New turner for bowls and platters

[Thomas Snyder]

My 16 year old son and I have been turning pens for a bit and Santa just brought us a set of chucks, jaws and plates(actually purchased from this site). We'd like to try some bowls and platters and need suggestions as to the best looking but reasonably priced wood to start with. Was looking for something that's interesting to turn but not too difficult, sometimes uniform color seems boring. Thanks

[Richard Madison]

Thomas,
Welcome to the forum. It's great that you and your son can work together. Should help keep both of you out of trouble.

For "practice" wood, suggest ordinary southern yellow pine construction lumber. I turn mostly found and gifted wood, so can not help with buying blanks but others here will have some suggestions.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Free wood is the best to practice on. Tree trimmers or tree companies that take down trees is a good source. Power companies are another as they take down trees around power lines. I do buy blanks off the big auction site. I have gotten some good deals if you look and watch. I have found blanks for 99 cents but shipping can be a killer. Of course if you buy blanks from anyone the shipping will get you. I pm'd you with a couple of sites I use and are reasonable.

[David E Keller]

I agree with Bernie... Free wood is the prettiest. If you're just starting out, why add to the expense with purchased wood? You don't mention where you are located, but that might help us know what trees grow around you that would/wouldn't be fun to turn.

If you want dry timber on the cheap, try a local cabinet maker or door maker. The often have maple, oak, cherry, and mahogany scrap that's great for small bowl, platters, and boxes.

[Thomas Snyder]

I'm in eastern Connecticut and will look into a couple of tree companies around here. Thanks

[Narayan Nayar]

Thomas,

Until I got into turning, I had no idea how much free wood I was passing by on a daily basis. City crews and utility companies and of course, arborists, are almost always working on the side of the road and usually cut large trunks and branches into manageable sizes which are oh, so convenient!

[Thomas Canfield]

Thomas,

Check out the local club for your area. Very often there are turners there that have more wood than they can turn. Today I shared some China Berry and Cherry Laurel with one friend and have more going out. I had seen some larger wood already loaded on a trailer and found the tree service had this wood on the ground and they were more than willing to load on my truck instead of moving their equipment and loading it to take to a big shreader.