Finding Wood For Turning 

Good info, Mike! Yes, east coast has more variety of hardwoods than elsewhere in the nation. There are sooooo many sources of wood other than the expensive hardwood suppliers. Now I just have to learn to say NO! Would seem that wood finds me, not the other way around. Sometimes I think I am running a wood lot, not a turning shop!!!

Thank you Mike, for another very informative video. Early in my wood scrounging, I found a very nice boxwood log at our local compost park. And I recently picked up some free mulberry logs. I have found many different species of wood over the last two years. You encouraged folks to join their local woodturners club. For those who don't have a local club, a number of clubs are now offering sessions on Zoom and RU-vid. I happen to belong to the Lancaster Area Woodturners. Our weekly Coffee Hour and our monthly club meetings are now hybrid, available in person, via Zoom or on RU-vid.

Another great video Mike. I have found that most people are more than willing to give you some of their downed trees for turning. I always take them a bowl or two from the wood. When the word gets out, people will be calling you left and right. I have not had to drop a tree on the farm in quite a while.

Good topic & very good presentation ! Thanks for sharing🙏 Take care. -Mike

The 40v chainsaws are great for cutting up wood for turning. Free wood is not free - too true! It is a lot of work. Thanks for the videos. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Great tips, Mike! Have you been down to the Wood Yard in Concord Georgia? I live in Sharpsburg so it's only about 45 minutes to me. They have a wide selection of native and exotic hardwoods. I've bought wood from them and they have decent prices. Another option is getting in touch with the local power company forestry / tree trimming department. Sometimes you can find out what areas they are trimming tree and find some decent green wood. They have to either haul the wood trimmings off or send it through a chipper. Storm damage is another option. You get to help people clear down trees and get some free wood.

Flint Hills Woodturners had a chain saw party recently at the forestry dump and found a bunch of burls. We all got at least two & had a lot of fun.

Pine can be an amazing product. Don't expect miracles out of it but "garbage wood" has produced some of my favorite projects.

Thanks Mike. A lot of great info

Very interesting Mike. I live in Ottawa, Canada and there is more wood available than I could process in a life time. Keep up with the great videos. Love them.

I turned a chisel handle out of pecan earlier this evening, but I want to turn some green bowls to put back for later. Thanks for this video and the ideas.

Hi Mike Thanks again for another year of great video's . As always they are both informative and entertaining . Keep them coming. Have a good and safe Christmas. All the very best tae you and the family fae Scotland

Great video Mike. Thanks for sharing the info Take care my friend and stay safe and well Cheers Harold

Very interesting, thank you

Two years ago we built a home and the craftsman who did our trim and built-ins is wood turning friendly. I asked him if he ever had end pieces or cut offs? He said not often, but if he did he would try and remember to save it for me. Last week he dropped off two very nice 2x6x3 beautiful Walnut pieces. If you're driving by a custom home building talk to the contractor...you never know what you will find.

Recently I have been getting a lot of my bowl blank wood from the woods around the house. Our Pastor had some trees blown down in a storm a couple of years ago. And I managed to get some of it also, it turned out to be silver maple which had started to spalt and it is absolutely beautiful on the inside now. I also have some walnut , oak and hickory. But I also go to a nearby town and get scraps from a cabinet maker and use that wood for segmentation work. Merry Christmas!

Good video Mike. I used to live in Georgia.. in the Valdosta area and still have family there and the Atlanta area. I don’t know what sour wood is. I will have to look that up! 😊

Thanks for another informative video and wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas. Sam DeLozier

Great info, as always Mike.

i am cheap and source wood from wherever I can. hear a chainsaw going on the next block? go see if anything is available. i have found wood in a ditch and turned beautiful little bowls out of it. i am also lucky enough to have a good friend who is a shop teacher. he always has scraps and leftovers for me to use.

Another great video, Mike. Your knowledge and willingness to humbly share it is remarkable. Merry Christmas to you and yours. 🎄🎄

Thanks for the ideas Mike. Hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas. Cheers, Tom

Thanks Mike. Have you ever heard of Green Valley Wood Products? They have a great selection of turning blanks, some green some kiln dried. Shipping is free for any but not all of their blanks. I’ve purchased fro them on several occasions and am very pleased with their products. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mike: Thanks for your great videos. Hope you have a great Christmas. Use the holiday to make nice memories with friends and family; to mend fences where necessary. Merry Christmas!!!!🎄🎁

Mike When I first got into turning, I found that a nearby manufacturer of 'treenware' (wooden kitchen items) sold kiln-dried cutoffs and defective scraps as firewood. They provided standard boxes that you had to fill yourself from a rack of wood - $6 per box. Pieces were generally 18-24" long, with a broad selection of cross-sections. Some of the defective pieces had splits or cracks, and there were lots of knots, but I was able to pick up quite a bit of nice maple, birch and ash. Sadly, that option is no longer available - they are using the scrap to heat their shop now. Also, there is a commercial bowl turning shop over in Vermont that sells mesh bags of cutoffs - some mixed species, and some single species. Maple, but also quite a bit of black walnut. Some of this material is cross-grain, but still usable for making a detail component of a larger turning. I suspect that there are other specialty furniture shops around the country that also get rid of their cutoffs and scraps this way.

Thanks Mike, some good ideas. Have a great Christmas and a good rest

Great video.i have call apple Apple orchards cut down branches and trees all the time They will give you anything for free at that point

Turn more while making videos. That would be great, by killing two birds with one stone. HaHa