Garage/Workshop
Garage-workshop conversion
LATEST NEWS
HOME PAGE WORKSHOP
FITTING OUT PROJECTS

Woodturning Topics
Laburnum bowl
WOOD-TURNING
PROJECTS

Current Wood-Turning Project
Walnut Wood.
(This page)

WT PROJECT 1
Making Belaying Pins.
WT PROJECT 2
Experimental Drying
WT PROJECT 3
Walnut Platter.
WT PROJECT 4
Turning Green Cherry.

Current Woodturning Project.


A Gift of English Walnut Juglans regia.

Photograph of English Walnut harvested from a tree felled near Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, UK.

English Walnut (Juglans regia), harvested from a tree felled near Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, UK.

These two trunk slices and four branch pieces came from a large Walnut tree (trunk diameter 700mm, 27½"), felled in March-April 2016 at a farm near Bovingdon in Hertfordshire, UK. The tree had to be felled because the base of the trunk had rotted, and the tree was in danger of toppling over.

We were offered the wood by friends living at the farm, when they became aware that I was looking out for turning wood. After felling, the timber had been stored in the open air where the eventual aim was to cut it up for firewood!

I harvested the wood on the 9th July 2016, some 3 - 4 months after felling, and was disappointed to see that the trunk had been sliced across at intervals of about 150mm - 180 mm (6" - 7"), so there were no long trunk lengths. I was pessimistic and expected the wood to show excessive splitting, especially after 3 to 4 months of outdoor spring and summer weathering. The wood showed surface staining and it was impossible to see any fresh unweathered surfaces and evaluate quality.

The samples shown above were therefore harvested more in hope than in expectation.

Preparation & Rough Turning.

Bovingdon Walnut. Trunk Slice 1.

The top photograph shows the line (in red), of the first cut across the trunk slice.
The lower photograph shows one half of the trunk after cutting along the line with an electric chainsaw. To my surprise both the heartwood and sapwood were in good condition with beautiful figuring, minimal weathering and no splitting (as might have been expected), in the vicinity of the pith. 9th July 2016.

(Click on images for larger views)

Bovingdon Walnut.
Bovingdon Walnut. End-grain bowl.

It was decided to try and make an end-grain bowl from half of the slice. This photograph shows the bowl marked out, ready for cutting on the bandsaw. 9th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Making the Bowl Blank.

Cutting out a circular bowl blank on the bandsaw. 9th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Ready to Turn.

Mounted securely on the lathe, ready to rough turn. 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Outside Rough Turned.

The exterior of the bowl after rough turning. Note the spigot which will be gripped by the jaws of the lathe chuck when the bowl is reversed for hollowing out. Bowl diameter 263mm (10⅜"). 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Bowl Reversed for Hollowing.

The bowl reversed on the lathe and showing the original 60mm diameter hole, drilled into the blank with a Forstner bit, and used to initially attach the bowl to the lathe by expanding the jaws of the chuck within the hole.

Normally the inside of the bowl would be hollowed out using a bowl gouge. Because the wood was so spectacular, it was decided to use a Woodcut Bowlsaver to cut out two smaller bowls from wood which would otherwise be gouged out and discarded as waste. 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. First "Daughter Bowl" Core.

The Bowlsaver has been successfully used to cut the first "Daughter Bowl" from the "Mother Bowl". 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Rough Turning the First "Daughter Bowl" Core.

The exterior of the 1st daughter bowl has been roughly shaped. A spigot has been cut to facilitate the reversal of the bowl for hollowing out. Bowl diameter 182mm (7¼"). 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. 1st "Daughter Bowl" reversed for Hollowing.

The bowl reversed on the lathe ready for hollowing. As for the first bowl, because the wood was so spectacular, it was decided to use the Bowlsaver to cut out another "2nd Daughter bowl" from the 1st "Daughter Bowl". 26th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. 2nd "Daughter Bowl" Created.

The Bowlsaver has been successfully used to cut the 2nd "Daughter Bowl" from the "1st Daughter Bowl". 27th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Rough Turning the 2nd "Daughter Bowl" Core.

The exterior of the 2nd daughter bowl has been roughly shaped. A spigot has been cut to facilitate the reversal of the bowl for hollowing out. Bowl diameter 103mm (4⅛"). 27th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. 2nd "Daughter Bowl" reversed for Hollowing.

