I’m Turning Green

Angela and I have been playing with the lathe quite a lot (thanks again, Joe!)… the latest fun thing that I’m enjoying is turning “green” wood. We had some trees pruned in the last month which left us with a handful of fresh lumber, mostly some paper birch of varying sizes. One piece, about 30″ long, 5″ thick or so was the first one we turned. For anyone that has the means I highly recommend green wood turning. On the first attempt we got some strips to peel off of the wood that were a good four or five feet long:80242 and the wood is just fantastic to work with. It was almost impossible to “snag” (something we’re improving on with dry wood, but it takes practice), there wasn’t any dust to bother you, and it went much faster, I think, than dry turning. Even the shavings were soft and pretty — we’re planning on turning them into mulch, or using them in place of hamster bedding.

Anyway, lots of fun… the piece in question yielded a small goblet and a rolling pin. We’re trying to dry them, although that may take some time — apparently that’s the only downside to turning green (other than martian jokes). I DID turn the pieces with the pith centered, more or less, so shame on me, but I’m optimistic that if we’re careful they’ll dry well. The Goblet is going in some paper bags, and the rolling pin is using Pentacryl. If I don’t forget, I’ll try and let you know how they turn out, drying wise.
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