Turning Spruce

Tough, between the sap pockets and general softness. Sharp, sharp tools are your best shot

I find with spruce the fireplace works best...

This is Douglas Fir... anyone have an idea on how this was turned?

more...

Search Google for "The Wood Explorer" tool - great research.

Doug Fir - used to have half a dozen with over a hundred coastal Redwoods. I left them there and hope they still are growing.

Moderate blunting effect. Farly easy to bore Fair to good results in carving. Easy to to saw.

'spruce' - only 1 of 35 or so evergreen trees - vague name usage but common in general talk.

Norway spruce is a species. It is one of the 35. They are all different...

Mart> >> Just came into some green spruce sections. Any tips on what works well

Never tried it, Gerald, but it doesn't appear to be a common turning wood.. Let me know how ya do on it!

The first bowl I roughed out and bagged 5 days ago split across. I endgrain sealed the remaining 5. And it is STICKY. I had a pair of those thin knit gloves with the plastic coated palms that I use when handling this stuff, otherwise I would look like the tar baby.

The sap will wreak havoc w/a varnish type finish. I'd recommend either using shellac or an oil finish.

Or you could cook it in the over at around 350 for a couple hours to crystalize the sap. This is best done when your wife will be gone for an extended period. It's a hard one to blame on the dog...

if you turn it to about 1/8 inch (or thinner) immediately, it won't split and it will make an attractive bowl - the sap will help keep it translucent

Sounds scary.

Gotcha. That takes care of the cracking. But where does the sanding come in? While it is wet and sticky? Or after firing it as Kevin suggested. Maybe boiling it in dish washing detergent would take care of everything.

Only if you get caught! ;-)

I would think this would split the wood into toothpicks since it has a tendency to split even in a paper bag. Unless you mean after the bowl is dry.

I was thinking more along the lines of "kiln drying" the blanks before they were turned. With lots of extra on the ends for checking.

Or letting the blank dry for six months, then cooking the roughed out bowl prior to finish turning...

...Kevin

well, what I have done is to turn it thin, apply a suitable finish (for this purpose, oil finish) and let the finish dry, then sand and refinish. For example, go to my web page,

click on hobbies/woodturning, find the gallery link and look for a eucalyptus goblet (here is the photo directly: - eucalyptus is an oily wood and very prone to splitting, you can see that the goblet is turned with the pith in place (very bad), and it didn't split, though it did distort - this particular piece is finished in lacquer, which soaked all the way through aiding in keeping it translucent - the piece is about 10-12 inches high.

I have never turned spruce but a few years ago got ahold of some beautiful but horribly sticky pine. Afer some experimentation, what worked for me was: rough turn seal the end grain and bag for several months finish turn wipe down with solvent (don't recall what I used) sand wipe down with solvent again seal with shellac apply whatever final finish you prefer

Best of luck. If it's not unusully pretty wood, it's not worth it.

Mike Paulson, Fort Collins, CO

Thanks, Mike. Sounds like a sensible plan. I am sealing the end grain and bagging. And the wiping down sounds good. It's not unusually pretty wood, in fact resembles plywood, but it came from in front of the chamber of commerce which used to be the city high school and there will be a lot of interest in these bowls.

I appreciate the complement, but I was trying to make a point here, and that specifically was that anything will stay together and not crack if you turn it thin. For your specific needs, I think that is what I would do - you probably don't need to go to the 1/16" that I went to, but you need to be well under 1/4, probably about 1/8 inch, turn it wet, and turn it to finish dimensions in one session, DO NOT take a break and let it dry out. Then either boil it for an hour, or put it aside and let it warp any way it wants to. It will dry in a day or so, then you can sand and finish it. Boiling will reduce the warpage, but I like bowls that are twisted and warped, just make the foot flat so it doesn't rock