
  • Difficult to glue Planing
**** Fairly Difficult to Very Difficult

The wood is reported to plane readily to yield a smooth and shiny finish. (Number of planed pieces without any machining defects out of one hundred = 51)

Turning

** Very Good to Excellent Results ** Fair to Good Results

** Easy to turn American Red Gum responds well to both hand and machine tools in turning. (Percent of turned pieces with fair to excellent results = 86)

Gerald Ross wrote:

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

You really suck, Gerald.. Hope you sell a bunch of them and the friend ends up with a nice bowl as a thank you..

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Tom, I think Gerald is saying that from the time he cuts a blank and it starts drying/cracking.degrading is pretty short with that particular wood at that temperature.. Not sure WHY, though, as he's in Georgia and I'd guess that the humidity is high there?

mac

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Reply to
mac davis

Reply to
robo hippy

What I'm saying is, I'm out of shape and that is sweaty work.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

I got hold of some about 3 years ago and it turns and turns out beautifully. They sold great too. This is the first chance I've had to get a significant supply again.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 11:47:15 -0600, Gerald Ross wrote (in message ):

Oh. OK. My bad. Am used to being teased by others in warmer climes, and this just sort of fit in with that kind of teasing. Am trusting that you are looking out for yourself, then, please. tom k.

Reply to
tom koehler

Applying a couple *thick* coats of latex paint to the end grain, or better yet, applying some end-grain sealer would go a long ways towards solving that issue...

...Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Miller

It's not an issue. I seal with wax emulsion when I get the blanks home. Works great. The real issue is cutting the log, cutting the blanks and lugging 30-50 pound blanks and loading them on the truck. But I am enjoying the thought of turning the finished bowls next summer.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

Takes a real man to admit that, Gerald.. rofl

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

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