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Conifers - Would you turn it or not ?

PhillH

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The comment Woody made in his thread about the Holly and having some conifer logs got me thinking.

Why won't most people touch it ?

If you do decide to have a bash what do you need to do / take into account / not do when turning it.
 

Woody

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I have turned conifer and got some good results an wood is worth a go just for the experience of it some people wont turn it just because they have been told its no good for turning crap OK it can have a few problems like sap some of it can be very sappy nothing some white spirit wont sort out , soft yes some of it can be the trouble is we listen to much to what others think I say give it a go I have a friend he turns a lot of Leylandii and he makes some smashing bits from it and sells them he made a load of snowmen Christmas and sold most of them and Red pine is an extremely nice wood to turn and it is quite hard when I first started turning and didn't know were to get wood from I cut up old pine tables laminated them and made some lovely bowls all I done was cut a disk about 8" and then marked it at 1" intervals 8", 7", 6", 5" and 4" drilled a hole on each line at 45 deg for a jig saw blade to fit through also set at 45 deg then cut all the rings out then stuck them on top of each other and turned a bowl well several bowls all from each one from an 8" disk so give it a go my friend and enjoy sod the negative be positive and have some very cheep fun
People say the same about willow well I have also turned loads of that they cut a tree down just round the corner from me and I grabbed loads of it and turned it all and sold it all
 

paulm

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I have turned conifer and got some good results an wood is worth a go just for the experience of it some people wont turn it just because they have been told its no good for turning crap OK it can have a few problems like sap some of it can be very sappy nothing some white spirit wont sort out , soft yes some of it can be the trouble is we listen to much to what others think I say give it a go I have a friend he turns a lot of Leylandii and he makes some smashing bits from it and sells them he made a load of snowmen Christmas and sold most of them and Red pine is an extremely nice wood to turn and it is quite hard when I first started turning and didn't know were to get wood from I cut up old pine tables laminated them and made some lovely bowls all I done was cut a disk about 8" and then marked it at 1" intervals 8", 7", 6", 5" and 4" drilled a hole on each line at 45 deg for a jig saw blade to fit through also set at 45 deg then cut all the rings out then stuck them on top of each other and turned a bowl well several bowls all from each one from an 8" disk so give it a go my friend and enjoy sod the negative be positive and have some very cheep fun
People say the same about willow well I have also turned loads of that they cut a tree down just round the corner from me and I grabbed loads of it and turned it all and sold it all

That's very interesting Woody. I've always been put off because I was told it won't turn for various reasons but always thought it might be worth having a go. I have saved the core of our Christmas tree this year to see if I could turn any of that into a pen or two but with no great expectation.
 

Woody

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Well if your coming up for the march gathering you can have a bigger lump if you want
 

Doug

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Commercially available turned stair parts are often made from pine, usually Hemlock, so if it's good enough for that it's fine for us turners.
That said leylandii being so fast growing will have wide growth rings & is quite soft & of the things I've seen turned from it it wouldn't be my choice of timber. I have turned quite a few things from reclaimed pine, some of that is so tuff you'd think it was hardwood.
As with so many things you won't know till you try, so give it a go :thumbs:
 

paulm

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I've just cut a piece off the Christmas tree and stuck it in a pan on the cooker to see if boiling it gets rid of some of the sap. The house now smells like a forest. I'm not sure how the CMM is going to react when she comes in:whistling:
 

Woody

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All my old sash windows down south were made from pine and they were 60 odd years old when I moved and still as good as new in fact I helped replace some big old windows in Fleet that went in well over 200 years ago cant be bad can it I bet these plastic windows wont last that long
 

paulm

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She's just come in and instantly noticed the smell and then that it had boiled over the cooker. Looks like I'm spending the night in the pond.:down:
 

Grump

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I turn a lot of Pine, mainly as Doug says for stair parts.
Though the Pine I turn is usually kiln dried it can be very hard to get a decent finish, for spindles etc a decent finish is not necessarily required as they will be reworked on fitting.
In my experience Pine is not Leylandia, that is a species best left alone it is very open grained and tears to pieces due to the speed of growth it really is crap.
I have tried to turn it and given up, for every piece I had success with I threw away another 3.
As Woody says its good experience and free or cheap practice, it ends there for me.
An old established slower grown Pine, now here you have a thing of beauty which can be close grained, sweet smelling and hard as rock.
Especially when you hit a beautiful large knot, that makes a lovely pen in its own right.
I have little experience of bowls and vases made from Pine although have done a few its better for spindle work.
Just my opinion, have fun trying it out is what I say.
 

Woody

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I have to disagree with you Brian here are some of the things a friend of mine turns from Leylandii
422484_514491321910190_1028479680_n.jpg185195_478602612165728_2146454013_n.jpg
 

Grump

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I am not saying it can't be done but I threw more away than was worth bothering with.
The snowman looks good but that other thing would have been in the fire.
I did say it was only my opinion if people want to turn wood ten that is why we are here init?
Its all about having fun in your hobby.
 
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