Electric Chainsaw + Log = Wood Turning Blanks
George VondriskaDescription
Bowl turners are typically scroungers. They’re constantly on the lookout for cool looking logs they can turn into bowls. Once you’ve got the log, how do you handle it to easily and safely turn it into a wood turning blank? Here’s one approach.
Why Logs?
When a tree is first cut down, the wood will be very wet. This is called green wood. Turners want to process the log into a wood turning blank and get it on the lathe while the wood is still wet. This makes turning the wood a lot easier, since green wood is softer than dry wood.
Logs also provide a way to get big bowl blanks; larger (and less expensive) than what you might be able to buy. If you can create large wood turning blanks from logs, you won’t have to glue pieces up to make large blanks for yourself.
Why be limited to species of wood a retailer sells? Cutting logs into bowl blanks means you can turn any specie of wood you can get your hands on.
Learning to Turn
Lathe turning can be very addictive. Watching blanks become bowls or spindles is a lot of fun. From body position to sharpening to correctly mounting blanks, there’s a lot to learn. Be sure to check out the variety of woodturning techniques that Woodworkers Guild of America offers.
Beyond Lathe Work
In addition to helping you with lathe work, WWGOA offers lots of other great projects you can work on. Any time you’re looking for woodworking project ideas, be sure to check out the wide variety of plans we provide.
Related videos:
How to Cut Bowl Blanks from Logs
Cutting a Log on a Bandsaw
Time for Turning Green Wood
Drying Wood in a Microwave
One of the things I've recently discovered is the benefit of having a chainsaw in the shop. In my case, I'm always looking for ways to turn logs into usable lumber. Primarily for me, it's about getting logs I can turn into bowl blanks, but it might also be a good-looking piece of wood I wanna cut into planks on my band saw, but I need a way to winnow it down a little bit before I get it on the band saw. So a chainsaw is a great way to do this. More specifically, an electric chainsaw. What's cool about this is I don't have to maintain a gas motor, I don't have to worry about filling the shop with all sorts of noxious fumes, and I don't have to do the work outside because of the fumes, 'cause the thing is electric. So this isn't a commercial for this particular saw, this is just something I thought if it's cool to me, maybe it's cool to you. So here's what I've got. This is a piece of maple crotch wood, and it would be a beautiful bowl blank, but too big for me to handle up onto a band saw right now. What I'm gonna do is cut a face off of it. In order to do that, I found it's best if this is fastened to a board. That gains me two things. One, this is not gonna tip over while I'm cutting on it, and two, the sacrificial board, the chain is not gonna go into my floor, it's gonna cut into that piece of plywood, looking something like this. I'm gonna toggle back and forth between the two sides. A little bit crooked and that doesn't bother me, 'cause eventually that's gonna come off when I work on the lathe. What a cool looking chunk of wood. Now for a bowl blank, here's what I would do next. And while I'm doing this, let's talk about that chainsaw work. Chainsaws are really designed to cross cut, and I just got done doing a big ripping cut. So you gotta take it easy on the cut, ripping, just like on your table saw, really requires larger teeth than cross cutting does in order to get the waste cleared out. So when you're doing cuts parallel to the grain, take your time and don't horse on the saw too hard. Now to turn that into a reasonably round bowl blank, I would take a disk like this, and another screw like this, and do this. And I just keep working my way around that circle, getting this cut back so I get that blank as round as I can get it. So, like I said, I just thought it was kind of a cool thing, I wanted to show it to you. This particular chainsaw was under a hundred bucks. Great addition to the shop for bucking down pieces like this piece of maple.
No safety gear? I don’t pick up my saw without first putting on chaps, face shield, and ear protection. An electric chainsaw in the shop is just as dangerous as a gas saw in the woods.
Thanks. Just what I needed to know.
Doesn't anybody in America use PPE. I find it unbelievable that you use a chainsaw and the only protection is ear plugs.
Do you oil the chainsaw blade as you cut the logs for wood turning? Thanks
I read your article and got some got an idea about electric chainsaw and log. Really it's interesting to see the combination of electric saw and log turning into woodturning blanks. Thanks for your amazing idea.
Noticed you did not cut through the pith... are you concerned with possible cracking...
<strong> 17632 Ticket How fresh was this piece of wood you started with? It looked quite weathered and cracked. Also, how do you store it once it is shaped into a blank?
great video on cutting down large logs for the lathe. Any thoughts about how to cut planks with a chainsaw using a ripping chain? They seem to be hard to find