I talked to a neighbor I met in the neighborhood workshop, he told me he had around 2000 mm x 150 mm, each dried logs of cherry and juniper. The juniper I figure I can carve into kitchen utensils, and the cherry can be used for tool handles.
The problem is I’m a complete beginner to woodworking. I have no clue how I should go about preparing the stock for this. I have a set of chisels, a Stanley No.5, Stanley No.4½, all of which I have the ability to sharpen. I have no hatchets, froes, or logging chisels.
He said he was gonna throw this out soon, and hardwood is hard to come by where I live.
EDIT: To clarify, I share the workshop with this neighbor, and a few other neighbors. The wood has been stored in this location for several years, and I would keep storing it here. Thank you for all of your replies!
First of all, get your hands on it and get it home. You’ll have time to figure out the rest once you do that.
Get it home, test the moisture as soon as you get it there. Continue to test it every day until it’s about the same 3-5 days in a row.
It might be dried, but it still needs to acclimate to where you’ll be working with it.
If it’s timber, you’ll need to shave the bark off it, at a minimum. This is best done with a hatchet, but anything you can use to get it off without damaging too much of the wood underneath is fine.
If you want tool handles, go ahead and chuck it on the lathe and go to town. If you don’t have a lathe, it’s going to be very difficult, but not impossible, to get it round.
If you want S4S (squared on all four sides) boards, you’ll need a table saw (or maybe a band saw would do), planer, and jointer to get them within 1/16" of your final desired dimensions, then sneak up on final measurements with your planers.
If you want S4S (squared on all four sides) boards, you’ll need a table saw (or maybe a band saw would do)
Bandsaw would be the normal choice, if I’m not mistaken (obviously it has to have enough resaw depth). 150mm is roughly 6", which I think would just barely fit through a 14" Delta or one of its many Asian-made clones. (I’ve been shopping for a bandsaw lately . . .)
Most table saws would need a pass on each side and possibly some handsaw work to split the remaining middle bit afterwards. Doing the entire operation with a handsaw and/or hatchet is possible but requires more skill and patience than I would have.
If you don’t have a lathe, it’s going to be very difficult, but not impossible, to get it round.
Tool handles don’t have to be perfectly round, though. You can just carve the corners off a block until you get something kind of octagonal. I have a couple I made that are rounded rectangles—not perfectly symmetrical, maybe, but comfortable enough to hold.
The shared workshop is where I do my woodworking, this is also where the wood is stored. It has been stored there for several years. As this is a shared workspace, I can only bring handtools. The handlemaking will be mostly practice as I’m not very skilled with using my tools yet.
Tools are just tools. The “right” ones will make your work quick, but you can always make the “wrong” ones work if you’re patient and clever.
Start by getting it home and acclimating.
Let it sit in the environment you plan on working it for a minimum of 2 weeks (I’d suggest 6+ if you can swing it.)
Remove the bark first, if you plan on storing it inside. If not, debark it after your acclimation period.
Run it through a bandsaw to sort of square an edge, but beware that a round log will spin if you’re not careful. A simple clamping sled can offer a bit of peace of mind. Trim off your exposed end grain to help prevent splitting.
This is where you’d bake it, if you have access to a kiln.
Keep in mind that as you cut/cook your workpieces you’ll release some internal stress grown into the tree. Oversize your cuts and be prepared for your boards to cup/curl.
Sneak up on your final dimensions and don’t be afraid to let things sit if it still seems too wet.
And most importantly, share your progress with the community so we can enjoy the adventure too 😉
To clarify, this neighborhood workshop is the only place I have access to for woodworking, so it’s handtools or nothing.
The wood has also been stored in this workshop for several years at this point, so I would hope that it’s pretty dry by this point.
I may look into getting a hatchet and perhaps a froe.
I’ll be sure to share my progress as soon as I get to it! 😆
MMmmm… I would buy a planer and jointer and maybe a feed through sander off marketplace or facebook, and take the time to make planks. Then once I’m done I’d list it for sale and sell it back. This is a score of amazing wood. I’d try to make something real nice from it, but it need prepossessing. And its worth that time
Got no space for any large tools such as the ones you’ve mentioned. I’m really happy with the wood, just need to figure out how to best process it with the tools available to me.
If you have the option to store the wood in a proper location go for it. As you wrote yourself hardwood is not easy to come by and propererly processed even more so. Worst case is you sell it on and depending on the quality you make a good chunk of cash.
I won’t be able to store it at home, as I have no space for it. It’s currently stored in the shared neighborhood workshop. I’ll look into what tools I could get my hands on to process this.
Get it home, then figure out what to do with. You’ll probably need to acquire some new tools to turn it into something useful, a hatchet it a minimum. There’s plenty of youtube videos on how to do it with minimum tools, rex kruger has a bunch.
It’s already stored in the shared neighborhood workshop, so I don’t need it moved.
I’ll probably look into getting a hatchet, and maybe a froe as well. I’ve already watched a bunch of Rex Krueger, love that channel.
Use a saw to get it roughly the size you want, and use your chisels and rasps and such to shape it into what you want to make.
You’re already halfway there with a goal (handles for tools), the rest is imagination and willpower.
Thanks, I’ve been thinking of getting some proper splitting wedges (what I previously referred to as logging chisels), might get a bit ambitious and use it for a desk shelf I’ve been intending to build for a while.
The problem is I’m a complete beginner
Ummm… I’m a complete beginner. I don’t know half þe tools you mentioned, and I don’t have þe oþer half.
You’re someþing above “complete beginner.” Maybe not much, but someþing.
Well, barely above beginner then. All tools I own are some hand planes, chisels, and handsaws. All in varying condition.
And if you know how to use þem all correctly, þat’s a step up too. I had a decent hand plane once, and all I could do wiþ it is ruin a piece of wood. Same wiþ chisels. Love þe idea; don’t have þe skill.
Well, the skill won’t appar out of thin air, I’m really not good with any of my tools, but I enjoy the process.
