# Question on cutting logs for bowl blanks



## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

I have turned several bowls recently from logs. When cutting the log down the middle if I try and cut the long way I get very long shaving that have clogged the saw sprocket. Because of this I cut the log standing on its end. Would a ripping chain solve this problem. I also have problems trying to cut to eliminate the pith. On the last few bowls I have just tried to cut down the middle and then turn the pith out when I reverse the bowl for hollowing. Also, does anyone have a design for a stand to cut your log on. I have been cutting them on my driveway. Thanks for any help.
Tom


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

Yes, a rip chain would help prevent long shavings from jamming inside the sprocket and clutch hub, but rip chains are spooky to use for crosscutting and you need a fairly powerful saw to run them. My own approach is to avoid rip chains for prepping turning blanks and try to saw slow enough that the chips can clear. 
Going into the log with the bar angled up or down so the cut is not a full rip but more of a bias cut seems to help too. Keeping the inside of the clutch hub cover really clean helps a lot as well. If there's a bunch of dried junk in there from a previous sawing session then the chips get hung up easier and quicker. 

I often don't remove the pith from both blanks with a single chainsaw cut, so it's routine for me to have to turn one or the other blank down to remove some remaining pith.

There are all kinds of contraptions people have made for holding log shorts while prepping them for the lathe. Some are pretty darn fancy.

But if you can conjure up a log stump about 3 or 4 feet long and big enough in diameter so it's stable when stood on end (mine is a spruce stump about 30" diameter), then cut a nice big "V" into one end, you'll have what amounts to a Vee-block which will hold just about any short log section pretty steady for both ripping or crosscutting.
Once you've got the stump it takes about 20 minutes to make, you can leave it out in all weather, you can kick it over then roll it to anywhere you're working then stand it up again, and you don't care if you nick it up with the chainsaw.
Perfect.
When the first Vee cut gets mangled to where it's not as effective as it was, just shorten the stump a bit and cut another one. You can re-cut the vee several times before the stump gets shorter than is comfortable. I've been using the same one for at least 5 years.


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

Much like the above, I try to lay the log down and cut at about a 45* angle as much as possible. You will still get ribbons but not as long as cutting flat.

In the video by Lyly Jamieson I he marked the pith to follow it easier. He also shows why you want to balance the gain. On smaller logs (9" or less) I cut straight through the pith. On larger, especially over 14" I typically make a cut on each side of the pith and save the center section as quartersawn. I mark mine also with either the single or double line. If you are slabbing off the outside it also helps to mark those cuts also.

I use my workbench with the vice open to remove the pith (note 2X4 over guides). If you make something like a sawhorse with two rails instead of one it will work also.

Like most things, errors in cutting the pith off may be made just a little bit or by a high amount. 
Hence the woodturners terminology of "being a little pithed off" or "being highly pithed off".

Here is my workbench setup. I haven't cleaned up the ends to mark the cut at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytk-OLomUSU


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

The long ribbons come from entering the side of the log parallel to the grain. That's why the 45 deg cut helps. If you can set up to saw it from the end to end (safely) you won't get that. I buck the logs short enough to stand stable on end (which ends up being about the size of a bowl blank) and saw them standing up. The small Alaskan is cheap and works like a charm for this as well.


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## PSDkevin (Dec 18, 2010)

Duh. Sorry I should have read the OP better.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

NCPaladin said:


> Much like the above, I try to lay the log down and cut at about a 45* angle as much as possible. You will still get ribbons but not as long as cutting flat.
> 
> In the video by Lyly Jamieson I he marked the pith to follow it easier. He also shows why you want to balance the gain. On smaller logs (9" or less) I cut straight through the pith. On larger, especially over 14" I typically make a cut on each side of the pith and save the center section as quartersawn. I mark mine also with either the single or double line. If you are slabbing off the outside it also helps to mark those cuts also.
> 
> ...


That guy (in the video) has a lot of good points, but choosing not to cut the corners off is pretty stupid.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> That guy (in the video) has a lot of good points, but choosing not to cut the corners off is pretty stupid.


 I often don't cut the corners off either, especially on blanks less than 10" dia or so when the cutoffs won't be big enough to make a salt bowl or an egg cup or some other little trinket. It's quicker for one thing.

