04
Jan
Always a surprise and a joy to turn into a bowl lidded jar rolling pin dreidel etc. I have a dozen badly neglected apple trees that I hope to get at this winter.
The apple wood makes great coals but burns up way too fast.
Is apple wood good for turning. I have never had much success with keeping wood above the 1st crotch of an orchard tree so I cut that wood into convenient lengths coat the ends store it under a tarp use what I can for turning stock and the rest for firewood. Apple is a good cooking fire in an open pit BBQ. I have said Anchor Seal but 3 coats of latex paint will do as well.
That wood is absolutely no use for wood working. Send it to me for disposal. I love turning fruit wood of any sort.
Always a surprise and a joy to turn into a bowl lidded jar rolling pin dreidel etc. Apple is pretty and nice to work with. It has exceedingly tight grain so its good for carving its pretty strong and can be polished to a high luster.
It also turns beautifully. I think the problem with it is that apple grows slowly and never gets really big. A good question came up on our facebook group a member wondered what the best wood to turn was or what is your favorite wood for woodturning.
I think once you start turning wood you really do not pay much attention to the wood that you turn. Also we need to consider budget. Its appearance and texture closely resemble Cherry another fruit tree.
Yet Apple is significantly heavier and harder than Cherry and is excellent for turning. A special thanks to Steve Earis for providing the wood sample endgrain zoom of this wood species. It is valued by wood turners.
If it was mine to work with then I would prepare it for turning. Not so sure about cabinet makers - its not a commercially sawn wood so finding the proper outlet for it. Usually the grain is quite swirly which gives it a nice appearance but leads to a lot of warp and difficulty when cutting or machining.
The density is quite high as well meaning that gluing and machining will be difficult including carving. It dries much like oak lumber. This wood is a well-known sensitizer that can produce a poison-ivy type rash or other reaction in allergic individuals.
If you have an allergy history work cocobolo with full protection. Gloves long sleeves a dust mask and a protective skin cream. Turning by Charles Cadenhead.
Apple wood is good for guitars if you can find big enough chucks of it with few enough knots. You have to mill it correctly and let it dry for a couple years before you can build with it. He has used apple wood for furniture and I believe at least one of his books show photographs of a piece or pieces made from apple wood.
If Jon Arno is out there he may correct me but I believe a typical problem with fruit tree wood is that fruit trees cultivated for the fruit unlike wild varieties are designed to have a maximum number of branches and a short trunk. Apple Wood for aging. I have tried a couple of different wood chips for aging in glass.
Some nice toasted chips from Brehaus and some JD wood chips for smokers both worked well. I just bought some Apple wood chips form a grilling store. Is that good for flavoring.
The process I use to turn a wooden apple on the lathe. Woodturning Projects For Beginners Turning An Apple Then A Pear. In this series of woodturning projects for beginners I aim to describe my attempts as a complete beginner to turn particular items and learn from my mistake.
This post will describe my first efforts to turn a wood apple. I cut down an apple tree for a friend and was going to save the wood for smoking meatBBQs but realized that theres no way Ill ever need that much wood for cooking so I used it for heating. The apple wood makes great coals but burns up way too fast.
Ill have an 8 inch deep layer of coals in the stove but no flame. Some of the challenges of working with apple wood include the fact that it grows very crooked and it cracks very easily when it is drying. So a rough turned bowl really needs to be turned to an even thickness and dried slowly.
As apple trees get older and bigger they also develop a lot of rot. This Apple Wood bowl has the deep rich colored heart woodApple Wood is one of my favorite woods to turnThe wood is green but you will not have to wait for. Malus pumila Apple wood is a rich close-grained wood that turns and finishes easily.
Reddish in color with occasional brown streaks apple is an excellent material for utility pieces as well as for decorative work. Turning blanks are sold partly seasoned with no guarantee of moisture content. Can the apple be used for plane bodies if I sticker the splits for a few years.
Working this kind of wood is a bit of an art and mystery. It looks like it can be unpredictable with all the knots. I have books on green woodworking and green turning that mention apple but not a lot of detail on using apple specifically.
I have a dozen badly neglected apple trees that I hope to get at this winter. I know a lot of you use apple wood for turning and I expect I will have a few limbs that need to go in the 3-5 inch diameter range. I have always just used them for firewood and as smoker wood.