158. 2 Lathe tips for firewood (shorts tip)

[hemmjo]

I simply stated your video is an add for the meter, which it is, but since you want to be snarky...

The video is purely click bait. You could have accomplished the same result just posting a test review of the meter. If you are making money from YouTube, I have no problem with that. However, as I mentioned, the video is SPECIFICALLY an add for a moisture meter. AND you are showing other very dangerous practices!!!!

I have a lathe, 2 in fact. Been turning wood for near 60 years. I often turn freshly cut "green" wood, just for the warping effect created in plates and bowls as the wood dries. It is fun to turn green wood, as you can feel the moisture as it is released from the wood. Sometimes the finished product splits when it dries, sometimes not, but always a fascinating result. I have also worked with well aged and dried 100+ year old barn beams.

The title of your video says "tips" for turning firewood. There are indeed two tips, remove bark and check moisture content, so the plural is justified. There are however also serious safety issues shown which are much more dangerous for turners than the "tips" are helpful. I initially let those slide, but since you wish to justify you video, lets continue.

If you want to give some good tips for turning fire wood, may I suggest a cup center, either live or dead. The common 60˚ center is actually very dangerous on a wood lathe. This allows the work piece to fly out and hit you in the face!!! A cup center both centers the wood and actually squeezes the wood together rather than trying create a split. ALSO you need to keep your tool rest MUCH CLOSER to the work than you show in the video. If you need that much space for clearance on your rough project, you need to trim high spots with an axe, draw knife, chisel or plane before you start to turn. That huge space gives the workpiece a MUCH better chance to catch your chisel and Hit you in the face!!! If you cannot take the time to square the ends, at least where the drive and center contact the material, you are lazy and risking serious injury.

If indeed you are going to actually address moisture content, what are actual valid numbers you shoot for. In regard to moisture content, does it matter; what specie you are turning, what climate you are in, time of year, final use of the product? If those are not significant, you hand can tell as much as the meter. Taking a cut to square the end will expose new wood which will be a better sample of real moisture than sticking a meter into the raw end of an old piece of firewood.

Be careful when pick your fights, and be sure you know what you are talking about before you begin!!!