turning Willow

how well dose willow turn? I'm new to turning, been a wood worker for years, but just got a lathe, my father-in-law asked me to prune his weeping willows, then in the mail today I got the new issue of WOOD, and it had an article on making cheep woods look like expensive ones, one being willow to walnut, looking at it as soft as willow is it should be easy to turn right? also it's cheep (FREE for the work) so if I screw it up lessoned learned, with out the tears. also is there anything I should do when harvesting it, for other wood working I would paint the end with latex paint and sticker-stack it in the shed for 6-10 mouths with the thicker blanks do I need to wait longer, also someone told me that some woods can be turned green, or non-dried can I do this with willow? or any wood, or were the blowing smoke

Richard

Reply to
Richard Clements
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Hardwoods are most often easier to turn than softwoods. I've turned bot willow and walnut. I prefer walnut for ease of turning, sanding, and finishing. Cutting walnut with well sharpened tools seems like cutting butter. Cutting willow, it seems like you are using a butter knife. Don't know if it cuts any better green.

Free is a very good price! And you can never go wrong turning free wood. If nothing else, you get practice. If everything goes well, you get some good pieces. Willow always seems a bit 'muddy' to me after finishing. YMMV, and probably will.

Turning green wood is common and you'll get some good advice from others here who are far more capable than me.

Reply to
Lobby Dosser

Reply to
dfjgd

Hi Richard

Free wood is good wood, that's one, and before buying expensive kiln dried wood (with the chemicals that they use in it), you will be better off to first learn to turn well, nothing lost if your project does not turn out. I have turned willow and will again if I find some nice log, to get a good surface on your willow you will have to use sharp (as Always) tools and have the tools really cutting, if not, you will pull wood fibers and get a rough surface, if cut cleanly you will get a slight fuzzy surface, and when you do some sanding do not start with a course grit, because that will tear your grain, so go to it and don't give up if you do not get what you want at first, but if there is a wood turning club or a turner in your area, I would go and talk to them and get some pointers and hands on help, that way you won't have to reinvent the wheel again.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Richard Clements wrote:

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

Of course, kiln-drying does not involve chemicals, but Leo is spot on when he says you'll want your best edge, properly presented. The whole family Salicaceae which includes willows, cottonwoods and true poplars is stringy and soft. Here's one place where it pays to hone the sharpening burr off your gouge, something I don't bother with on other hardwoods.

Don't scrape the stringy stuff with steel or coarse sandpaper, because you'll get more pulls and tears that will take longer to work down with finer grades. 150 grit cuts this soft stuff just as fast as 100 cuts cherry.

As to drying, the whole family is extremely difficult to screw up. Putting in the cool dry place _after_ spinning as much moisture as you can out of it, and leaving it open to evaporate the surface stuff should do it. Never had mildew problems with willow, because it's got some good chemicals in the heart, but cottonwood and poplar will grow it rapidly unless you get the moisture content down fairly rapidly.

Reply to
George

Hi George

I'm not a specialist in kiln drying but I do know that logs destined to become sawn lumber are as a normal precaution to prevent blue, brown and other sap stains and fungus, sprayed dipped or in other ways treated with chemicals, and these are still present after the lumber has been kiln dried, if there are also other chemicals used to increase the speed of wood drying I would not be surprised but I'm not certain of that, anyway I rather not take a chance, and there is no reason for me to do so. Free wood is the kind I like and air dried is the other kind I might also use.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

George wrote: >

Reply to
Leo Van Der Loo

You must live in a more technologically advanced area. No one here wastes good money killing harmless bluestain with chemicals. They saw and dry, which does the same. Hardwood, of course is not much subject to the problem, and woods with an abundance of natural fungicides like oak,cedar and cypress, not at all.

Though some deny the fungal origin of bluestain, this publication gives good information on its source and prevention.

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Reply to
George

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