lathe blanks

trackerman

Hello forum,

I'm considering getting a wood turning lathe for my work shop.

The initial outlay seems reasonable, but it's the cost of blanks that putting me off... McQuillans charge about €40 for a decent hardwood blank!

Thats not managable in my book, so what do folk do for blanks?

With storms and general tree care going I expect there must be a ready supply of hard and semi-hard woods about?

Any advice appriciated.

Cheers
Ray

magicbastarder

mcquillans are the last place i'd get blanks. you can get them cheaper in the carpentry store in naas, but that still would be an expensive way to do it. a lot of the wood i get for turning i get in the local chapter of the woodturner's guild.

trackerman

magicbastarder wrote: »

mcquillans are the last place i'd get blanks. you can get them cheaper in the carpentry store in naas, but that still would be an expensive way to do it. a lot of the wood i get for turning i get in the local chapter of the woodturner's guild.

Thanks for that tip... I shall investigate.

Cheers

recipio

As a beginner you are going to need blanks to practice on. I would suggest some split firewood. Green timber is a lot more forgiving to turn..Cut them into rounds with a bandsaw if you have one.

raspberrypi67

You could always just buy a thick plank of hardwood from the likes of Morgans timber and cut it up as you use??

trackerman wrote: »

Hello forum,

I'm considering getting a wood turning lathe for my work shop.

The initial outlay seems reasonable, but it's the cost of blanks that putting me off... McQuillans charge about €40 for a decent hardwood blank!

Thats not managable in my book, so what do folk do for blanks?

With storms and general tree care going I expect there must be a ready supply of hard and semi-hard woods about?

Any advice appriciated.

Cheers
Ray

woodturner

See if there are any tree surgeons local to you.