Yesterday me and my partner were at a job where they had to cut down a bunch of Pepper trees to make way for a bridge that is going to span over a RR Crossing, we are surveying this job.

They have not picked up the logs yet, they are green or at least they were cut down just two months ago and the ends of the logs are showing little checking at this point. The average sized log is about 10" diameter by about 48" long. Me and my buddy managed to hoist one up in the back of our survey rig and got it back to our survey shop.

Since I drive a Toyota Corolla to work, I could not bring the log home yesterday. I have today off from work, so this morning after dropping the kids off from school I jumped in my truck and drove back to work to get my log!
Later on today I was able to throw my log up on a couple horses and check the checks. I inserted a ruler into the deepest check and it went in about 2". So I knew I had to get past the first two inches at least to get beyond the checking. So I gave it another inch for good measure and cut the first 3" off the end of my log. It's not pretty, but I figured I could just clean it up with the band-saw before mounting the faceplate to it.

I cut around the entire 8" diameter log with my worm drive first, then I finished it off with a hand saw. I cut the first three inches off below.

Look, no checks! Great news! I got beyond them.

Now I cut an 8" length off the end for my turning blank. Again I started the cuts with my worm drive saw, I just set the blade to the max depth and rolled the log as I cut. Then finished with a hand saw.

And now I have my blank, yippee!

Then I mounted an Easy Wood Tools 3 1/2" Face Plate to my turning blank using #12 x 1 3/4" screws.

Then up to our new Laguna 16-43 Lathe it goes!

And after about a half hour of making shavings, I now have something that resembles the shape of a vase. The top is at the face plate end, I turned a chamfered bottom to the vase to accept the Easy Jaws of the Easy Wood Tools Easy Chuck.

I know I know, the vase top should be what I have it as the bottom! It is going to look upside down when finished, but hey, this is my first one! So it looks upside down, ok.

Some cool spalting is showing up, I think if I take another 1/4" off the over all surface of the vase, I may just get into that spalting.

By the way, this log is wet! I am not getting sprayed, but the shavings sure feel nice and cool when they hit my arm.

Thanks for following along, and if any of the veteran turners here have any advice for this newbie, please feel free to critique and mentor!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Looking Good, John! Turning green wood is so much fun!

I never had the opportunity to use Pepper wood. I have to ask, does it smell like pepper??

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

I've always heard you should stay clear of the pith when making bowls. does the same hold true for vases?

Yes, the pith can be a pain to deal with because it almost always cracks later, but for a first vase and if it doesn't crack much it could actually be a great vase, just plug the cracks and you should be good.

John Hechel said:

I've always heard you should stay clear of the pith when making bowls. does the same hold true for vases?

No it does not Lew, I thought it may, because the tree itself has a pungent peppery smell, but the shavings were almost oderless. Thanks for the kudos Lew!

Lewis Kauffman said:

Looking Good, John! Turning green wood is so much fun!

I never had the opportunity to use Pepper wood. I have to ask, does it smell like pepper??

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I am learning as I type John, thanks for the question!

John Hechel said:

I've always heard you should stay clear of the pith when making bowls. does the same hold true for vases?

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Thanks a heap Charles, so, what do we mean by staying away from the pith?

Charles Nicholls said:

Yes, the pith can be a pain to deal with because it almost always cracks later, but for a first vase and if it doesn't crack much it could actually be a great vase, just plug the cracks and you should be good.

John Hechel said:

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Oh yes, I forgot to ask, what kind of tool am I going to use to hollow this vase out? Anybody have any images of what'll I need? Thanks!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Hi John, cutting the log on either side of the pith is what is needed here but since the vase is already turned, it's too late.

As for what to use, If you have EWT's you can use the finisher to hollow it out or the rougher. or their bowl gouges if you have those. If you don't have EWT's, you can hollow it with scrapers or regular bowl gouges. Give me a holler if you need further help, you know I'm always glad to

John Morris said:

Oh yes, I forgot to ask, what kind of tool am I going to use to hollow this vase out? Anybody have any images of what'll I need? Thanks!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I see, I did think of that, but I saw a feller turning in this manner on Youtube and I thought, well, let's do it! But I know also to get more dramatic grain I should cut log round so the pith is on the side of the project right?

Charles Nicholls said:

Hi John, cutting the log on either side of the pith is what is needed here but since the vase is already turned, it's too late.

