Found Dogwood Log....For Turning Project later

[Mike Turner]

On the way home from Wallyworld I noticed a log beside the road.Someone had cut part of a dogwood down.It probably is 5" in diameter at it widest and tapers down to around 3". Its close to 7' long.It had been cut long enough for it to already check some.Im going to coat the endgrain and remove the bark. (just did this)..Powder post beetles love dogwood around here...Should I do anything else ?Im in no rush to make anything with it. (really got enough pokers in the fire already for now!)

Ive processed some maple in the past...a whole tree.I was twice turning as hard as I could to get it rough turned but I want this to just sort of hold for a bit as best as it can!.

On the smaller end I may turn that down to a flute size...lot of excess for a flute but not another use for it on things that I make.

[Reed Gray]

It is a bit on the small side for bowls, unless you want tiny ones. Maybe make a few end cuts for bowl blanks, and quarter the rest for spindles. Easiest way to remove the bark is to turn it off. If you don't quarter it, then make sure to round over the ends of the cylinders. Great for boxes as well. Some of the native dog woods are rather plain colored, but the ornamentals can have nice color streaks in them.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

On the way home from Wallyworld I noticed a log beside the road.Someone had cut part of a dogwood down.It probably is 5" in diameter at it widest and tapers down to around 3". Its close to 7' long.It had been cut long enough for it to already check some.Im going to coat the endgrain and remove the bark. (just did this)..Powder post beetles love dogwood around here...Should I do anything else ?Im in no rush to make anything with it. (really got enough pokers in the fire already for now!)
Ive processed some maple in the past...a whole tree.I was twice turning as hard as I could to get it rough turned but I want this to just sort of hold for a bit as best as it can!.
On the smaller end I may turn that down to a flute size...lot of excess for a flute but not another use for it on things that I make.

Mike,

Dogwood is one of my favorite turning woods! Great for utility items, things that need to be strong, where I want a very fine grain. Some is white or pinkish but I've had spalted and colored with reds and grees. I cut up and dry Dogwood when it is available or when a tree dies. The largest I've had was over 12" diameter - much larger than normal. I do have a couple on the farm here that are about 10" diameter I'm keeping my eye on.

Dogwood will move like crazy as it dries, warping terribly. I've turned round pieces from wood not dry enough and it warped to almost egg shaped! If left in the round log it can split from the outside and open wide crevasses to the pith. Cutting it down the middle (at minimum) will relieve the drying stress and minimize these cracks. Note that individual trees can vary widely - I've had some that warped and split far more than others.

I cut most of my dogwood into spindle blanks, box, or small bowl blanks, coat the ends and sometimes the sides, and let it dry. Most of the dogwood I'm using now has been drying for over 10 years, since 2006 when I got the big dogwood log. Smaller spindle blanks don't take that long but I have some pieces up to 3x7" on the ends. I always cut the pith out, seal, then stack to dry. Be aware that in many trees (they are all different, of course) I see a tendency for dogwood to warp even worse and crack where the lighter sapwood meets the darker heart wood. If I save blanks like that I coat any transition sides completely with Anchorseal (and some of them survive).

I'm not sure how much sealing the ends helps if the wood is already checked on the ends. What I do is cut the log down the center of the pith with the bandsaw then trim thin slices off the ends until there are no more checks, testing by bending each thin slice to see if it will break. I usually cut each half again down the pith the other direction, then trim off any more and cut out more of the middle if necessary, seal, write the date and the species on each piece and stack on wire shelves to dry. This is how I dry it, some I cut almost 2 years ago - some of the smaller pieces are dry enough to use now.

dogwood_IMG_5759.jpg dogwood_IMG_5760.jpg

BTW, after blanks of any kind are dry or nearly dry I like to put them back on the bandsaw and skim the sides and sometimes the ends. This lets me see if any cracks have opened, what the wood looks like, etc. If I see any cracks but still want to save the piece I mark the cracks with a red sharpie so I won't be surprised if I don't see the cracks when I turn it.

BTW, some misc turnings:

peppermill_dogwood.jpg paper_towel_holders.jpg top_dogwood_nosanding_small.jpg batons2a_IMG_4996.jpg Fidget_first_IMG_20170621_110223_527.jpg Ornaments_PC244180es.jpg

JKJ

[Dale Miner]

On the way home from Wallyworld I noticed a log beside the road.Someone had cut part of a dogwood down.It probably is 5" in diameter at it widest and tapers down to around 3". Its close to 7' long.It had been cut long enough for it to already check some.Im going to coat the endgrain and remove the bark. (just did this)..Powder post beetles love dogwood around here...Should I do anything else ?Im in no rush to make anything with it. (really got enough pokers in the fire already for now!)

