Last night I was looking through some of the logs that have been sitting around awhile. I was looking for one about 5" diameter, that would be fairly dry, to turn into a cylinder to use for more coasters.
I found an arborvitae log thats been sitting around about 1 1/2 years, a little checking on the ends, but otherwise in great shape.
I trimmed off the end and then cut off about a 10" section, mounted it between centers and then removed the bark.
I had doubts about it working out for coasters since it's a pretty soft wood, but I went ahead and roughed out a cylinder. Once it was roughed out, I decided to turn a hf instead.
This is a different shape for me. I didn't plan for a particular shape, I just knew it would be tall and fairly narrow due to the size of the blank.
It's 8 1/2" x 4" and just has a coat of lacquer sanding sealer to protect it. The heartwood is a bit oily, and I wasn't happy with oil finished I've used on it in the past, so I'll probably finish it with lacquer.
PICT0001-001.JPGPICT0002-001.JPGPICT0003-001.JPGPICT0004-001.JPG
Thanks for looking!
Comments and critiques are welcome.