I'm back after a 3 week vacation to Idaho to visit family and to go on a 5 day white water rafting trip. Along the way I picked up wood whenever possible. This stack was sourced from Mike Mahoney and includes curly Ash, curly Maple, Maple burl, red Box Elder, and quilted Mormon Poplar. All of this came from Mike's personal stash. I also got a tour of Mike's operation - from his shop, to his drying room, on to his shipping room, and a small tour of his home and a quick look at his turning collection. I don't think I've ever met a nicer person than Mike and he's a fantastic turning to boot.
While in Idaho I visited a couple of turners, Brian Brown in Idaho Falls and Dick Anderson in Pocatello. I met Dick briefly at the 2011 Desert Woodturning Roundup and I met Brian a couple of years ago when he was in town on business. With Dick I swapped some Mesquite for some Madrone Burl, Russian Olive, and a piece of Mountain Mahogany. Brian and I traded some Mesquite, African Sumac, Desert Ironwood, and Olive for Russian Olive, Osage Orange, and Box Elder Burl.
My biggest haul on the vacation though was some Mountain Mahogany I managed to get near the end. I thought I could get some in the 6" diameter range and hoped to find some between 8-10" diameter. The biggest piece is approx 12" x 14" on the butt end. It's also extremely heavy, similar to Desert Ironwood. When dry it will not float in water, one of only a handful of woods with this property.
nice haul of timber. Is most of it seasoned or are you going to turn them green? Some interesting timbers their is much of it native to you?
ReplyDeleteIt's a mixture of fresh and seasoned. All of the Mountain Mahogany except for the 1 piece I traded for is fresh cut. About half the stuff I got from Mike is green. Everything I got in the other trade should be dry. I plan to rough out most of the Mahogany while green. I may try turning some of it very thin while green and then microwave it to see what it will do.
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