As my first blog entry, I just have to share how wonderful and giving fellow LJ’s are.
My kids, my wife and I all started turning pens recently. This meant several things. Costly start up fees so that we had everything we needed to get going, costly material fees to get enough kits and blanks to get started, and enough material to practice with.
The first 2 were easy enough and to some extent the 3rd wasn’t too bad as I’m sitting on a stock pile of mahogany from cleaning out a local mill of their cut-offs. They were selling by the cart, so I have quite a bit. However just turning a wood like mahogany does not give you a feel for the variety that is out there. I’m finding that many woods turn differently than others, react different to finishing techniques, blow out easier, etc… and the only way to know this is to experiment.
My cousin (Matt Seiler) is a wood worker up in Chicago and forum moderator over at Wood magazine. He helped a great deal with the equipment start up, but also recently sent me a sizable box of cut-offs from around the shop. Walnut, Cherry, Rosewood, and some absolutely beautiful silver maple, some with live edge that I’m holding for something special. This started me thinking, how many gorgeous blanks get thrown away because other people call them cut-off or scrap or garbage. One persons trash can definitely be another persons treasure in this case.
I posted a want add in the LJ swap forum asking for just that, scraps that were headed for the trash. 5-6” long 4/4×1” or similar. The response has been great and I’m currently waiting to see what is on it’s way to me. The LJ community has been a great source of information and although I’m fairly new to the community, I’m looking forward to being able to pay back that kindness.
Thank you LJ and it’s members.
