Last week the Utility Co. came out to trim a tree in my back yard and the Proporty Mgr. told them to just cut it down instead. Now I got a bunch of green wood (Elm?) to mess with and no more excuses not to start trying my hands at some more wood turning. Got this planter cup or pensil cup or ?? done. I've turned rod grips before but never did any bowl turning until today. FUN STUFF!
No scale in photos but it's 3 1/4in high & 3 3/4in wide at the top.
Yeah, cracking & warping is a concern with green wood. I've been told that sealing it with linseed oil or a few other products can many times prevent that. Was also told by a great wood turner that, with bowls, one can leave the the walls thicker which will help and after 6mo when it drys come back & turn it down to the final desired thickness.
There is a tutorial for working with green wood on my website. I guess I should read it! lol
Look for a product called Resourcinol on the web. Its for green wood turning so that it doesn't crack. Otherwise no matter what you put on it it will crack. I have a friend who makes museum quality pcs and he put giant vases in a vat full of this stuff for a period of time that they suggest and they never crack. I've seen 5' tall vases that he's done that you could hold up towards the sun and see daylight thru the pores of the wood, yes the bottoms are that thin. Amazing stuff.
Tried a couple more projects today. The first is a smaller knick knack jar with matching lid which already has a couple small cracks cus I made the wall thin & just pressing to hard cracked it. Second project was a juice glass with a narrower top than the base and 4 in tall. It EXPLODED when I wedged the cutting tool !
Oh well, least it's fun learning the do's & don'ts.