How is apple to turn? I just got a large trunk that somebody threw out by
the curb. Didn't want to see it wasted before I tried it. Any thoughts?

How is apple to turn? I just got a large trunk that somebody threw out by
the curb. Didn't want to see it wasted before I tried it. Any thoughts?

I've turned a little of it. It seems to turn well but the wood, at least
the wood that I had, didn't seem to have much character. Mostly quite
white with a little tan grain. I seem to recall some that looked better
than what I had, so maybe it is the species.

Hey, it's free. What could be better?

Only thing with apple, and all fruit bearing trees, is that the wood
cracks rapidly; like while you're turning it. I've had some that was
plain, like Harry said, but I've also had some with great grain. I'd
suggest turning it right down to finish thickness, if you hear it snap
(crack), keep soaking the inside with oil (Danish, mineral, tung, ?)
and let the oil replace the juice flying out as your turning.

It's a fun wood to turn.

Ruth
www.torne-lignum.com

wrote in message
oups.com...
Only thing with apple, and all fruit bearing trees, is that the wood
cracks rapidly; like while you're turning it. I've had some that was
plain, like Harry said, but I've also had some with great grain. I'd
suggest turning it right down to finish thickness, if you hear it snap
(crack), keep soaking the inside with oil (Danish, mineral, tung, ?)
and let the oil replace the juice flying out as your turning.

It's a fun wood to turn.

Ruth
www.torne-lignum.com
=======================
In addition to the cracking that Ruth mentions, if you turn it thin, like a
rimless platter, it will warp immediately into some VERY interesting shapes.
You can't plan the final shape (or at least I don't know how), but it's
worth the experiment. A common way to do this is to turn a shape like a lily
bottom expanding into a flat surface (this may not make sense to you, but if
not, I'll try an ASCII drawing).

Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.

I have turned apple many times. However it was for pens. The wood I had
did have a very plain grain however I found it sanded and finished very
nicely. I didnt have any problems with cracking at all. But the wood had
been in a friends shop for over 4 years so allot of the moisture was
already gone.

Dvivian

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:56:08 GMT, "Sherfey"
wrote:

How is apple to turn? I just got a large trunk that somebody threw out by
the curb. Didn't want to see it wasted before I tried it. Any thoughts?

As several have already mentioned, it is fun to turn, warps and
cracks, but is very interesting if you turn it thin enough so it
doesn't crack badly. I have a goblet on my desk that I turned thin
from a branch of my grandfather's apple tree. It looks like something
a forest gnome might drink his honey mead from.

One thing that nobody mentioned, though, is what an absolutely
marvelous _smoking_ wood apple is. Save your shavings and all of your
off-cuts for the barbecue grill or smoker. Soak them in water and
wrap a handful in a couple layers of aluminum foil and toss them in
the grill the next time you're doing pork or chicken especially, or
even beef or any other meat. The flavor is out-of-this-world!

No waste, either, since you use the whole tree!


--
Chuck *#:^)
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wrote in message
oups.com...
Only thing with apple, and all fruit bearing trees, is that the wood
cracks rapidly; like while you're turning it. I've had some that was
plain, like Harry said, but I've also had some with great grain. I'd
suggest turning it right down to finish thickness, if you hear it snap
(crack), keep soaking the inside with oil (Danish, mineral, tung, ?)
and let the oil replace the juice flying out as your turning.

It's a fun wood to turn.

Ruth
www.torne-lignum.com

=====At the risk of disagreeing with my betters, I have never had a problem
turning apple (or any fruitwood, for that matter). Simply use LDD as
prescribed and you will have some fine, unwarped and uncracked items to
display or use. I have two pepper grinders that I turned a few years ago,
one from apple and one from pear, and they haven't cracked or warped and
still produce ground pepper. (NB: The wood for these grinders was cut using
a dropstarted chainsaw, but I attribute the non-cracking, non-warping to the
LDD! Shellawax was the finish.*G*)

Leif

Great idea.....I'll try that one.
"Chuck" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:56:08 GMT, "Sherfey"
wrote:

How is apple to turn? I just got a large trunk that somebody threw out
by
the curb. Didn't want to see it wasted before I tried it. Any thoughts?

As several have already mentioned, it is fun to turn, warps and
cracks, but is very interesting if you turn it thin enough so it
doesn't crack badly. I have a goblet on my desk that I turned thin
from a branch of my grandfather's apple tree. It looks like something
a forest gnome might drink his honey mead from.

One thing that nobody mentioned, though, is what an absolutely
marvelous _smoking_ wood apple is. Save your shavings and all of your
off-cuts for the barbecue grill or smoker. Soak them in water and
wrap a handful in a couple layers of aluminum foil and toss them in
the grill the next time you're doing pork or chicken especially, or
even beef or any other meat. The flavor is out-of-this-world!

No waste, either, since you use the whole tree!


--
Chuck *#:^)
chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply.


September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

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News==----
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Newsgroups
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In article UhFwe.7399$dz6.2545@trnddc02, Sherfey
wrote:

Great idea.....I'll try that one.

That's almost as nice as turning it very thin and watching it warp.

Take pork ribs and put a dry rub on them, let em sit for 24 hours. Wet
apple chips on the hot side of the BBQ (replenish as necc), ribs on the
cold side. For about 6 - 8 hours. Then add sauce and grill for the
final touch, 15 minutes a side.

Drool...

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