From Firewood to Wood Bowl
I decided to start a series of posts and articles that feature wood bowls and other wood turnings made from pieces of wood from firewood, the burn pile or some old wood pile that is ready to get burned for a campfire or bonfire. Basically these will be projects that were turned from free wood found in someones yard, side of the road or in back of some tree guys truck 🙂 It will be free wood for woodturning that is found someplace and dragged home 🙂
First let’s take a look at a few things any new woodturner needs to know and old turners probably already know but can share with some of the woodturners they mentor.
How To Start Turning Wood
Once you get bitten by the “woodturning bug” you will began a journey of learning how to use new tools, a different assortment of supplies and at some point you will think about considerating some of the bigger woodshop machines. Let’s face it, you’ve either become a tool junky or it was always in your genetics!
Then each tool or machine you buy needs to be learned. You have to learn how to maintain it and use it. For woodturning tools you need to learn how to use them and you need to learn how to sharpen them.
You need to learn what makes a good woodturning tool, what steel is best for you to get started
You might want to pick up a cheap set of woodturning tools so you can learn how to use them but more importantly ……learn how to sharpen them.
I suppose I could go on with a list, sentence or paragraph on what you need to get into woodturning but that’s not what I am interested in right now.
My point is there are many different aspects involved in woodturning and at some point you will need to be proficient at all of them. However, do not be dismayed, it’s a process all woodtunrners will go through and you will too.
What Wood Do I Use For Woodturning?
I can’t tell you how many posts are made at our FaceBook Woodturning Basics Group regarding the wood they will put on their lathe. Should the wood be green/wet or dry. Should I start with species A or B. Can I turn construction grade lumber? Can I cut a piece off the tree that fell in the yard? Or can I saw a log/tree on the side of the road, is this good for turning? Or should I go down to my local wood store and buy a bowl blank?
First let me say, if you have to buy all your wood blanks for turning you either have a lot of money or you will end up spending a lot of money.
Learn How To Make Your Own Bowl Blanks
It’s best to understand how a bowl blank is formed and cut from a piece of a tree. Once you get a handle on that you can start your own collection of bowl or turning blanks to work with ……and it will probably be free wood!
Wood bowls can be defined by an unlimited number of shapes. Often times the shape wood bowl is determined by the shape of the log or piece of firewood you might have. One of the things I do is to “Google” wood bowls, and/or wood bowl shape and check out the image tab. It will give you a ton of ideas and inspiration.
Another place to search is YouTube. Same thing, search for wood bowl shape, or turn a wood bowl and you’ll come up with 1000’s of videos that will help you understand what you can turn. You can even type in “bowl from firewood” and you’ll get a couple 100 hits.
Most of Us Want Free Wood
Here’s a link to some free wood sources . You just need to keep your eyes open, carry a chainsaw around with you and pull off the side of the road when you see a tree laying in the culvert ….or on the road and cut up a few pieces for yourself. You will be surprised at how much wood you can collect if you just become aware of your surroundings.
That said, there is also Facebook Marketplace where people are looking to give away free wood all the time, check out ebay and also craigslist. Don’t forget the bulletin boards in some of your local stores, or print up some cards for yourself saying that you are looking for free wood for your woodturning business, pass them out, pin them and you would be amazed at what comes back at you. Throw in a free wood bowl and that will seal the deal.
All Wood Is Fair To Turn
As I started I did not have a lot of money. I certainly could not go to the local woodworking store and buy a bowl blank for 50 bucks. So I would look for trees on the side of the road that were down. I would ask tree trimming crews for a couple pieces of bigger branches and trunks. City dumps always have a pile of wood that is free for the taking (always ask first). Many other sources for free wood for your woodturning needs, read this https://www.woodturningbasics.com/harvesting-an-ash-tree-for-woodturning-cutting-bowl-blanks-from-logs/
Firewood For WoodTurning Projects
A source of wood for woodturning I really did not think of or expect was firewood. Yes, firewood for woodturning is a cheap source of wood for woodturning if you live in the city or suburbs and have problems getting wood for your woodturning habit. Have you seen a small bundle of firewood in front of a 7-11 store or quick market? Since we heat with wood, when I’m sick, I get a full cord of chopped wood, all different species that is dried and ready to put in the wood stove. Yes I heat our home with a wood stove and we can go through quite a bit of chopped wood, I almost always do it myself but last couple of years I’ve been sick and had to buy chopped wood……killed me to do that 🙁
Campfire Wood Packs for Woodturning
Some guys will pick up one of those little packs of firewood (meant for a campfire) and bring them home to look and see how they might be able to cut to fit on their lathe. In fact, I was surprised at how many woodturners were doing that.
So, I decided create a category called “Firewood to Wood Bowl” where I will discuss how you can turn a piece of firewood that was intended for the fireplace or wood stove but ended up on your lathe and you turn a beautiful project!
I want to be able to cover some of the different ways you can mount a piece of firewood on your wood lathe. Whether it be between centers or installed on your chuck.
