My father in law has a large wood pile of ash, some larger pieces, but they
have all been there for quite a while and the ends have several cracks. Is
there a chance that any of this wood will be good for turning or would I
just be wasting my time? Even though it's cracked, can I salvage it with CA
or epoxy or something?

Thanks,

Andy

Andy wrote: My father in law has a large wood pile of ash, some larger
pieces, but they
have all been there for quite a while and the ends have several cracks. Is
there a chance that any of this wood will be good for turning or would I
just be wasting my time? Even though it's cracked, can I salvage it with CA
or epoxy or something?

Thanks,

Andy
You may be able to find some worthwhile wood somewhere
past the checking, so I'd say: Sure. Tom
Work at your leisure!

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:16:59 GMT, "Andy Reynolds"
wrote:

My father in law has a large wood pile of ash, some larger pieces, but they
have all been there for quite a while and the ends have several cracks. Is
there a chance that any of this wood will be good for turning or would I
just be wasting my time? Even though it's cracked, can I salvage it with CA
or epoxy or something?

Thanks,

Andy

I just turned "non-store bought" wood for the first time this week...
we camp a lot and I usually have a few pieces of firewood in the back
of the truck.. and this one piece of oak/ash/whatever has been calling
to me..
Thinking of the advice I've received here, I decided to take it in and
saw on it some... it turned out that the cracks on the ends only went
in about 1/4 to 3/4" and the rest was fine...

You have discovered a truth of wood technology, but there may be a bit still
hidden from you. End checks are generally self-limiting. Bound water loss
caused the fibers near the air to shrink, and where there wasn't enough
cohesion with surrounding fibers, they produced a gap. The run of the check
can be limited by replacement with unbound water from within, or with bound
water from wood with higher moisture content. At a point inside the wood
loss and gain equalize, and no more checking occurs.

Now for the bad news, you may have unseen checks which have closed when the
draw from outside diminished, allowing replacement from within. Wood's
still cracked, you just don't see it. It's waiting for you to establish
another moisture gradient from a new interior to a freshly created surface.

Be careful.

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 15:16:59 GMT, "Andy Reynolds"
wrote:

My father in law has a large wood pile of ash, some larger pieces, but
they
have all been there for quite a while and the ends have several cracks.
Is
there a chance that any of this wood will be good for turning or would I
just be wasting my time? Even though it's cracked, can I salvage it with
CA
or epoxy or something?

Thanks,

Andy

I just turned "non-store bought" wood for the first time this week...
we camp a lot and I usually have a few pieces of firewood in the back
of the truck.. and this one piece of oak/ash/whatever has been calling
to me..
Thinking of the advice I've received here, I decided to take it in and
saw on it some... it turned out that the cracks on the ends only went
in about 1/4 to 3/4" and the rest was fine...

You may well find material in there for small things like weedpots,
boxes, dibbers etc. I would trim the ends back with a bandsaw until
clear of the apparent checks. Then take a thin slice about 1/8 thick and
flex it gently. If you are still into checked material you will most
likely be able to see it, or in extreme cases the slice will break.

And firewood is good for practise too, provided it is sound enough not
to blow apart.

--
Derek Andrews, woodturner

http://www.seafoamwoodturning.com
Wedding Favors ~ Artisan Crafted Gifts ~ One-of-a-Kind Woodturning

In article ,
"Andy Reynolds" wrote:

My father in law has a large wood pile of ash, some larger pieces, but they
have all been there for quite a while and the ends have several cracks. Is
there a chance that any of this wood will be good for turning or would I
just be wasting my time? Even though it's cracked, can I salvage it with CA
or epoxy or something?

