Turned wood

In our online shop you will find a large selection of wood for turning. You can read all the information about the properties of this wood in this blog.

General information about woodturning

Wood is a naturally grown raw material. In view of this, it is not possible to find two pieces that are exactly the same. Even the wood of a log can differ in colour, grain and porosity. In contrast to various plastics and metals, it is not possible to achieve homogeneity in wood. It is therefore not possible to expect a uniform weight of the individual pieces, as the wood stores more or less substances depending on external influences and also lignifies to varying degrees in the core.

It is also important to know that wood is a hygroscopic material. This means that wood has the ability to absorb and release moisture. This happens not only through the direct influence of water in its liquid aggregate state. But also, and above all, through the gaseous state. In other words, via the ever-present and constantly changing humidity. This hygroscopicity causes the blanks and the finished workpieces to swell and shrink. In common parlance, this is referred to as the wood "working".

The outer areas of the wood dry first, and the tensions that occur between the edge area and the core can cause natural drying defects such as warping, cupping and cracks. For this reason, you should also keep an eye on the humidity in your workshop and match it to the humidity in which the workpiece will later be used.

In the following information text, we would like to show you how the condition of the woodturning wood is affected by these influences. It is important to mention again at this point that our wood is not suitable for furniture making or similar without further processing! Our turned wood is raw material that is rough sawn and not planed.

Notes on the properties of our woodturning timber

The wood from our range is generally pre-dried to such an extent that it can be turned immediately. Nevertheless, pre-turning can do no harm. Exceptions to this are olive woods and tropical woods. These contain a lot of oil and can sometimes even drip. All olive scantlings should always be pre-turned and stored temporarily. They can be stored in a paper bag with wood shavings enclosed, for example.

• Pear, maple, elm, padouk, ash, maple, cherry and walnut from our range are kiln dried
• Olive / tropical woods are always quite fresh, they must be post-dried
• Olive can sometimes even drip due to its oil content. Pre-dry the wood piece by piece and store in a dark place in the meantime. If necessary, place in a bag with wood shavings to prevent the olive from cracking during drying
• Snakewood and ebony are very brittle
• Banksia cones can splinter, care must be taken when working with them

Our turned wood is usually flat and sawn to size. Nevertheless, there can always be slight deviations, curvatures, waxed edges etc. in the natural product wood. Here are a few explanations.
 

Angularity of turned wood

As the turned wood is not planed, the edges are not at a 90° angle to each other. For this reason, you should refrain from using the wood as elevations for furniture legs, doublings or similar.

Dimensional accuracy of turned wood at Drechselbedarf Schulte

The wood in the online shop must of course be provided with dimensions. It should be clear that these cannot always be 100% accurate, as wood is a natural raw material. As the wood is purchased on the world market, the imperial measurement system is sometimes used for cutting. It is therefore possible that a timber declared as 80 mm may have a thickness of 76 mm. This would correspond to 3" (inch/inch). At the same time, however, it is also possible that a shell blank may exceed the specified dimensions (l x w - not thickness) by a few cm. In this case, the consumer should be pleased, as a larger bowl can be turned than expected.

Natural or round edges

As side products are also used as blanks for woodturning, it can also happen that bark adheres to the wood or has already fallen off. This can cause an edge to taper diagonally. Here, too, it should be noted that the diameter of turned goods will be reduced and they will ultimately be round. If, for example, you want to make a table leg square, you should always do this with planed goods, as otherwise the leg cannot be installed cleanly.
 

Rough sawn edges

As the wood is not planed, it is obvious that the sides are rough sawn. This means that residues from circular and band saws can be seen on the cut surfaces. There may also be slight Tears.

Waxed ends

To prevent excessive swelling and shrinkage of the wood, sealing with paraffin wax at the end grain ends ensures that moisture can only escape via the tangential and radial cut surfaces. Of course, this is not a 100 % guarantee for crack-free products, but it does help a lot. When turning, the wax is removed from the sides and the end grain ends fall off as "offcuts".

Moulded turned wood

Here too, the swelling and shrinking of the wood plays a major role. Roughly speaking, you can say that the annual rings endeavour to "stretch". If a curved structure in a solid material tries to straighten out, you can imagine what the whole thing looks like.

Stained wood / water stains

Water stains can occur, especially if the wood is exposed to the weather. The substances that have been washed out are then simply visible. If damp wood is not properly ventilated, mould stains can also form. However, these are not harmful to the wood. Once they have been removed, they will no longer be visible. With the exception of tropical woods and olive wood, all others are kiln-dried, so no fungus can grow on the Wood.

Tips for processing wood for woodturning

When woodturning, always make sure that your tools are sharp. In addition, the principle of turning "downhill" always applies to long wood. When turning the outside of a bowl, it is best to turn from the base of the bowl towards the edge. For bowl insides, turn from the outside to the inside. If you are hollowing out the end grain, you should work your way from the centre to the edge.

Sealed turned wood

The turned wood is waxed with paraffin wax to prevent it from cracking during further drying. The wood dries out too quickly over the end grain, which is why it is sealed. The wax is of natural origin and is so viscous that the capillaries of the wood cannot absorb it very far. After a few millimetres, the wax is no longer present.

Wood for bowls and plates

If you are looking for wood for turning bowls, breakfast boards and plates, you will find suitable blanks in the crosscut blanks. Crosscut blanks are taken from the tree next to the core. We offer a variety of native woods, as well as Venetian olive and padouk.

Longwood blanks for candlesticks, pepper mills, tins and much more

Our long wood blanks are ideal for turning elongated objects. You can use them to turn spinning tops, candlesticks, pepper mills, handles, tins and much more.