So, I thought I would just mount a piece of firewood on the lathe and see what happens and where I go with it. In many ways, these turn out to be some of the most beautiful projects 🙂
Looking For Strange Wood Sources That Yield Wood Turned Pieces of Art
I will also search for others who have taken that strange looking branch or piece of firewood and end up making a woodturning that is worthy of being called a work of art. At the same time, I will look for those who turn firewood pieces into functional pieces that can be used every day.
I live on a river. Logs float down stream all the time. I think I will cut a few river blanks for woodturning and see what I can turn! Those that manage waterways would be only too happy to let you load up a truck or your trunk with some cut offs. Remember…..think outside the box!
Picking Out Your Pieces
From The Firewood Pile
For Woodturning Blanks
Usually I look for the piece of firewood that has good color, is dry and has some meat to it. That is, you have a substantial piece of wood in your hands.
At this point I usually don’t have any idea what I want to turn. All I’m concerned with is how do I mount this piece of firewood on my wood lathe…..and am I going to turn a spindle shape or will it be a bowl of some kind ….or can I make it a combination of bowl and spindle?
How to Mount the Piece of
Firewood for Woodturning?
Most firewood pieces are triangular shaped or could be a rough shape of 4 sides. The question we ask ourselves is how do I get this piece of firewood on the lathe?
When I mount a piece of firewood on the lathe I consider 2 options.
Should I mount the piece between centers along the length of the bedways, in line with the endgrain? Or should I mount the piece perpendicular, that is 90° to the bedways.
Lets say I mount it perpendicular to the bedways. Next I need to determine which side will have the tenon or recess and which side will have the tailstock pushed into it. Keep in mind, the side with the tailstock pushed in is more likely to be the top of the bowl you are going to turn.
This piece came from a bigger piece of firewood, I could see the color and just couldn’t keep it in the wood pile. So I mounted it on the lathe. Turned it a while until I decided I wanted to do a winged bowl of some sort.
So I used a 2-1/8″ forstner bit to drill a hole for my Nova Super2 Chuck.
It looks like walnut but it came from a pile of firewood that had oak, hickory and cherry in it. So, I’m guessing its Hickory. It was a fun project, kind of challenging. You need to be careful because it basically becomes something similar to a propeller on an airplane. You need to turn it at high speed and you need to be familiar with “ghost” turning.
If you try something like this make sure all your safety gear is on because a catch will cause big problems. I like the challenge, even if I can’t see as well as I used to. You can always compensate for your inabilities. For me, I installed all LED lighting fixtures they simply screw into a keyless fixture and the brightness is amazing. I can see the ghosting of the winged bowl, makes it safer and I know where I am cutting (gouging).
Someone will fall in love with the shape, form and color! I just kept turning until it looked like something I might be proud of. Remember a bowl doesn’t have to be a round piece of hollow wood. You can turn small bowls, cups, vases, billy bats or flat plates from wood that comes from the firewood pile 🙂
So, in this category I plan on showing off some of my work that was done with firewood and I’ll find firewood projects done by others and post them here.
The whole idea is to open up the world of possibilities when it comes to wood and woodturning. And hopefully share techniques and methods to make some of these projects happen.
Keep in mind. Its easier to turn a prepared round blank than a piece of firewood. But if you get the concept you will become interested in seeing if you can duplicate some of these efforts. As always, please be safe. If you think it is too dangerous to follow someone in a video or pictures then …..wait a while until you get better acquainted with your tools, equipment and skills!
A piece of wood is a piece of wood. It can become a simple bowl or a piece of art. My friend Al Furtado will take the ugliest piece of wood and turn it into an expensive piece of artwork….. you can too if you practice and learn the basics of woodturning 🙂
Woodturning Basics
I try to keep in my thoughts the basics. It’s easy to get board with turning salad bowls all the time. So….I try to mix it up. I’ll grab a 3″ ash branch and turn a billy club …or billy bat as my grandsons say. Latter in the week I might go to the wood pile and find some burled oak pieces of firewood. I’ll take those to the bandsaw and cut up some square blanks to be used as pens or pizza cutter handles. I’m always looking for that log …..that will give me a beautiful vase. Then there is a spalted maple log, half rotted that I decide to make a project of with some epoxy.
I always go back to the firewood pile. Guys who sell firewood will tell you its all oak and its all dry. They are lying on both parts. You’ll find every local species in that pile and it won’t be dry. Sometimes I just take the piece of firewood and turn it round, throw it in the corner or in a box and let it finish drying…..I got a round blank that might become a handle, rolling pin…billy bat or …..well, you get the idea!
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to coat the inside of the cup ….and surprisingly it turned out pretty nice. There is a learn curve with wood epoxy finishes, however, the results are well worth it. There is even a whole world of epoxy resins and castings for woodturning but that’s for another day!
and practice on cheap woodturning tools. After a period of time you will feel confident in your abilities to 
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