Ive processed some maple in the past...a whole tree.I was twice turning as hard as I could to get it rough turned but I want this to just sort of hold for a bit as best as it can!.

On the smaller end I may turn that down to a flute size...lot of excess for a flute but not another use for it on things that I make.

Curious why you want to remove the bark? Leaving the bark on would slow drying.

[Mike Turner]

From the pieces Ive had here before if you leave the bark on the powder post beetles feast on them......I am a flute maker so I will probably go ahead and cut a 34" in length piece turn it round and then bore either a 3/4" or 7/8" hole completely through it.These would be the bore sizes on the flute.Then I would anchorseal the entire piece and let it dry.Ive done this before and had reasonable success with it.Just did 4 pieces of olivewood and only had one piece that had some small cracks in it but it was a marginal piece at best from the beginning. (Probably should have chunked it but I have filled them in with turquoise and I think it will be a personal piece of mine.(When my son figures out what is wrong with my computer with it not recognizing my phone I will post some pics) I did make a wine goblet shaped piece out of another piece which is one of my favorite turnings.

On the olive blanks i got these from a guy in Las Vegas on 5/19/17 turned them just round and bored them (coated them with anchorseal after fixing any bad spot on the one marginal piece...it had a crack ...used a little ca glue on it) Month later returned them all closer to the finished flute size still leaving some extra on it.Then in Sept started turning to size. MC with my little cheap Lowes meter was low...I did a lot of extra on these but it was a total experiment for me.I love trying something and being able to "pull it off"

Thanks guys for your help!

[Mark Greenbaum]

From the pieces Ive had here before if you leave the bark on the powder post beetles feast on them......I am a flute maker so I will probably go ahead and cut a 34" in length piece turn it round and then bore either a 3/4" or 7/8" hole completely through it.These would be the bore sizes on the flute.Then I would anchorseal the entire piece and let it dry.Ive done this before and had reasonable success with it.Just did 4 pieces of olivewood and only had one piece that had some small cracks in it but it was a marginal piece at best from the beginning. (Probably should have chunked it but I have filled them in with turquoise and I think it will be a personal piece of mine.(When my son figures out what is wrong with my computer with it not recognizing my phone I will post some pics) I did make a wine goblet shaped piece out of another piece which is one of my favorite turnings.

On the olive blanks i got these from a guy in Las Vegas on 5/19/17 turned them just round and bored them (coated them with anchorseal after fixing any bad spot on the one marginal piece...it had a crack ...used a little ca glue on it) Month later returned them all closer to the finished flute size still leaving some extra on it.Then in Sept started turning to size. MC with my little cheap Lowes meter was low...I did a lot of extra on these but it was a total experiment for me.I love trying something and being able to "pull it off"

Thanks guys for your help!

Can you post pictures of your flutes? I've wanted to make some.

[John K Jordan]

.....I am a flute maker so I will probably go ahead and cut a 34" in length piece turn it round and then bore either a 3/4" or 7/8" hole completely through it.These would be the bore sizes on the flute.

Mike,

One thing to consider - I found dogwood to warp more than many other species. If you use a very straight piece centered on the pith then bore out the pith I suspect it will be fine IF you can remove any darker heartwood with the bore. However, if you cut a blank to one side of the pith, bore a hole then dry, it might not stay round. It might stay round better hollowed with a thin wall but I haven't tried it.

As an example, I turned this piece of dogwood toabout 2-3/8" in diameter before it was completely air dried. The blank had been air drying for about 18 months. The first picture is not quite centered on the circle I drew but you might still see how much it warped. The second picture shows how much smaller the diameter is in one direction than the other, almost 4mm. A smaller diameter, of course, probably won't warp to the same extent but I also suspect it won't end up round if that matters to your flute making.

warp_dogwood2.jpg warp_dogwood.jpg

Sealing might well reduce any cracking, although I find that dogwood is so tough that smaller blanks usually dry with no cracks as long as you keep away from the pith and the heartwood. I don't think sealing will stop the wood from warping - it will still shrink as it would without sealing but just more slowly.

I too am interested in making flutes. I have no idea how to bore the long hole or how to space the holes for tuning. Are yours Shakuhachi style?

I made some small turned flutes while hanging out with Billy Whitefox who makes native American flutes from reeds. http://www.billywhitefox.com/www.bil...m/Welcome.html I made the first one from cherry and the second one from bloodwood after he asked me if I could make one in the handle of a "Harry Potter" magic wand - a strange mix of cultures!

flute.jpg flute_girl.jpg flute_wand.jpg JCC_IMG_2617.jpg

That's Billy in the last picture.

Just curious, about what diameter do you turn the outside for a 7/8" hole? (What wall thickness?)

JKJ