So long as the lathe is heavy and powerful enough to handle that approach, I'm not sure why you would think it stupid.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

No matter how large of a lathe you have cutting the corners of is faster, and safer. It is less work on me, and my tools. I can at least use the corners for fire wood. Removing them lightens the blank by 1/3, so I can run it faster. If your blank is walnut or cherry you can cut off the sapwood, and the corners.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> No matter how large of a lathe you have cutting the corners of is faster, and safer.


No, that's simply untrue. A lot depends on the size of the blank and the mass and horsepower of the lathe.

If it was quicker, as a production turner I'd sure as hell be doing it and so would all the rest of us. It's not inherently safer either, once you learn safe and efficient tool presentation and settle into a decent rhythm to the work.

As for the woodstove, I'd rather donate my mountains of shavings to a 501C3 animal shelter and get a tax exemption for their market value than have a crapton of awkward little nubbins laying around waiting to dry out enough to burn.

There are lots of turners who don't bother to knock the corners off many of their smaller green log blanks precisely because it *is* quicker not to fool with that. 
Or do you really want to suggest we're all so dimwitted that we haven't tried it all kinds of ways and paid attention to what saves time and what doesn't?


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

If it works for you do it. I am going to keep on cutting the corners off.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> If it works for you do it. I am going to keep on cutting the corners off.


 I have no problem with that at all. I'm not trying to persuade you to leave _your_ corners on.

What I didn't like was your blanket dismissal of a common strategy employed by many turners as being something "pretty stupid", followed by your further blanket assertion that your way is _always_ quicker and safer regardless of lathe type or size.
The first assertion is offensive, and the second is just ignorant.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I am sorry if I offended you. Saying it is always faster isn't true. If it works for you than it isn't stupid. I still think it is safer to cut the corners off. I still think it is almost always faster to cut them off.


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## Bonanza35 (Jan 20, 2011)

I'll stay out of the corners/no corners debate. For me it depends on size/balance of the blank and what mood I'm in. As for log holding contraptions, I built a pretty slick sawbuck with a second platform for holding the square blank while knocking off corners (should I decide to). I never use the thing. Chainsaws wear out my back so I've decided it's easier for me to put the log on a pile of shavings and sit on my knees so the wood is about waist high. I can cut right through the log without fear of hitting dirt and dulling my chain that way. I find that my saw tries to clog up toward the end of the rip cut when the saw is close to the ground and the shavings can't clear. Angling the tip down until the last little bit of the cut helps me.


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## 9thousandfeet (Dec 28, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> I am sorry if I offended you. Saying it is always faster isn't true. If it works for you than it isn't stupid. I still think it is safer to cut the corners off. I still think it is almost always faster to cut them off.


I confess to being mildly irritated for a few minutes to be told something that I and many turners have been doing for years is "pretty stupid", but I'm not a grudge-holder and thanks for acknowledging that the assertion was inaccurate.

I'll apologize to the original poster for allowing that irritation to slightly hijack the thread.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

Bonanza35 said:


> I'll stay out of the corners/no corners debate. For me it depends on size/balance of the blank and what mood I'm in. As for log holding contraptions, I built a pretty slick sawbuck with a second platform for holding the square blank while knocking off corners (should I decide to). I never use the thing. Chainsaws wear out my back so I've decided it's easier for me to put the log on a pile of shavings and sit on my knees so the wood is about waist high. I can cut right through the log without fear of hitting dirt and dulling my chain that way. I find that my saw tries to clog up toward the end of the rip cut when the saw is close to the ground and the shavings can't clear. Angling the tip down until the last little bit of the cut helps me.


If you only have a chainsaw it probably is quicker to turn the corners off. I have a large bandsaw, and I can free handed cut the corners off in less than 45 seconds.


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## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks for the info. I think I will either build a stand or use try using my workmate table as in the video. I have been cutting the corners off using the chainsaw and this has not been a problem and goes quickly.
Tom


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## Smith Brother (Dec 9, 2012)

The point is WE shouldn't ever call someone/something STUPID, IMO.

There are EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULE.

Dale in Indy


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## NCPaladin (Aug 7, 2010)

TomC said:


> I think I will either build a stand or use try using my workmate table as in the video. Tom


 The only thing I would do is build a U shape holder with 2X6 for holding the log. The holder could be secured to the workmate by its clamps and it would almost insure the saw would not come into contact with any of the metal of the workmate. If the 5.5" wide gap was too much you could slide in a 2X4 upright against one side.
I do like the height of the workmate.


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