Ready for conventional hollowing with a bowl gouge. Bowl diameter 103mm (4⅛"). 27th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. 2nd "Daughter Bowl" Hollowed.

Hollowing with a bowl gouge completed. 27th July 2016.

(Click picture for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. The Three Rough-turned Bowls

Photographs of the three rough-turned bowls made from one bowl blank that was turned to make the first "Mother Bowl" and which was then cored twice to make the two "Daughter Bowls". 27th July 2016.

(Click on images for larger views)

Bovingdon Walnut.
Bovingdon Walnut.

Drying the Bowls.

Turning end-grain bowls from green wood which includes the pith, is risky as there is a very high likelihood of the wood splitting, with the splits emanating from the high stress area in the vicinity of the pith. To try and minimise the risk, the bowls have been air dried very slowly in the workshop and monitored for water loss by weekly weighing. Drying has now been completed and much to my surprise, to date (12th January 2017), there has been no splitting and very little warping, in spite of a water loss in excess of just under 40%. A table with graph of the weighing data is shown below.

An Open Office table (embedded in a text document), was used to record the data. Just the date and the weight (in grams) were entered into the table which was set to automatically calculate relevant analytical data in the adjacent columns. Computed data categories were Elapsed days (since the first weighing), the Cumulative loss (grams) (since the first weighing), % loss (in weight compared to the first reading), and Amount lost (in grams) from the previous weighing. There is an optional column for any relevant comments.

An Open Office spreadsheet was used to plot a graph of time against weight which gives a useful overview of the drying progress.

Note that for presentation here, the Open Office graph has been converted to a JavaScript chart created with AM Charts

Bowl drying data. Drying Data for the "Mother Bowl" (Completed).

The top picture links to a table showing the recorded weights of the bowl taken on the day it was rough turned and on a weekly basis thereafter. This is a good way of monitoring the seasoning (or drying) progress of the bowl. When there is no change in the weekly readings of weight, then the wood has effectively dried out (is in equilibrium with the temperature and humidity of the storage area), and the bowl is ready for final turning and finishing. On the 1st January 2017, after 154 days, the bowl had lost 956 grams in weight of which 0 grams had been lost since the bowl was last weighed 7 days previously. The bowl was judged to have reached equilibrium moisture content.

 

Drying Graph for the "Mother Bowl" (Completed).
The lower picture links to a graph plotted from the drying data (top picture). The curve of this graph gives a useful overview of the drying process. On the 1st January 2017, the curve of the graph indicated that the bowl was fully seasoned with slight fluctuations in the weight of the bowl, reflecting changing values of the RH in the workshop. The bowl has effectively attained its EMC. The next step will be to re-mount it on the lathe for final shaping and sanding to completion.

(Click pictures for larger views)

Drying Graph.

The bowl is ready for final turning and completion, the description of which will be added here in due course (13th January 2017).


What Happened to the rest of the Harvested Wood?

The rest of the wood was equally as good and prepared as outlined below.

Bovingdon Walnut. Trunk Slice 2.

The Walnut trunk slice has been marked out to make another much larger end-grain bowl some 432mm (17") in diameter. 10th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Ready to Turn.

The end-grain Walnut bowl bowl blank mounted on the lathe, ready to turn. 13th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Work in Progress 1.

The Walnut blank has been turned to a cylinder and the wood is looking good. Note that a 6" faceplate is essential to attach an end grain blank of this size securely to the lathe. 14th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Work in Progress 2.

The exterior of the Walnut bowl has been rough turned and a spigot cut for reversal and coring with a Bowlsaver. 14th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Work in Progress 3.

The three rough-turned Walnut bowls produced after coring the original bowl blank with a Bowlsaver. 14th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Work in Progress 3.

Another picture of the three rough-turned Walnut bowls produced after coring the original bowl blank with a Bowlsaver. 14th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Branch-wood

The harvested branch-wood of the Walnut was equally spectacular as shown in this photograph of a crotch sliced in half with the chainsaw. 23rd July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Prepared Walnut Blanks - 1

Blanks prepared by chainsaw and then bandsaw. 9th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Bovingdon Walnut. Prepared Walnut Blanks - 2

Blanks prepared by chainsaw and then bandsaw for spindle turning. 9th July 2016.

(Click on image for larger view)

Project started July 2016, on-going


Click HERE to return to the Home Page.

© Tim & Trish Enterprises 2015-2017.