Wood Source and Preparation
Being from Florida, I have a love of our trees, thus the vast majority of woods that I use are grown in Florida. My wife and I also have a small cabin in the north Georgia mountains. I bring back wood from there also. I sometimes trade wood with other woodturners from the northern United States and even Canada. As a conservationist, all the wood that I use is from trees, which must be removed for development, are diseased or have been felled by weather. They are never cut down just for my use.
The tree that you see in the first picture was about sixty years old. When the house was built, the tree was much smaller and the homeowner never realized that it would grow to be so large. The limbs reached across the roof. If they broke during a storm or from old age, they would fall and destroy the roof if not the entire house. The roots were going under the house and cracking the floor. It was time for the tree to go. A crane was used to remove the tree one limb at a time, then the base or trunk section was removed. The trunk was about five feet in diameter and twenty feet tall. The cost to the tree company to dispose of the tree would be about $300.00. Would he deliver it to your house instead? You bet! The size of this tree is too large for most turners to handle. It would require a large chainsaw to cut up; but if you could, that would be turning wood for a long time.
The next picture shows logs being loaded into a truck. These are an easier size for most turners to handle, about eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter. So whether the tree is five feet or two feet in diameter it is more economical for the tree company to deliver to you. So, wood can be easily obtained for free from several sources; the easiest way is from tree companies or recycle yards. &ndsp
After the logs are home is when the real work begins. My method is to cut the logs to the proper length, which is about three inches longer than the diameter, then seal both ends with an end grain sealer, as seen in the third photo. I then stack them with an air gap between them in an upright position. If wood is stored in a cool dry location, it will take anywhere from three months to several years to dry out. I have a thirty-four by thirty-six foot building next to our home in which a twelve by thirty-four foot room is my studio; a tractor, bass boat and all my wood share the rest. The wood is identified, dated and sprayed for wood eating insects. Some woods will loose its color or change color as it dries, so for those types, I go ahead and rough turn them and coat them with a water displacing product. This can speed up drying time by as much as ninety percent. &ndsp
I also have a two foot by two foot by eight foot drying box as seen in the fourth photo. It has a temperature and humidity meter inside and outside so that I can monitor the difference between the two. Inside there is a simple light bulb socket so I can change the bulb’s wattage thus changing the temperature and humidity. There is also a small fan to circulate air. This is a good way to speed up drying time and have control over the amount of cracking also.