Most all the wood I use comes from local wood lots here in Wisconsin. Be it the many types of Maple, Oak, Birch, Cherry, Black Walnut, Ash and Aspen. There are many small shrubs and roadside bushes that have wonderful color and grain in them also. With pines and cedar trees offering great turning stock also! I try not to harvest a tree just to turn something out of it. Most trees are dead or down or from timber harvests that make the forest stronger as a whole. I use a lot of spalted woods that have been laying on the ground for a while, this contact with the ground is what helps the spalting to occur. Different types of fungus attack the dead tree and create the beautiful lines and colors of spalted wood. But if it lays to long it become rotten and unusable. Some times I leave certain pieces of tree laying and cultivate the spalting to my own liking. There is no magic to it, just patience and hope you check it before its to rotten! I have used pine cones and old bowling balls for the miniatures I turn, and also acrylic pen blanks to create little works of art! As of late I have bought some exotic woods to try them out and to add color contrast to some of my turnings. Each piece is limited only to what nature has hidden under the bark and to my imagination!

Along with the lathes there are many tools that it takes to get from tree to turning blank! A good chain saw begins the process, then on to the WOODMIZER LT30 sawmill if the log is larger. Once the wood gets to the shop the band saw come into play a lot! The band saw is used to recut, crop corners and cut the blanks into rounds to make the rough turning process quicker and easier. I also have a full shop of other tools to include a table saw, jointer, planer, cut off saw and just about every kind of hand tool to get the job done. I am in the process of trying to build a CNC router table to add to my collection of tools. It will give me some added abilities to do signs and engraving. If only I could find the time and energy to get it done.

More coming ...