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What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 09:25
by Andyp
I have in mind a project the details of which if I made public on here might spoil the surprise.
I can say that it requires two contrasting woods, light and dark, that need to be joined in a curve and then turned on the lathe.

I am planning on making at least a couple of test pieces as the technique uses skills that are new to me.

I would like some help in choosing a suitable dark wood. The light wood will be beech or chestnut as they are readily available.
The wood needs to be easy to turn and be suitable for glueing, not horrendously expensive and be available in 12" widths and about 2" thick. Oh, and where to buy? I am happy to source in the UK as I have more than a year to get this done.

Apart from walnut, which I have experience with, I have seen purplehart, padauk, and wenge sold as blanks in suitable sizes but am not familiar with how they are to work with, gluing and turning?

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 10:29
by Doug
Ideally I'd choose a timbers of similar "hardness" Andy with Chestnut I'd probably go with cherry.
Avoid open grained timber as you can get transfer of dust from one timber to the other which will hold in the pours & discolour the timber when finished.
I also use Cascamite for segmented work as you can get movement with PVA

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 11:22
by Andyp
Thanks for that Doug. I hadn't thought of cherry but I like the idea of using more local woods rather than imported exotics.
Does Cascamite still have a limited shelf life?

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 13:11
by Doug
You can buy Cascamite in small quantities if you are worried about shelf life Andy, they do it in as small a pot as 125g.
I tend to use it quite a lot so buy a large tub from my local ironmongers but I see Axminster sell it in many sizes & whilst expensive I believe their shipping is cheap (from what I've read)

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 17:28
by Tusses
does it have to be wood ?

what about something like Delrin ?

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 02 Jan 2017, 20:43
by Andyp
No harm in thinking outside the box but I think I will stick with wood for now.

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 07 Jan 2017, 23:25
by RogerS
How will you ensure that the two profiles fit exactly ?

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 07 Jan 2017, 23:33
by Tusses
just thinking about all the different threads out there about this project .. including where I said you could glue with a paper barrier to the template or handles, and another wanting to deep stain ... ...

could you glue the two halves together, turn, then separate, and stain one, and glue back together ?

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 08 Jan 2017, 09:03
by Andyp
RogerS wrote:How will you ensure that the two profiles fit exactly ?


By using templates to cut the shapes. If I can make the templates an exact fit the two pieces should fit perfectly.

I do seem to have started at least two threads on this project, sorry :oops:
Here is how the templates can be made. From 4:17
[youtube]c1GNkLrQ-Tc[/youtube]

Re: What timber to use?

PostPosted: 08 Jan 2017, 09:06
by Andyp
Tusses wrote:just thinking about all the different threads out there about this project .. including where I said you could glue with a paper barrier to the template or handles, and another wanting to deep stain ... ...

could you glue the two halves together, turn, then separate, and stain one, and glue back together ?


Sorry about the multiple threads. Thanks for keeping up.

I had thought about separation but I cannot imagine being able to glue the two pieces back together perfectly. Besides I fancy the challenge of making the templates.