Woodworking

TopBanana

TopBanana

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Tim
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I've decided that I'd like to start doing a bit of woodworking as a new hobby.
Does anyone here do any woodworking or woodturning? If so, any help, tips, suggestions etc would be greatly appreciated.

And does anyone know where to buy some nice wood in the York area?

Feel free to use this thread to show off your past projects too!
 
TopBanana said:
I've decided that I'd like to start doing a bit of woodworking as a new hobby.
Does anyone here do any woodworking or woodturning? If so, any help, tips, suggestions etc would be greatly appreciated.

And does anyone know where to buy some nice wood in the York area?

Feel free to use this thread to show off your past projects too!
Click to expand...

I used to get all my wood from the the local council guys when they are trimming and cutting the trees down. The only problem is most of the logs are very wet and take ages to dry.
 
Was it just a case of being in the right place at the right time to see them cutting them? I've got a woodburner so I'm always on the look out for logs as well as nicer wood to make something out of!
 
TopBanana said:
Was it just a case of being in the right place at the right time to see them cutting them? I've got a woodburner so I'm always on the look out for logs as well as nicer wood to make something out of!
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No I called the council and asked. They use sub contractors to fell the trees. They gave me contact details for the subs and it went from there. The only problem I found was you get a lot of conifers so they smell nice in the wood burners but are hard to turn when fresh cut.
 
Sounds like a great idea, I should probably give the council a ring! Cheers
 
Have a look in Yellow Pages (or similar) and give a few tree surgeons a ring - they often have to deal with hardwoods and will (probably) be happy to give you a few logs to season at home, although you can also get interesting results from turning green and letting thin turned bowls warp.

Might also be worth getting in touch with cabinet makers who will probably be only too glad to dispose of some offcuts, although many have woodburners (for obvious reasons!).
 
You can always turn wet logs down to around 1.5" think. They will then dry more quickly. They'll warp as they do, but you'll have the thickeness to still turn a true bowl :thumbs:
 
Hand turned wooden items, in my experience, are a thing of beauty and thought.
I hope your new craft is rewarding for you.
 
John bodies at borough bridge used to be the place . I've heard that they have really gone down hill now though . I used to go for allsorts , it was interesting walking around the wood sheds taking in all of the smells . They also had a good selection of tools and had demo days . It was the place to go to when I was at collage studying piano tuning / repair , but not been for years so not too sure what their like now .
 
I love carpentry, so I will be making a cellar door tomorrow, weather and my red wine headache permitting.
 
I have built a few guitars and cameras.

Here is my wide angle, panoramic camera. I did cheat with the woodwork and use a CNC router though. http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/pano612.html

And here are some in progress shots of a 5x4 camera currently being built:

http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam1.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam6.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam2.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam9.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam10.jpg

Again, employing CNC cheatology.


Steve.
 
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Always cut to the waste side of the line.

Measure twice, cut once.
 
BigJohn said:
John bodies at borough bridge used to be the place . I've heard that they have really gone down hill now though . I used to go for allsorts , it was interesting walking around the wood sheds taking in all of the smells . They also had a good selection of tools and had demo days . It was the place to go to when I was at collage studying piano tuning / repair , but not been for years so not too sure what their like now .
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thanks for that, I've just looked them up and it looks like they've got a good selection of different species and it's not too far from my house. Hopefully they'll have some small offcuts for a decent price as they seem more setup for bulk purchases.
 
andy700 said:
I love carpentry, so I will be making a cellar door tomorrow, weather and my red wine headache permitting.
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How did it go Andy? I don't want to even imagine the noise from powertools when yours head's bad from too much the night before :(

big soft moose said:
i'd suggest joining http://thewoodhaven.co.uk or www.ukworkshop.co.uk (Robert who mods here is also a mod on the former)
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Thanks, I'll look them up and hopefully get some good advice and inspiration.

fatmarley said:
Measure twice, cut once.
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It's funny how that's such a well known saying but the number of times I've cut something, then measured it to check it's right only to find its completely wrong is far too high :shake:
 
Steve Smith said:
I have built a few guitars and cameras.

Here is my wide angle, panoramic camera. I did cheat with the woodwork and use a CNC router though. http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/pano612.html

And here are some in progress shots of a 5x4 camera currently being built:

http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam1.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam6.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam2.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam9.jpg
http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/cam10.jpg

Again, employing CNC cheatology.


Steve.
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Those cameras are very impressive! You must have a fairly impressive CNC machine to cut wood of that thickness?
Have you got any more details on the guitars you've made? Guitaring is a passion of mine, so if I could combine that with my new hobby then all the better!
About 10years ago I worked for Bournemouth Youth Service and we took a minibus of youth up to Lancashire for a week to stay with a luthier there any each build a lapsteel guitar. It's was a great time and, to be honest, it's been since then that I've enjoyed working with wood and wanted to make something impressive.
 
it's a shame you're so far away Tim - I've got loads of offcuts of hardwoods in my garage that I've never got around to using (although I do find uses for them from time to time - got a nice new spalted Beech threshold!). I've made a bass guitar body from a few bits laminated together but since the main part is a slab of oak, it's not light! (Lovely tone and great sustain though!)

I was trying to remember the name of the place near you - I was going to get a slab or 2 from them to build that body but a cabinet maker friend gave me the offcuts! (The place was John Boddy's...)
 
TopBanana said:
Those cameras are very impressive! You must have a fairly impressive CNC machine to cut wood of that thickness?
Click to expand...

The CNC machine is an Excellon router/drill intended for printed circuit board manufacture. We don't make our own PCBs any more but we kept the machine to make assembly jigs and test fixtures. It can cut up to about 12mm. I am now the only person in the company who knows how to use it which by default, makes me the expert!