As for what to use, If you have EWT's you can use the finisher to hollow it out or the rougher. or their bowl gouges if you have those. If you don't have EWT's, you can hollow it with scrapers or regular bowl gouges. Give me a holler if you need further help, you know I'm always glad to

John Morris said:

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

On the side or not on the blank at all (preferably). I have never actually seen someone turn a log with the pith still in, that may be interesting to see.

Edit: Hi again, I just found a thread over at Sawmill creek that you may be interested in..

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?182546-Pith-wood-turning

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

I've always been tempted to turn a vase out of a full log myself so i'm curious to see your results John.

Charles, as for hollowing is there any advantage to drill out the center first?

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Round Barn WoodCrafts, Plymouth WI
roundbarnwoodcrafts@hotmail.com
www.roundbarnwoodcrafts.com

I believe there is John, you can always plug it with a contrasting wood later. Reading posts from the Sawmill thread, basically you'll want to turn the vase very thin on the bottom and pray that the pith has enough room to expand without splitting.

John Hechel said:

I've always been tempted to turn a vase out of a full log myself so i'm curious to see your results John.

Charles, as for hollowing is there any advantage to drill out the center first?

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Round Barn WoodCrafts, Plymouth WI
roundbarnwoodcrafts@hotmail.com
www.roundbarnwoodcrafts.com

John, I have seen folks drill the center out with the largest forstner bit they can fit in there to get a good head start on the hollowing.
 
John Hechel said:

I've always been tempted to turn a vase out of a full log myself so i'm curious to see your results John.

Charles, as for hollowing is there any advantage to drill out the center first?

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Round Barn WoodCrafts, Plymouth WI
roundbarnwoodcrafts@hotmail.com
www.roundbarnwoodcrafts.com

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Great link Charles, at least I know I am not crazy now. I did see this done in videos before turning with the pith in. But at this point I am not sure my hollowing expertise is going to be advanced enough to get those walls thin enough to minimize cracking.

I also saw Scott Phillips lay log on it's side at the bandsaw and cut the diameter out of the log that way, and then turned it pith and all for a live edge bowl.
 
Charles Nicholls said:

On the side or not on the blank at all (preferably). I have never actually seen someone turn a log with the pith still in, that may be interesting to see.

Edit: Hi again, I just found a thread over at Sawmill creek that you may be interested in..

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?182546-Pith-wood-turning

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

John, here's a link to the tools you need-

http://www.easywoodtools.com/training/part-3-easy-hollowing-system/

John Morris said:

Oh yes, I forgot to ask, what kind of tool am I going to use to hollow this vase out? Anybody have any images of what'll I need? Thanks!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Thanks Lew, I think I may have a couple similar to those. I did purchase a smaller used Jet Lathe last year and with it came a nice assortment of turning tools, they are not EWT though, I think they are Sorby. And I do recall a crank neck tool in there.

I'll check! Thanks Lew!
 
Lewis Kauffman said:

John, here's a link to the tools you need-

http://www.easywoodtools.com/training/part-3-easy-hollowing-system/

John Morris said:

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

With it being your first John, I wouldn't worry about it splitting too much, especially if you aren't actually going to have water in it. A few small cracks will just give it some character

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

That's what I figured Charles, I don't think anything I turn is going to ever hold water, maybe straw or dry plants or just for fashion.

I got a question, if the ideal way to turn is to avoid having pith in your blanks, are you guys telling me that we would need a large diameter log in order to get a standard diameter vessel out of it? So lets say that we have a project that requires a 8" diameter vessel or bowl, then does that mean I would need to find a log that is around 24" wide, then cutting around the pith which could be 6" in diameter or more, then the area left would be cut out for the bowl blanks? Thanks guys for helping this newbie out.
Charles Nicholls said:

With it being your first John, I wouldn't worry about it splitting too much, especially if you aren't actually going to have water in it. A few small cracks will just give it some character

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Charles Nicholls
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

That's pretty much it yes, the part of the log on either side of the pith, you can even split the log down the middle and then turn each half. Which is how most do it.

Here's a youtube on it, its noisy but it explains it very well.

John Morris said:

That's what I figured Charles, I don't think anything I turn is going to ever hold water, maybe straw or dry plants or just for fashion.

I got a question, if the ideal way to turn is to avoid having pith in your blanks, are you guys telling me that we would need a large diameter log in order to get a standard diameter vessel out of it? So lets say that we have a project that requires a 8" diameter vessel or bowl, then does that mean I would need to find a log that is around 24" wide, then cutting around the pith which could be 6" in diameter or more, then the area left would be cut out for the bowl blanks? Thanks guys for helping this newbie out.
Charles Nicholls said:

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker