The Woodworking Show - Jan 13-15 2012

 
 
  Come see us at the Springfield, MA, Woodworking Show, to be held at the "Big E" fairgrounds, West Springfield, MA. The annual event draws woodworkers of all kinds from around New England and elsewhere.

I'll be joining other members of the newly formed Western Mass Woodturners club in our booth there. We'll be promoting woodturning, and doing some turning for you to see. If you're new to turning, or are curious about it, this is a good opportunity to ask all those questions you've thought about. And you're more than welcome to join the club, no matter what your turning skill level may be. We help each other learn more about the craft, and are happy to help newcomers get started. The club holds monthly meetings, which include a live turning demo to learn from.

This national show is a great chance to see woodworking equipment vendors and demonstrators up close and personal, and to go home with some good buys too. There's plenty to see (and buy!).

The show runs Friday 12-6, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 10-4. I'll be there Friday and Saturday, but the club booth will be manned all three days. 


Hope to see you there.

Why Woodturners Love Bad Storms

 Western Massachusetts has had a record year in 2011-- an F3 tornado ripped a 39-mile scar; a microburst hit Wilbraham a month later, toppling trees the tornado narrowly missed; a mild earthquake rumbled through; hurricane Irene swept into the neighborhood; and now, at the end of October, a freak snowstorm has dumped a load of extremely heavy, wet mush that was the worst thing to happen to our trees in my memory. A late fall meant lots of leaves were still clinging to the branches, and an early snow meant trouble- lots of trouble.

It started snowing on Saturday afternoon; the wet, heavy, snow stuck like glue to the leaves and branches, forcing even the largest of limbs into descending, ominous arcs. POW! It began to sound like the 4th of July around the neighborhood, as limbs strained against the snow load, then gave out. By 5:30 pm, the power was out over vast areas of the northeastern U.S. The storm paused, then restarted with a vengeance around 9 pm. All through the night and into Sunday morning, there was a continuous series of explosion-like sounds... CRACKKK... POW ... THUD !, as limbs crashed down onto rooftops and yards. 

Siberian Elm Stripped of Most Branches

Sunday morning brought an end to the snowfall, and a bright, sunny day. But it wasn't a pleasant sight for homeowners or travelers; it was an incredible tangle of downed limbs, utility poles, and power lines. Like nothing we've seen in my lifetime. Power was out just about everywhere, across many states. No stores were open, gas stations all closed. Travel was difficult, to say the least. It would be 8 days before electric power was restored to my area, and even longer for many others.

 Heaps of Fallen Branches

As just a typical resident of the area, I felt overwhelmed by the sight of the devastation to our trees, and the huge amount of woody debris dumped on my property and house. Two 70-foot Siberian Elms that flank my house were stripped of most of their small- and medium-sized branches, which completely buried my front yard.

 

Garage Buried Under Honeylocust Limbs

Deb Saves a Dogwood

But, as a woodturner, I knew this storm was likely to be a bonanza for those of my ilk, as was the July tornado. And so it was.

My friend, Al Richmond, has brought me a small truckload of eclectic, mixed species... Yew, Chinese Chestnut, Amur Cork Tree, Mulberry, Hawthorn, Umbrella Pine, and even a hunk of old Privet Hedge. All were taken down by the overwhelming weight of soggy snow.

Black Willow Burl Harvest

Bob and a Black Willow Burl

Fellow woodturner Bob Labrecque and I have made more than one foray into forests and backyards to harvest woody victims of these storms. One of the recent hauls was a truckload of Black Willow burls from a tree that came down in a New Hampshire backyard. This tree had followed the latter option of "Live Free or Die", having blown over and crushing a large wooden play structure. 

We spent hours, much of it in the rain, surgically removing the burls that covered this trunk from one end to the other. Thank goodness Bob had borrowed a sawmill's chainsaw with a 30-inch bar, because we'd have been lost without it! 

Of course, the largest burl was at the base of the trunk, on the underside, the toughest place to get at. The trunk was about 3 feet in diameter in that area, and it took some doing to liberate that section from the base of the tree, which was still rooted but leaning over at a severe angle. The quest for the elusive burl is not a pursuit that precludes work!

Yours Truly, Loading Willow Burl into Pickup

Black Willow is a lightweight wood, generally without remarkable figure, but we'll see what the burls have in store. It's all about the anticipation.

Partial Load of Willow Burls

  

We returned to Western Mass from New Hampshire tired, wet, filthy, hungry, and smelling of chainsaw exhaust fumes. In other words, we were happy woodturners.

 

The Northampton Monster Apple Tree

Our most recent adventure was to the wilds of a backyard in Northampton, MA, where a monstrous old apple tree had met its match in the snowstorm. The owner said she had been told it was the largest apple tree in the state. We haven't been able to confirm that yet, but it certainly was a contender. A double-trunk beauty, it had stood two and a half stories tall, each trunk being somewhere in the 30-inch diameter range. You can see from the photo at right that the combined diameter of the two trunks is easily 5 feet. 

I Think Bob's Meditating Here ...

Another woodturner from New York had already been there and slabbed off all the burls (George, we're onto you!!). But there was plenty of gorgeous, large diameter wood left. We set about liberating as much of the crotch wood as we could, in the expectation that it would be the best-figured of the lot.

Naturally, as is our karma, it began to rain. With hundreds of pounds of saturated apple to load into the truck, we had to leave as much wood as we took. But look at the photo below ... the color of that wet heartwood doesn't get any richer. I just love the contrast between sapwood and heart.  

Apple, and more Apple !

The requisite carpenter ants were of course occupying galleries in the center of much of the trunk, and, being lethargic in the cold November temps, they weren't quick to leave the security of their dark recesses. But we did evict most of them.

Although Apple is notoriously difficult to successfully dry without cracking and checking, I'm sure the gods will look down on us with a smile. After all, we didn't cut the tree down. And who would want this spectacular wood to get chipped up into mulch, or unceremoniously chucked into a stove? Besides, we advised the owner that what remained of the standing tree didn't have to be removed; it would undoubtedly sprout new growth next spring, and can live on. She was thrilled to know that maybe she hadn't lost her beloved old Apple after all.

Bob Contemplates an Apple Harvest Bowl (or a back brace)

As we finally finished loading our treasure into Bob's pickup (need I say it...in the rain), I turned around to take a last look at the tree. Bob was stepping over the tailgate from the bed of the truck, where he had been rearranging some of the slippery load. As suddenly as a thunder clap, I heard a whoosh, then a solid whump! I spun around to see my buddy flat on his back on the wet ground, motionless, a grimace on his face, a groan in his throat. The first thought that raced into my mind, of course, was "man, am I glad we were done loading this stuff, and I don't have to do it alone !!".  Can you believe I've actually been called callous for that ??

But Bob was ok. He just likes to play the crowd for pity over a splattered spleen and a few shattered ribs. Well, sorry Bob, there was no crowd out there in the rain that day. Just me, and I'm wise to it.

So, off we went back home-  tired, wet, filthy, hungry, and smelling of chainsaw exhaust fumes. In other words, we were happy woodturners. Again.

American Elm Burl

And the ride home wasn't without more excitement. On many a country lane, we were taunted by the sight of burls of all sizes, proudly protruding from trunk and limb. But these were for another storm adventure, and that's a good thing. They were all on trees that had withstood the tests that nature inflicted.

The finest one of all, happily, was a behemoth on a wonderful American Elm, a graceful species from grand avenues of the past.

As much as we'd love to see what's inside it, we don't ever want to be standing over this beauty with a chainsaw in hand.


And now you know why woodturners love bad storms.  



----------------------------------------------------

Update:   

Here are photos of some of the first bowls off the lathe from these two adventures:

New Hampshire Black Willow Burl Bowl

Pair of Apple Wood Bowls

The Black Willow Burl bowl has a natural-edge rim that retains some of the bark; the rest of the rim has been flame-scorched to heighten its definition. You can see the varying tones in the swirls of the burl's grain. The large dark patch is a bark inclusion. This is a very lightweight bowl, owing to the low density of Willow wood.

The Apple bowls are a "mother and daughter" set, the smaller having been cored from the inside of the larger bowl.

These bowls are available for purchase at Bowlwood.com.



 

How Can a Tornado Brighten Your Day?

 

If you or your property suffer the fate of being in the path of a tornado, your day isn't likely to be better for the experience. So, how can a high speed twister brighten your day? 

Red Cedar Table Lamp

Well, one of these storms terrorized Western Massachusetts on June 1, 2011. During a trek through the forest to explore the aftermath, I found left in its path two small Aromatic Red Cedar trees, flattened by larger trees that had been blown over. One of these Cedars has become this table lamp.

Turning Eastern Red Cedar on the lathe is just a joy, its scent quickly filling the air. And the freshly exposed colors in the wood bring a smile to your face. That's how a tornado can brighten your day!

Oh, right... there's one other way too... turn the lamp on!!

This and other handmade wooden lamps are available at Timberturner.com.

The Natural Enquirer: Tornado Mysteriously Produces Salad Bowls !

August, 2011 - - Western Massachusetts -

There are more than enough sad tales to be told about the ravages of the tornado(s) that bore down on western Mass on June 1, 2011. But now, it seems there's something really odd that happened in the affected, enchanted  forests...

While hiking -  er, clambering - through a thick, nearly impenetrable jungle of twisted tree trunks and amputated arboreal appendages, we began to find peculiar chunks of wood that had obviously been ejected from the fractured tree trunks during the high-wind assault. They appear to be nearly perfect, nested sets of what could be described as "salad bowls".

Amazing as it seems, the tornado winds apparently have the ability, probably only in rare conditions, to excavate layers of wood that separate into these nested sets, with smaller bowls fitting neatly inside larger ones.

So far, we've found several of these sets in the forest, scattered about in the tornado's swath, and all have been of Maple. The sets contain three or four bowls, nicely matched because they are all from the same hunk of wood. No one has yet offered a satisfactory explanation of how these oddities were created. If you have any theories about this, please post them, we'd love to hear plausible explanations.

At any rate, unlike most other after-effects, they're a welcomed memento of this powerful weather phenomenon, the tornado of June 1, 2011. And we plan to search the local forests for more! Maybe we'll see you out there.

Tornado vs Trees, Western Massachusetts, June 1, 2011

Western Massachusetts (USA) experienced the fury of an EF3 tornado on June 1, 2011. Tornadoes are rare in this part of the country, thankfully, so this was quite an event for us. We're just not used to this kind of abuse. Sadly, four people lost their lives in this storm, and hundreds of homes, businesses, and other structures were destroyed or damaged. Most of my family and friends who live along the path taken by the funnel cloud were lucky to narrowly avoid its wrath; it passed by my neighborhood and struck down homes just up the road. But there wasn't even a noticeable wind at my home.

The cleanup of the chaotic mess created by this tornado will go on for a long time, and the character of the landscape destroyed by it will not be the same in my lifetime. 

There are many videos of the twister and its 39-mile track available on the web, thanks largely to the many camera-equipped cell phones out there today. The most dramatic footage I've seen so far was taken by a camera mounted on the roof of a tall building in downtown Springfield, MA. It captured the newly formed twister as it crossed the Connecticut River from West Springfield to Springfield. The funnel doesn't contain a huge amount of debris that would give it that ominous dark color we're used to seeing on tv. But as you watch the shot, you see the twister suck huge amounts of water up and out of about a 2-mile stretch of the wide Connecticut river, pulling the currents back upstream like the proverbial parting of the Red Sea. Just amazing. 

 Since the tornado passed through, I've seen most of the towns it affected. Surprisingly (at least to me), after it swept across the flat terrain of the Connecticut River Valley, wreaking havoc on West Springfield and Springfield, it widened to a half-mile and flew up and over the high hills of Wilbraham, Hampden, Monson, Brimfield, and Sturbridge. These are rural towns, and many lost homes and businesses, but the winds mostly tore up trees. What surprised me most was that the hills provided no interruption to its contact with the land. It swept up one side, over the ridge, and down the other side of each and every hill in its path, for the most part through sparsely populated forested lands, never leaving the ground along the way. High ridges and deep ravines were equally smashed to bits, little in its track escaping it. I would have guessed that it might skip across ridge tops, leaving the hollows and ravines relatively intact. But that was not the case.

Now obviously the primary concern in all of this is for the devastating effects this has had on people's lives and property, no question. But although my property was spared, I was personally affected in another way. As a woodturner and one who greatly appreciates trees both singly and in forests, I couldn't help being both awed by the raw, unrestrained power of the tornado, and dismayed by the sight of literally millions of shattered trees in a 39-mile by half-mile scar across the land. 

Tornado-devastated forest area

  

 

Trees young or old, unremarkable or stately, short or tall, softwood or hardwood, fragile or mighty; all were at the mercy of the winds, and most didn't withstand them. Hundreds of thousands were ripped off their roots and thrown down, often onto homes. Even more were unceremoniously snapped off at the waist (particularly white pines), and now stand as shortened, grotesque, defrocked monuments to what was once an inviting, shady grove. Some were obviously tenacious, but were twisted about the axis of their trunks, only to be defeated and left shattered. I've seen hardwoods whose trunks were twisted into a corkscrew; now there's some tough, interlocked grain!

Where forest stands were smashed down, there is no way a person could traverse the area; trees of all types and sizes lay strewn in every direction, in an impenetrable, criss-crossed maze of trunks and limbs. 

Armies of tree crews, linemen, national guardsmen, etc, etc, have been laboring tirelessly (well, I'm sure they're tired!) to clear and re-open roads, and restore electrical power and other services. And they've done a remarkable job. But in forests, where there's no emergency need to remove the wreckage, the trees lay heaped on each other as though they had been mowed down by a giant lawnmower in the sky. Actually, I guess that's just what did happen. 

I've found it's no easy task to take photos that convey the scale of the damage. The impact it had on me was minimal until I witnessed it in person. But I'll share a few photos that might be of interest. Out of respect for those whose homes and property were destroyed, I'll not show any close-ups of their losses; my purpose here is to discuss the effects on the trees. The first photo above shows what's left of what was a dense forest tract; you wouldn't be able to see sky here like this before the tornado struck. What few trunks remain standing are broken off at about the 25-foot level; this seems to have occurred mostly in white pines, whereas most hardwoods are blown over. In the background you can see the side of an unaffected hill, with its dense forest cover (click on photos to enlarge).

The next two photos show a low hillside where homes were hit after the twister crossed a highway and a pond; to the right side of the first shot you can see unaffected, young forest cover just outside the twister's track. Notice how there are few trunks left standing in the wind's path, and those that are have been stripped of all limbs .

Up and over low hill, untouched to the right.

Ravaged Hillside, Homes Lost

 Below are scenes in a state forest... the entire hillside on the left in the first photo has been decimated. In the distance is another hill outside the tornado zone. Click the photo to enlarge it, to get a better sense of the destruction. This road was just recently cleared and re-opened.

State Forest Damage

State Forest Damage

 My friend Bob Labrecque and I clambered over the hopeless tangle of trunks and limbs for a short way off the road to get the second photo. Without exaggeration, I can say that it would be taking your life in your hands to try to traverse this landscape. We made it about 25 yards off the road, and that was all we had the will to do. Fallen trees were lying helter-skelter, over and under each other. Many, though fallen, were still 10 feet or more off the ground. There was so much tree debris down that it was virtually impossible to penetrate this jungle. We couldn't walk more than a few feet without having to climb over or under a huge tree trunk, all the while trying to avoid tripping over countless branches going every which way. If we were to fall off one of those logs and break bones, nobody would find us for who knows how long.

Bob Labrecque Standing on Fallen White Pines

It's very disheartening to see so many trees destroyed in a matter of minutes, mile after mile of them. Because of the huge burden on emergency crews to clear them out of the way as quickly as possible, their carcasses are mostly being carted off to temporary work areas to be ground up in giant shredders. In my town, acres of huge piles of chips have quickly appeared. Convoys of logging trucks bring in the debris, and nearly as many semi trailers haul the chips away to be burned in power plants, or turned into mulch. All the while, machines with grappling claws constantly feed the hungry shredder. Similar operations are underway in other towns too. I have no idea how many thousands of tons, or millions of board feet, of torn-up timber are being chewed up this way, but it's sad to see it happen, especially when you realize that it'll be fifty to a hundred years before the land will be as it was.
  