I turn a good deal of firewood. End checks are normal. You can try to
pre-cut them off, as has been suggested by others - but I usually don't
bother with that. I simply rough the stick and then see how far in they
go, add 3/4 of an inch or so (2cm) fudge factor for cracks I can't see,
and cut a notch with the parting tool. Sometimes I find the next step
works better if I also waste off a good bit of the cracked end section,
without removing so much as to make what's left wobbly. I then look at
what's left between the parting tool cuts and decide what it's going to
become; or if it doesn't suit my present mission (cracks too long, stick
too short), I set it aside for another day when it might suit, already
pre-roughed to a cylinder, and toss another stick on the lathe.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:28:50 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:

You have discovered a truth of wood technology, but there may be a bit still
hidden from you. End checks are generally self-limiting. Bound water loss
caused the fibers near the air to shrink, and where there wasn't enough
cohesion with surrounding fibers, they produced a gap. The run of the check
can be limited by replacement with unbound water from within, or with bound
water from wood with higher moisture content. At a point inside the wood
loss and gain equalize, and no more checking occurs.

Now for the bad news, you may have unseen checks which have closed when the
draw from outside diminished, allowing replacement from within. Wood's
still cracked, you just don't see it. It's waiting for you to establish
another moisture gradient from a new interior to a freshly created surface.

Be careful.

hmm... I think I understand the concept, if not all the terminology..

I was in more of a "I wonder if?" mood than a creative one, so I just
had them on the lathe to round them into blanks for some time when I
look at them on the shelf and a shape jumps out at me..
I'll check them from time to time and see if they are checking or
cracking at all.. the largest pieces are only about 5" diameter, so it
will probably air dry ok..

Thanks all. I'll have to give some of this wood a try and see how it works
out.

Andy

If it's your firewood, all you have to do is leave the bark on a round piece
to limit the penetration of the checks. Lots of us woodpile turners leave
stock in the log and sacrifice a couple inches when we take a couple of
blanks, rather than creating storage problem with a stack of coated blocks
waiting to be turned. It depends more on shading than species, but take the
bad actors first, leaving the birch and elm until last.

Oh yes, don't take the tractor to stack a load and leave your wife and son
at the splitter. They don't care if they're splitting curly maple. DAMHIKT

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:28:50 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:

You have discovered a truth of wood technology, but there may be a bit
still
hidden from you. End checks are generally self-limiting.

hmm... I think I understand the concept, if not all the terminology..

I was in more of a "I wonder if?" mood than a creative one, so I just
had them on the lathe to round them into blanks for some time when I
look at them on the shelf and a shape jumps out at me..
I'll check them from time to time and see if they are checking or
cracking at all.. the largest pieces are only about 5" diameter, so it
will probably air dry ok..

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 06:56:55 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:

If it's your firewood, all you have to do is leave the bark on a round piece
to limit the penetration of the checks. Lots of us woodpile turners leave
stock in the log and sacrifice a couple inches when we take a couple of
blanks, rather than creating storage problem with a stack of coated blocks
waiting to be turned. It depends more on shading than species, but take the
bad actors first, leaving the birch and elm until last.

Oh yes, don't take the tractor to stack a load and leave your wife and son
at the splitter. They don't care if they're splitting curly maple. DAMHIKT

nah... I'm not that into it that I'd go collecting.. yet..
As of 2 years ago, I refused to even imaging owning an rv, a van or
one of those silly 4 door pickup trucks..

Last November we got 2 of 'em.. waiting for a van to fall into my life
next.. lol

This stuff was a few pieces of the cord I bought last winter from a
tree service.. mixed hardwood, though about 1/3 of it was redwood,
which I sure don't consider hardwood..

Strange how folks who know trees sometimes just do the convenient thing,
isn't it?

I've had a delivery or two which included bass, which is a "hardwood" but
hardly good firewood.

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
This stuff was a few pieces of the cord I bought last winter from a
tree service.. mixed hardwood, though about 1/3 of it was redwood,
which I sure don't consider hardwood..

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 15:51:05 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:

Strange how folks who know trees sometimes just do the convenient thing,
isn't it?

I've had a delivery or two which included bass, which is a "hardwood" but
hardly good firewood.

"mac davis" wrote in message
.. .
This stuff was a few pieces of the cord I bought last winter from a
tree service.. mixed hardwood, though about 1/3 of it was redwood,
which I sure don't consider hardwood..


yep.. and they knew that we were buying the wood for camping, too..
redwood's a little too "fire retardant" to use in a campfire..