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Turned another bowl from a myrtle blank from Cook Woods which was wax-covered and still pretty moist. Turning green wood is a completely different experience from turning air- or kiln-dried wood. I rough turned it on February 8th, and finish turned it on Monday February 22, and it seemed as though it had mostly dried in two weeks, but it probably would have been better to wait a couple months.

I was aiming for a cereal-bowl shape with this one, and didn't miss by too much. Had a tiny catch on the inside of the rim which I just left, and a little tear-out on the bottom that I didn't have the patience to sand away.

Finish was linseed oil and shellac (a homemade friction finish).

Thanks for looking!

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Nice one Dave. Myrtle will love to use it on Myrtle beach. It will make a good cereal bowl.It really has some fine grain to it.
 

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Very nice bowl Dave, came out beautifully. I'm not much of a turner, but from the videos I've viewed on YT, most green bowl turners usually rough turn the shape, then let the blank set for quite a while, up to a year, so are you concerned about this bowl retaining it's shape?
 

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Tom, I gave it two weeks to dry between the initial and the final turning. It moved quite a bit, so I hope it got it out of its system, but if not, I'll maybe have to chuck it up one last time. I'm learning, and I guess that's part of what I need to learn.
 

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Myrtle it not the easiest wood to turn. You got a nice bowl out of it.
I have never turned it "green" but let it dry first. It's a hard wood and has a lot of silica that dulls the tools quickly. I find tear out is unusual for Myrtle wood. You may have gotten an inferior piece of wood or your tool was getting dull. Faster lathe speeds can also help reduce tear out.

Have you thought of using the microwave oven for drying roughed out turnings. It works quite well and only takes a day or two. I put the item in a closed brown paper bag and heat in the microwave until I can just hold it in my bare hands. Let it cool with bag open and repeat until it no longer gets very hot meaning most of the moisture is gone. Let it set over night or two to stabilize. The bag works like a steam kiln; forcing the moisture out but keeping the surface moist there by reducing stress and cracking. On occasions when I notice a crack forming during the heating cycles I fill it with a medium CA glue which usually stops further cracking. Lots of info on the internet about this.
 

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I'm thinking coco puffs!

The side views show you are basically cutting end grain and doing it without any horrific explosions, nice work again Dave!

I hope you explore some of the local pines for turning, it'll give me a head start if/when I jump on into this affliction 8^)
 

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Thanks, Les. The tear-out was in the end-grain, and yeah, I think it may be time to get everything resharpened instead of just touched up.

I don't want to use a microwave. But what I've read and seen is that is you turn thin enough on the initial turning, the piece will move but not crack. I've got an elm cup/vase that I rough-turned yesterday, and where the walls get thicker near the base, they cracked. The top of the walls were fine. So now I know that. And yeah, filling cracks with CA (and sawdust if it's a big crack) has been a part of my arsenal for a while.

Splint, I turn slower than many, I think. I haven't had any explosions, and the few times I've had a bad catch, it's about 50-50 whether the piece will come out of the chuck and go on a tour of the shop or just stop and give me some squealing noises until I get to the switch.

I might have missed the firewood guys for the season this year. But I'll talk to them at some point. Or I'll just buy a permit and head up into the national forest and harvest my own pine.
 

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good to see you stepping up your game on more manly woods dave.ive used myrtle for many years just recently turning it but it was always well dried and very hard,and hard on tools as les mentioned.yours looks real good,ive got enough for probably another 8-10 bowls,but i think im gonna take a break and try some other woods next.
 

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Pottz, I found it not too bad when green, and Cook Woods prices on myrtle were pretty decent, I thought. I was getting 2-3" long curlicues coming off the bowl when I was roughing it, and didn't notice any severe wear to the tools, but then I'm still a rookie…

I also turned some claro walnut from them yesterday. That was a joy.

Roughed a piece of bone-dry elm burl this morning. That had me saying naughty words…
 

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think im gonna try some mesquite ive had in the shop for about 20 years it'a a section of a log about 3" thick,anyone with experience or tips on turning it?
 

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I don't turn myself, So I'll just say "beautiful"..........
 

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think im gonna try some mesquite ive had in the shop for about 20 years it a a section of a log about 3" thick,anyone with experience or tips on turning it?

- pottz
Potz,

It turns like Myrtle wood. Have you sharpening equipment handy.
Some of the SouthWest folks cn tell you more. I have only turned a couple of pieces.
 

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A trick I learned Dave is when you rough turn something keep the walls the same thickness as the bottom. It has helped out a lot but not completely.
 

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Nice job! I'm new to this site and am enjoying all the things people are putting up!
 

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Yeah, Dave. I think I leaned that one today too when I saw all the cracks in that elm one I roughed yesterday. I seem to learn best by screwing things up once, though. :-/

Thanks, Buckshop.
 

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Looking good Dave,
The shape looks great and more refined.
I'm trying my first dry bowl and not enjoying it as much. Still haven't tried a 2nd turned green bowl. The warping that happens as it drys is an "aesthetic" for some. I may try a 2nd turning soon.
The myrtle looks good and can't wait to see the claro walnut.
 

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Thanks, Jon. The walnut was a dream to work, but I might've left the sides a little thick near the base again. I'll see when I head out to the shop tomorrow… might thin it out a little.

I read "Turning Bowls with Richard Raffan" and he lets some of them warp, and some he turns rough and then turns away the war page for the final turning. I suspect I'll head more towards the latter, but I may also use some of my carving tools to add flutes or other details to the outside of the turned bowl, and then the warping might look better… I'm still figuring out my style.
 

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I have recently started turning and started with dry wood. They turn out nice but you really need to keep the tools sharp. I had a boxelder branch come down this fall and saved some logs from that that I have turned green and found it to be much more enjoyable. Lots of paper grocery bags for them to dry in though!
 

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Yeah, Buckshop. I've got the Wolverine sharpening jig, but it's still not set up, so I've been stropping things and sharpening by hand with a stone, so I could have the tools sharper, I expect. I'll get the jig set up one of these weeks, and should be in good shape then. In the mean time, green wood is a lot better, and my skew is sharp sharp sharp, since I can sharpen that by hand, but that's not so good for bowl work. And I've got a domed scraper that I keep very sharp by hand, so I maybe use that more than I should for now.

Ahh well, it's all good, and I'm learning.
 
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