Hickory Tree Twisted Apart

It's just awful to see the personal losses many have endured, their homes ripped apart, or even totally demolished. Huge trees laying atop a crushed house. Power lines down everywhere. Roads an impassable tangle of limbs, trunks, wires, utility poles, building wreckage, crushed cars. 


Despite the severity of the damage, most buildings will be restored or rebuilt in a relatively short time, certainly within a couple years. But the denuding of neighborhoods that just minutes before were cozily tucked into quiet, stately stands of tall, mature shade trees is a loss that it will take decades to reverse. In all respects, it's a sad thing to witness.

"Night of the Tiger" Wall Hanging

Night of the Tiger

In the Land Down Under, Eucalyptus trees produce some really spectacular burls. This slab of Salmon Gum Burl suggests to me a tiger skin, hence the name. Thankfully, no majestic predator ceased to exist to have this symbol displayed on a trophy room wall. Even the tree from which it came probably still stands, since the Australians harvest the burls without cutting the host trees down.

This is not a woodturning; it was made using power carving and sanding tools, from a slab that had been sawn off a huge burl .

It's a wall hanging that begs to be the focal point in a board room (no pun intended there!), lobby, or living room.

Wavy Grain Lines

The dark lines of the pattern are fissures that permeate Salmon Gum, and other species. There is beautiful wavy grain around the perimeter, in the gold colored areas. The gradation of color, from deep red in the center to amber at the edges, suggests the color changes you would find in a real tiger skin.

"Night of the Tiger" is 241/2 inches tall, 22 inches wide; it has a wire on the back by which it can be hung. It's available at Bowlwood.

More Manzanita Burl

In February, I posted an article about my first experience turning Manzanita Burl. Since then, I've purchased a few more of these burls, and turned two of them. One is a lidded box. True to their heritage, the burls were wildly cracked from the shrinkage associated with drying.

Many woodturners might discard such hunks of wood, and I couldn't blame them if they did. Spinning such a piece on a lathe can be really unnerving, and is potentially dangerous, because a cracked chunk of wood can fly apart when spun. So, basic rules of turning dictate that we don't do this. But, with careful precautions, it can be done safely. I wrapped tape around the piece in the areas not currently being worked on, to ensure it couldn't take wing; also, the lathe speed was kept on the slow side.

Typical Manzanita Root Burl

Here's a photo of a similar burl before any turning has been done. It is a "root ball" burl, so you can see where the stems of the shrub were cut off at ground level. This was mounted on the lathe and turned to shape.

After roughing the shape of the box, inside and out, and separating the lid piece from the body, I spent hours laboriously filling the cracks with crushed turquoise. The final turning was completed, followed by sanding and finishing.

Manzanita Burl Box w/ Turquoise Inlay

The results were well worth the effort, and I'm really pleased with the box. The depth of Manzanita's red color can be outstanding, and its grain is rich-looking as well. I think the turquoise infill looks stunning against this deep burgundy.

Manzanita Burl Box w/ Turquoise Inlay

You can see by the width of some of the turquoise just how wide the cracks were. But I consider them a welcome opportunity for enhancement, not as a detriment.

Inside of Manzanita Burl Box

The rim of the lid piece was too ragged to be used as it was, so I added a Bloodwood ring to the rim, which comes very close to matching the Manzanita's color, and gave the lid a nice finished rim.

This box is already spoken for, but if you'd like a similar box, check the Bowlwood site.

The second turning recently completed is a vase form, "Rising From Roots", yet another example of the beauty of Manzanita Burl. Heavily cracked, it speaks of the rugged nature of these burls. I chose to not fill the cracks with turquoise (or anything else) this time, letting the wood just speak for itself. And I think its voice is eloquent.

"Rising From Roots" - Manzanita Burl

"Rising From Roots" is available at Bowlwood.