How To Split A Log — Wood Bowl Turning Blank Video

How To Split A Log — Wood Bowl Turning Blank Video
This is a pretty simple process, but it can also be easily done incorrectly. You're going to want to know how to do this step properly and why.

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[golfactual]

Great information. Recommendation: show a turned bowl from each log so novices (like me) can visualize what you're talking about with the circles on the side of the bowl or centered. Thanks.

[mmfenske]

Hi Kent, Nice video as usual. Question. I have seen many videos where it's suggested to make cuts on either side of the pith and remove about an inch or wood so to "fully get rid of the "bad boy" pith. In practice it seems very difficult to hit the pith dead center with one cut and even then the pith is still sort of there. I realize you will lose some wood this way but at least the pith is completely gone...I think. I do agree that log "C" makes sense. Please advise your thoughts. Thanks, Myles

[qapla]

Good info, Kent. Handling a chainsaw is a whole different skill set than turning wood. Glad you covered some of it. I have seen many people who have no idea how to use a chainsaw.

[jerrycarter]

Thank you! I am still new to bowl turning and this answered a lot of questions for me, and has helped eliminate issues I was having with bad curing. I have learned a lot from you videos, thank you sir.

[billrobinson]

Thanks again, Kent. Perfect timing as usual. I have a FOG log in my shop that I have been trying to decide how to turn it for 2 months. I don't know what kind of tree it is, so I'm going to a sawmill guy today after I split it to get his opinion. Very wet wood when I turned a end grain bowl in December. Bowl almost split in half when I brought it inside and went away for 3 days.
At 83, I have no patience for a long drying process in a light bulb dehydrator. So I might try the microwave approach before turning and twice turning microwave routine. At least, now I have the knowledge for splitting my fog log. You are absolutely the best.
Thank you!

[loucinci]

Interesting approach to logs. I feel all three logs will make nice bowls. It would be helpful to show the bowls to illustrate what you mean by bowl grain not centered etc. Thanks for sharing

[richardhefty]

Great video! I have never considered the drying balance that you explained here. Thanks!

[schechnera]

Like several other commenters, I also cut several inches on both sides of the pith, leaving me with two nice quartersawn pieces I use for small boxes or inside out turnings. I've never tried turning a bowl leaving the pith because I've been afraid of cracking, but I confess I usually cut mine more like log "A". Next time I'll try leaving the pith and cutting it like log "C" and see how it goes. Thanks, Kent!

[timothyrichiii]

Thank you for your instructive videos, they have been a great help in my journey in wood turning.

[johnbruhnke]

Thanks for this video. I learned a great deal.

[wakelywanderer]

Even with the pith gone I’ve had bad experiences with wood that was close to it splitting. Now I always cut at least an inch away on both sides of the pith. Less heartache and there’s always good quarter sawn blanks for spoons, spatulas etc.

[samspade]

That chainsaw chain must be the sharpest I've ever seen. Great job on the sharp saw.

[boooshes]

Nice video, however, after a thousand bowls I would say that I would certainly challenge your claim that there is only one correct way to prepare a log. It simply is not true and is largely situational, although the method you chose is a good one. A couple of comments 1. Depending on the species, you may want to cut more of the pith out to help prevent checking, 2. Many times I find it more effective to rip the whole log prior to cutting it to length, 3. When ripping, pay attention to clearing the chip ejection area on the bottom of the saw - this was completely clogged when you ripped the last two logs 4. If you aren't going to rough turn your blanks right away, I would recommend cutting the half-logs several inches longer than the diameter of the log to help reduce the chance of end splits making it into your bowl area .

[davidbockel]

Heck, I'll turn any of them. I spalt my wood so symmetry around pith takes a back seat to the interesting grain patterns from spalting.

[stephendonathan]

Great video! Yesterday I made a 12 inch live edge out of oak. Over night it warped and cracked on me. Now I see what I did wrong. Thank you for sharing this it really helped. Take care and GOD BLESS 🙏!

[hwysteve]

i agree with other comments regarding dealing with pith on different species of wood. it takes experience with drying the blanks and remembering how much the pith holds on for each species. I also have a tip for the chainsaw work. Take the end of the log you sacrificed and cut a good size notch in it. Then you have a platform to hold the log blanks for ripping and will be off the ground so you can cut through in one cut without hitting the ground with the chain.

[shaunlindsay]

Great video. Very new to the bowl turning relm.

I was confused initially why B wasn't quite right and C was best. My thought was, "they both split the center of the pith and relieve the tension". After re-watching the segment I realized you were focusing on the placement of the pith within the log AND splitting it center to the pith. A little more knowledge I'll put in the bowl turning part of my brain 😁

[DavidARahn]

good timing we had a black walnut tree come down a few weeks ago I have some logs and now will be able to make nice bowl blanks with the pith correctly - thanks

[vincentwyble]

Very helpful, I thought at first that log B right
but that makes total sense that log C was actually the right one, never would have thought of that. Couldn't I just split it with a froe

[allyncross]

Hey Kent, Interesting video. I have to respectfully disagree though. Log A will have many issues and I agree that is not the way to do it. However both B and C are in my humble opinion good ways to handle this. I dont always want the rings centered. I dont always want the bowl to look perfectly balanced. I want it to look like what it is, a piece of wood (natural) that has been turned into a bowl. I am still quite new to this and you are far more experienced but I do it differently. This may sound weird but I sort of listen to the wood and make it the way it wants to be. When I start out I know I am going to make a bowl but I have no clue what it will look like until I am done because I listen to the wood. For example I recently made a bowl that turned out to be a bowl inside of a bowl because that was what the wood wanted. My girlfriend loves it. She uses it to put her rings in when she is not wearing them (doing dishes or something) and uses the outer bowl for small items she has collected up but has not yet put away. I had no clue I was going to make that until I reached that point but the wood sort of told me what it wanted to be. I do the same when cutting pieces of wood. I let the wood tell me where to cut it. I know it might sound crazy but it works for me. Yall have a wonderful day.