So, my wife now has a wood-turning lathe, and has acquired some modicrum of skill at turning wood. The only difficulty has been in keeping her supplied in interesting woods; the fun ones to turn are difficult to acquire here in los angeles.
There is a park (tennis courts, baseball diamond, etc) near here that has a fallen tree. It looks like a victim of the recent winds. Said tree was about 40 feet high, and some sort of pine. LA DWP (or parks and recreation) has cut it up into approx. 15 foot long sections, put a couple of parking barriers around it, and left it there. The tree in question has (probably) no real commerical value; most likely, it will be hauled away and mulched. Or, it could be hacked into bowl-blanks and turned on the lathe…
So, what say the teaming millions? Should I hie over with a chainsaw and cut in into managable pieces, load it into the truck and go home? Try to contact LADWP and see if I’m allowed to salvage some of it? Forget about it? Hang out until the crew comes by to clean it up and bribe them for some of it?
Yes ask the DPW, they might show you a yard full of limbs and trunks, those poor giving trees. Once ya start you’re not gonna look at another downed tree the same again. A friend used to scout for wood he Looked for ones with growths and gnarly knots that had wicked grains.
If you do decide to use it, I’d advise some caution, or you might damage your lathe.
Trees in urban settings often have nails in them. They just do. Trust me. If you can find a section that’s from above 6 - 7 feet, you’ll probably be OK. Check carefully, though, when you peel the bark off.
PINE? Phooey. I use walnut and cherry for firewood!
I have wondered if there were a better use for it…
If you live where fruit trees grow, you need only put this little stick in the ground, come back in a few years, and you have a tree. Possibly you could contact guys who have orchards. They have to replace old trees and generally they just burn them.
Turning wood is fun, isn’t it? You can find a lot of interesting wood in deadfalls and firewood piles (although as you pointed out, maybe not so much in LA). You probably should ask before you take any wood, although most likely they do just haul it off and mulch it somewhere. Many wood turners have developed relationships with tree removal services who let them know if there’s some interesting wood available. One other possibility is checking out local orchards – California has a lot of fruitwood and nut orchards, so you might be able to get some pruned cherry or walnut branches.
If the wood really is pine, it might not be very interesting for turning. Pine tends to tear easily and often doesn’t have a very interesting grain.
You do not want to turn uncured pine on a lathe. It is full of pitch and will gum up everything in no time. Plus it is a soft wood, also not the best for turning. The turning will crack and split as the wood dries. I tried to turn a piece off a cherry tree I cut down, it did not work to well. I have had my lathe for about 20 years and hardwood are by far the best. I guess I can let everyone else in on where I find all the free wood I want. Old pallets. Most pallets are made out of oak that have been deemed not acceptable for the furniture industry. I use it all too. I carefully dimantle them and I use a stud finder to look for any hidden nails or staples. The bigger pieces I use as it. For other pieces I surface the tops and bottom flat and glue them together. A few days later I cut the glued boards square and on the lathe they go.
In my city we have to get a permit from the City to take any wood. Its a free permit & often the city already has someone who gets the wood already lined up. So they just let it sit until the person comes to get it, see?