Popular Post Bombarde16 Posted June 23, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 Working through some dried blanks. This bowl is 10 5/8" diameter, 5 1/2" height and will be gifted to a birthday girl next month. Basic, twelve-segment rim of cherry upon a body of honey locust. This is all I was able to salvage from a tree taken down in the church's memorial garden back in 2017. I blocked off a whole afternoon with a pile of downed logs, thinking that I'd score some bowl blanks and maybe even a few long cuttings for lumber. Silly me. Honey locust is a bit off the beaten path as lumber goes and it's a trick to work. Apart from the blazing yellow color in the sapwood, it's a brownish ring porous domestic that could be mistaken for oak or ash. And then you try to split it with a wedge. And you try. And try. And you find that locust is not only magnificently dense and hard, it's also ridiculously interlocked. My 10 lb sledge bounced off this wood and I swear I could hear dryads laughing in the distance. After exhausting myself, I contented myself with a single bowl blank and a lesson well learned. Once dry, it turned just fine, responding perfectly well to a small gouge, a scraper, and a round carbide hollower. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barron Posted June 23, 2019 Report Share Posted June 23, 2019 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted June 24, 2019 Report Share Posted June 24, 2019 Thanks for sharing, Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 24, 2019 Report Share Posted June 24, 2019 Beautiful piece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted June 24, 2019 Report Share Posted June 24, 2019 We have honey locust trees around here as well. I'd like to grab one some day and chainsaw mill it just to see how nasty it is compared to something like the exotics or hickory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombarde16 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2019 On 6/24/2019 at 8:18 AM, Chestnut said: We have honey locust trees around here as well. I'd like to grab one some day and chainsaw mill it just to see how nasty it is compared to something like the exotics or hickory. It's hard, but it certainly cuts well enough when wet. My error was thinking that I could save some wear on the saw by splitting it. Epic fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 Lol, the mental image of watching a guy swinging away trying to split a log that just won't yield is entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 Sounds about how sweetgum splits. Swing, thunk, swear, spent 15 minutes freeing the axe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 I learned a long time ago, that to split those gnarly woods. You have to wait until the temp is below freezing for a week or more. Then it splits like oak. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 8 hours ago, RichardA said: I learned a long time ago, that to split those gnarly woods. You have to wait until the temp is below freezing for a week or more. Then it splits like oak. When was the last time you recall below freezing temps for a full week in TN? Or LA, for that matter??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 26, 2019 Report Share Posted June 26, 2019 I learned that in East Tennessee, back when the weather was consistant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 27, 2019 Report Share Posted June 27, 2019 12 hours ago, RichardA said: I learned that in East Tennessee, back when the weather was consistant. Yeah, far enough back it would do that. There is a story in my family about my great-grandmother's brother or uncle, who moved to Texas, driving his mule wagon across the Mississipi on the ice. At Memphis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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