All the wood in my cameras is about 9mm thick - mostly from old furniture. Often the back and sides of drawers are nice seasoned wood of the right thickness.

TopBanana said:
Have you got any more details on the guitars you've made? Guitaring is a passion of mine, so if I could combine that with my new hobby then all the better!
Click to expand...

Here is a copy of a Selmer Modele Jazz (Django Reinhardt) style guitar which I made in 1995.

http://stevesmithphoto.webs.com/IMG_1722.jpg

This was all with hand tools. No CNC trickery.

I have also made a wooden version of a National Triplate resonator guitar and a couple of other weird things.


Steve.
 
Hey I no this is an older thread, but my dad has long since forgot about he lathe and thought it b good get him to teach me as I no his dad tought him, but I'm looking for a burr or burr blank as I remember him saying he'd never turned one himself-think it make a nice gift/way to kick things off. But where do I get such a bit of wood from??
 
Where are you ? - if you are anywhere close to devon I can probably help you out. That aside try your local saw mill - they usually sell the outer bits of the tree off cheap, or your local tree surgeon, or if you want seasoned blanks look at yandles, axminster power, craft supplies etc - theres also a fair bit of wood on ebay but beware of people selling tiny bits and claiming that they are bigger than they are
 
Burrs aren't unfortunately - I think yandles is probably your closest dedicated supplier, I use them for wood purchases when I buy it ( I work for the national trust so get most of my turning wood free from woodland operations), there will however be a number of sawmills closer For instances there is hazelbury timber supplies in sturminster newton http://www.hazelburytimbersupplies.co.uk/ if at all possible I would always recommend selecting your timber in person
 
Just on an off beat... .does the wood need to be dry or can you work wet timber......not that I intend to take up wood work it was just a thought from reading this thread
 
archangel said:
Just on an off beat... .does the wood need to be dry or can you work wet timber......not that I intend to take up wood work it was just a thought from reading this thread
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Depends what you want to do with it , green timber shakes so a dried timber is much more stable .
 
archangel said:
Just on an off beat... .does the wood need to be dry or can you work wet timber......not that I intend to take up wood work it was just a thought from reading this thread
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In my woodworking hobbyist opinion It depends on what's being made, if its chucky rustic outdoor furniture, then shrinkage doesn't matter so much, whereas its more important to start with dry timber for indoor joinery and furniture builds, especially with cabinet and table top joinery.
 
Also if you are turning you can use wet timber, and either part turn bows /forms leave them to dry for about a year and then true them (in most woods they'll distort rather than crack) and finish them, or you can turn them thin in one hit and work with the distortion as part of the shaping process.

The other thing to bear in mind is that even dried timber won't be completely stable and will flex and expand and contract depening on air temp and humidity - this is why if you are doin inside joinery you need to bring the boards into the environment in which the furniture will be to 'settle' before final construcion and finishing
 
big soft moose said:
--- I work for the national trust so get most of my turning wood free from woodland operations---
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What do the national trust do with all their wood? I live a couple of miles from one of their properties and would love to get some wood for working with or for seasoning and burning in the woodburner!
 
TopBanana said:
What do the national trust do with all their wood? I live a couple of miles from one of their properties and would love to get some wood for working with or for seasoning and burning in the woodburner!
Click to expand...

It depends, if extraction is reasonably practical the oak and maybe chestnut and pine, probably gets planked up and reused on the estate, most other species will get taken for firewood (either for the properties themselves, for staff and volunteer housing, or for sale to the public) , while anything interesting like burrs, brown oak, yew ec will get sold off to wood turners / carvers etc - of course given the nature of a lot of our countryside sites it just has to be left on site to rot because its not feasible to get it out (after the the february storms I have a site with 5 huge ash trees down - prime firewood, but access is along a cliff path about 3ft wide so extraction isnt really an option.

If its just the occasional bit for turning or carving you should give your head ranger a bell - they'd probably be happy to let you have a couple of logs (if you let me know where you are near i can get a name and phone number for you) either free or for a small donation - I have several turners on my list- we split a black mulbery tree 4 ways last year. But if you want a regular supply, or for firewood then they'll probably want rather more payment - although the cost will still be rather less than buying from a merchant
 
big soft moose said:
If its just the occasional bit for turning or carving you should give your head ranger a bell - they'd probably be happy to let you have a couple of logs (if you let me know where you are near i can get a name and phone number for you) either free or for a small donation - I have several turners on my list- we split a black mulbery tree 4 ways last year. But if you want a regular supply, or for firewood then they'll probably want rather more payment - although the cost will still be rather less than buying from a merchant
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Sounds like I need to get in contact with my local people then (which is Beningbrough Hall if you know anyone there?). I've got room to season wood at home before burning but its hard to find unseasoned wood for sale (which you'd expect to be cheaper).
The idea of working with something like black mulberry is very exciting!
 
I've just pm'd you with the contact at beningborough - I figured it was better than putting contact info on open forum

if you buy unseasoned i'd expect it to be in lengths and chunks rather than logged up - I did a big trailer load of unseasoned ash in lyumps and chunks for £50 a couple of weeks back - just to get rid of it - after the storms we've got more fallen wood coming off site than we have room to store it. I've also got an oak tree going to one of our tenants on tje basis that its free if he comes and takes it away
 
I can find out - I know the west dorset team well (golden cap area) but not the Purbeck team as much - your other option being Kingston lacy (wimborne) - when I'm back in the office tomorrow i'll look up the contacts for you
 
PM sent david
 
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