Density

[Paul Zerjay]

I have a 2 year old Black Lab that lives for playing fetch. This dog will play all day long, much longer than my arm can last by any means. I bought a ball launcher, and that has saved my arm from aches and pains more than I can tell you. But tennis balls last only about five minutes before he has them broken on the inside, and they don't fly well. I decided to turn wooden spheres, out of maple, to a size just a bit larger than a baseball. Great practice by the way. These work well, but they can get damaged if they hit a concrete driveway or such. So I made a ball out of the hardest wood I could find, I think it is peach. Very hard, very heavy, longest lasting ball so far. Now heres where you find out how dumb I actually am. I take the ball to the lake and launch it as far as I can. Off goes the dog, see's the splash of the ball and swims to the general area of the landing. Trouble is THE BALL SANK!! Now this dog has a never give up attitude. So after ten minutes of me trying to coax him back, I have to run back to the house, and get a fresh tennis ball that I know will float. This has all taken by now maybe fifteen minutes, and he's still swimming looking for the first ball. Moral of the story, make sure your ball floats before you send your dog in after it. Heres a pic of what I think is peach... Now back to the title, who's more dense, Me or the wood?

[Kim Ford]

Paul;

Great story. We have lab's (chocolates); and I have just made a couple of wooden balls on the lathe. LOML wants them to sit on the shelf so I can't enjoy them as you have. (the spheres not the dogs)

Post some pictures of the spheres, and the lab to. No guess as to the wood it does look like some type of a fruit or nut tree though.

Have fun

Kim

[Bill Wyko]

Now you have to teach him to dive. I'm not sure where to get dogie scuba gear though.

[Curt Fuller]

That doesn't look very peachy to me. I'm guessing that its some variety of locust. But even that should float, especially if it's dries out at all.

For all sorts of reasons that I don't want to start an argument over, I wouldn't recommend wooden balls for the mutt. Get a Kong ball. They last forever if you don't let the mutt just sit and gnaw on them (which would destroy a wooden ball in a hurry too) and they float. You can get them at any pet store.

[Shane Whitlock]

Thats too funny ... a great story!

Reminds me of my black lab/wire hair mix. The normal dog toys only last him minutes but he loves wood. I will be turning on the lathe and he will sneak into the shop and grab a piece of wood off the floor. He wont take it out, instead he will walk up to me to see if he can have it, if I tell him "okay" off he will go with his tail a wagging, if I tell him 'No" he will drop it and find another piece until I give him the okay.

Turning spheres is a great idea, would love to see a pic of them and your dog.

Heres a pic of my dog ... Bruce ... The best dog I have ever had. I took it a couple years ago but he hasn't changed much, just got fatter.

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Happy Turning,
Shane Whitlock

[Andy Hoyt]

Paul - if your lab is anything like the one we had years ago, he probably ate the ball and just kept looking for seconds.

[Gary Herrmann]

Having two labs, I'd have to say the densest item in the equation is that dog's head. I had a yellow that came running out of the house after work to see me one night, slid on a patch of ice and dented my car door with his melon. Didn't phase him a bit.

My 4 yr old pup is currently sleeping on my feet while passing gas. I should have brought my mask upstairs with me.

[Bill Boehme]

The bark closely resembles plum and apricot from an older tree. Peach is in the same family (rose) so it is possible that it could be peach except that the hardness and density do not fit that description well. We have a locust tree and the bark does not look like that -- locust has a very rough knobby and very dark bark that would be closer to hackberry in appearance. What color would you describe the wood when it is freshly cut?

I think that the color of peach is a bit more red than the wood that you have pictured.

Bill

[Dick Strauss]

I'm with Curt...it looks like our local honey locust. We have black and honey varieties around here.

The black locust has much deeper and darker bark than your pic.