Chainsaw Use For The Woodturner

   Very quickly, woodturners learn that one of the difficulties of woodturning is the acquiring of wood large enough for faceplate turning. It is both difficult and expensive. However, there is often a good supply of local wood in log form if the means to deal with it are available. A chainsaw makes the handling of logs and their processing into turning blanks readily accessible.

   One of the first things to know about a chainsaw is its danger. A chainsaw is one of if not the most dangerous power tools in the woodworker's arsenal. The working part of the saw is a bar covered with a moving cutting chain that is designed to crosscut through hardwood. As such it will not even pause for flesh. In addition it is a simple matter to catch the tip of the bar in such a manner so as to make the saw kick back or jump at the user with amazing speed and power. With this said, there are many people who use a chainsaw day in and day out without problem. While the risk of using any power tool rests with the user, it is a good idea in this case to get instruction from an experienced user before handling the saw on your own.

   Chainsaws come in a variety of types and sizes but for most woodturners there are some simple considerations to think of when buying. Saws are sized by power and bar length. As a general rule subject to all the dangers of generalities, a sixteen inch bar will be long enough for most turners and twelve will be a little short at some point in the woodturning career. Another general rule is to buy the most powerful motor you can afford. It is easier on the user and the saw assuming the weight is also good for the user.

   The power source will be either electric or gasoline. Gasoline is more convenient outside the shop but there is a danger form carbon monoxide when running an internal combustion engine indoors not to mention the huge noise from the motor. Electric saws require heavy extension cords and in general cut slower than gas saws, but are quieter and get the job done.

   The turner should learn to sharpen and maintain the saw. Chains dull quickly if they hit rocks or nails in the wood and sometimes they touch the ground when cutting logs to length. A chain that hits the ground is dull and needs sharpening. This is not difficult to learn and files for sharpening are cheap. If the saw is kept with the bar oiled and the fuel for a gas saw mixed properly, a routine maintenance check by a good repairman or dealer is all that will be needed for long saw life.

   Chainsaws need not be fearful for the woodturner to use and will make the gaining of bowl blanks and the like much easier. Good instruction can make all the difference in the pleasure added to getting ones own wood for woodturning.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 4: Knocking off the corners

Once the blanks are marked I like to cut off the corners before mounting on the lathe. First of all it tends to give a better balance without all the extra wood. There is also a chance to cut off any extra bits and pieces that might otherwise give balance problems. Second it allows for a bigger bowl to be placed on the lathe. The diagonal of the blank is about 1 1/2 times as long as the diameter of the blank. Actually about 1.4 times for all you fussy mathematician types. Getting as much of the extra wood off the corners as possible allows me to turn a 16" bowl on my 16" lathe instead of only a 10" to 11". Finally, the chainsaw is a bit faster than the lathe at the wood removal.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 3: Marking out the circles

I like to cut away as much as possible of the blank before roughing the bowl. Some turners with larger and more powerful lathes like to throw on the half log and turn but I find the chain saw faster to work with. Also, the better balanced the blank the easier and safer to turn.

Actually, for larger bowls, say 10 inches and over, I usually cut an angle at the ends to match the slope of the sides, but this is a more dangerous cut for the inexperienced so I left it out of the video. Hope you enjoy.

Roughing a Bowl, Video 2 : ripping in two

In this part I rip the log sections in two to create 2 blanks per section. This is one of the safest cuts for a chainsaw but also a hard one on the saw. Maintain an angle of about 60° through the log and allow the shavings to clear. Chainsaws are intended for crosscuts and the long shavings of a rip cut can cause the saw to bind. They can also interfere with the oiler so make sure that there is sufficient oil for the chain. I just use a regular sharpening of the chain. The saw buck with a channel here is superior to the "X" shape buck which would cause the wood to bind when the cut is completed and the two sections slid down the sides of the "X" to the center, trapping the bar between them.

More on that bird's eye

I got started on the bird's eye log. With all the cracking in it I decided that it needed to be moved into blanks and boards. The boards are going to be short since I am working free hand with a 16" chain saw and a small band saw. I took a 24" section and began to cut it down with the Stihl and then moved inside to the electric chainsaw and the bandsaw. Just after starting I realized that I had to sharpen the bandsaw and put a quick edge on the blade. After a bit of work I got the log into some blanks ready for spindles. The ends are sealed with Anchorseal and I will leave them indoors to dry a bit more.

Ready for mallets

So lately I have been turning mallets. Yesterday I took out the chain saw and cut a few pieces of maple for some more. I want to do up a project page on mallets and like to practice a bit first, especially if I decide to video the turning.

Mallets, in my opinion, are a great beginner project. They allow for lots of expression in a tool that has a definite purpose and hence a definite set of restrictions so you do not turn something that simply does not work. A mallet with a 10 pound head and a thin handle is just nuts. But a mallet with a head that fits the handle may have decorative beads and grooves and the handle could have all sorts of turned decoration without removing its sense of "handle."

Plus this is spindle turning. I see a lot of turners moving from spindles to faceplate stuff and a whole set of skills is being lost. Most wood turners start with spindle turning and then leave it under the impression that faceplate is where it is at. A lot of turned objects are spindle work, handles, newels, mallets, pens, gavels to name a few. This is also a lot of fun.

On the other hand, while I was cutting the maple I found that it was spalted to the point where another winter will not be good for it. Maybe I need to rough a lot of bowls before I lose the whole pile.

Wooden Spoon Video Part 1

I have been playing some more with the video camera and put up a bit of video over on YouTube dealing with mounting a blank for a wooden spoon. It is a nice piece of offset turning for anyone who has not done it before. Basically it is just a matter of lining things up so that the part of the handle that contacts the bowl is above center. This lets the handle be at an angle when the spoon rests on a work surface. While I define the lines of the bowl while at the angle I have a friend who turns these things commercially and he turns the bowl on center and the handle off. It remains to carve the bowls after the turning is done.

Spindle Block Movie

Spindle Turning

I took a bit of time in the shop today to answer a question from one of my web page readers about getting a block of wood for spindle turning. A lot of us have fire wood handy and a lot cheaper than buying a 3" square of turning wood. He was wondering what to do to get a turning square. Since I start with a chain saw, it was easier to make a movie than to take photos. So I put a movie up on YouTube. The easiest way to find it is to do a search on my name at Youtube. I am working on how to post it to a blog. It is supposed to be easy but I am sometimes techno challenged. This is one of those simple things that will take a while to get used to doing.
It was great to be back in the shop and good to be spindle turning. I have not done enough lately.