# Wet pine turning



## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

Had to down a pine tree today and ended up turning two wet bowls.

Wall thickness is around 3/16" and I left the stock which screws to my faceplate on the bowls, connected with a 1 1/2" tenon, so I can sand on the lathe once dry.

Put them in two paper bags each, to dry for a few months.

They came out nice, but the wet grain is pretty open in places.

Never done this before, did I do it right, what can I expect?


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## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Never turned wet pine, so this is from what I know of green turning in general. Your bowls are going to warp, and quite possibly crack. General rule of thumb for green turning is to turn walls to 1/10th of diameter of bowl, let dry and return when dry. Some people can turn to finished while green, but you need to have very consistent thickness walls or else it will probably crack.


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## bigcouger (Jan 4, 2012)

sawdustfactory said:


> Never turned wet pine, so this is from what I know of green turning in general. Your bowls are going to warp, and quite possibly crack. General rule of thumb for green turning is to turn walls to 1/10th of diameter of bowl, let dry and return when dry. Some people can turn to finished while green, but you need to have very consistent thickness walls or else it will probably crack.


 
You so right I turn green on some woods and but in a bag or in a liquid solution of water and the cheapest dish washing liquid I can find works for me set the green bowl in the solution for 3 - 7 days then let it dry out of the sunlight under the bench works for me


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Conifer wood cells not as developed as hardwood cells not sure what will get. Yes, bowls will probably go oval. I might have sanded and finished one piece and set aside just to see what happens. Other piece might put in a bag or not depending how wet and how much more turning needed.


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## Bonanza35 (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm far from an authority but it seems to me that at 3/16" you are done turning and once they warp which as the others said, they will, you won't really be able to sand effectively with the lathe on. I haven't turned any green softwoods but if you turn green hardwood to 3/16" consistently through the piece it won't normally crack even if you dry it in open air. 
All that being said, I'd consider sanding one up, put some finish on it, turn off the tenon and call it done. Just my 2 cents. Sounds like you've got plenty of wood to experiment with though. Good luck.


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

Bonanza35 said:


> I'm far from an authority but it seems to me that at 3/16" you are done turning and once they warp which as the others said, they will, you won't really be able to sand effectively with the lathe on. I haven't turned any green softwoods but if you turn green hardwood to 3/16" consistently through the piece it won't normally crack even if you dry it in open air.
> All that being said, I'd consider sanding one up, put some finish on it, turn off the tenon and call it done. Just my 2 cents. Sounds like you've got plenty of wood to experiment with though. Good luck.


Thx

I tried sanding the first bowl, but the wood is so wet, it clogged the 60 grit paper immediately. Also being so wet, the fibers between the growth rings are very soft, so I did not try wet sanding with water. I guess we will learn, I will take them out of the paper bags in a month or so and post back here.


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Dealing with early-late wood creates a few problems even after wood dries a bit. If you are dealing with pinesap or pitch further complicates the problem. That is why lot of turners avoid pine. 

Have a lot of Long Leaf Pine here and never messed with it. Depending upon time of year cut that stuff will end seal itself almost. Have been tempted more than once to grab some and turn it. Yellow Poplar almost as bad for torn end grain while turning.


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

wildwood said:


> Dealing with early-late wood creates a few problems even after wood dries a bit. If you are dealing with pinesap or pitch further complicates the problem. That is why lot of turners avoid pine.
> 
> Have a lot of Long Leaf Pine here and never messed with it. Depending upon time of year cut that stuff will end seal itself almost. Have been tempted more than once to grab some and turn it. Yellow Poplar almost as bad for torn end grain while turning.


This is Long Leaf Pine, I had 11 trees die due to Pine Beetle after new building construction; 3 down, 8 to go. The tree was weighed at the dump, about 850lbs. Strange, I had no Pine sap issues and it turned real easy, except the finish is a bit rough and with a 50lb slab in my lathe, the lathe almost walked out the shop door. The shop really smells nice after this.:smile:


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Soon after buying my house had 15 mature Long Leap Pine trees taken out of backyard. Paid a Pulp Wood Man $350 and Stump Grinder man, $150 to get it done. Pulp wood guy, took logs, I had to get rid of debris. Prices sure different around here twenty years later. Lot of tree service companies with heavy equipment now and pay for it too.

My neighbor quoted a price of $4,000 for removing three mature LLP trees from her property. She ended up getting a Pulp Wood guy too, not sure what she paid.


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

wildwood said:


> Soon after buying my house had 15 mature Long Leap Pine trees taken out of backyard. Paid a Pulp Wood Man $350 and Stump Grinder man, $150 to get it done. Pulp wood guy, took logs, I had to get rid of debris. Prices sure different around here twenty years later. Lot of tree service companies with heavy equipment now and pay for it too.
> 
> My neighbor quoted a price of $4,000 for removing three mature LLP trees from her property. She ended up getting a Pulp Wood guy too, not sure what she paid.


I had a few quotes, $2,500 to remove 11 trees, decided to do it myself, one at a time when I get time. Takes me about 1 1/2 hours to cut it down, into sections and load it on the pick-up, another hour to the dump and back, they charge $17.

First time ever I cut down trees, the first one went good, second one did not go where I wanted, fell in the neigbors yard.:furious: The last one went exactly where I wanted it to fall.

The remainder are leaning in wrong directions, probably have to use a rope and winch to get them to fall where I want them.


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## wildwood (Jan 25, 2011)

Sounds like a plan!


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

Been paper bagged now for about 3 weeks and still slighty wet, but no cracks. Think I can take the risk now to set them in the house to dry, so I can finish sand and turn the bases off.


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## pvechart (Dec 14, 2011)

Are those end grain or side grain bowls? The one on the left looks like you turned it end grain to me.


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

pvechart said:


> Are those end grain or side grain bowls? The one on the left looks like you turned it end grain to me.


Both end grain, what was left after the tree became round plus a little to get past my toolrest base.


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