Damson Tree via Bucks Art Weeks - Part 1

As a wood turner, timber is my core material, and I like to use timber that is characterful.

The source of this timber - where the wood comes from - is just as important to me for my decorative items. Without too much difficulty, I could buy timber that comes half way across the world - wonderfully characterful timber can be found this way certainly - but it doesn't feel right to me. So I prefer to get my timber locally, when possible - over the past 14 years I've collected timber from the National Trust, and some locally fallen trees. I've air dried them, and used them.

Over that time, about half my timber has come from connections made through Bucks Arts Weeks. I exhibited for several years a while ago with other wooden items, but due to family & health considerations, I've taken a break, but thankfully this year I'm back on the Bucks Art Weeks website (another year I hope to exhibit).

The Damson Tree

A Bucks Art Week's visitor had a Damson tree that came down in their garden in a recent storm, and they were wondering what to do with it - put on it on their log burner, or see if someone could make use of it. Fortunately for me, they found me on the Bucks Art Weeks website, contacted me about the tree, and, shortly afterwards, I collected the parts that I could use.

Some of the pieces collected - fruit trees like this don't tend to be that big, so none of the pieces are large.

Having taken various trees over the years, I know that translating tree logs to finished item can be challenging, as it can take months or years for the wood to dry, splitting some of it in the process etc. I did my research, and found that Damson trees are particularly prone to this, so decided trying various techniques should produce some end results - turning as much of it "green" as possible.

Cutting up the initial pieces of wood with an electric chain saw

In the past week, I've started chain sawing up the logs to see what's inside, and, as you'll see from the photos below, there is some pretty incredible wood in there - the heart wood is a dark red colour, not that dis-similar to the inside of a damson! It's amazing that what looks like a fairly ordinary log can contain some amazing characterful timber!

Fruit trees tend to be smaller diameter, and as the central dark red colour is only in the centre, a number of the items I make will be small, with a mixture of the whiter sap wood and red heart wood.

Parts of the Damson tree cut up - amazing to see the colour and textures within it! As these are fairly small pieces of wood (fruit trees don't tend to grow that big), the items made won't be that big.

Before and after: I cut the log on the left up, and it revealed the wood on the right! Unfortunately, there is some rot and splits in it, so it won't create too large pieces, and some will be waste.

Drying the Timber

This wood is what's termed as "green" - that means it contains a lot of water, as trees need a lot of water to grow. However, wooden items we use inside our houses (chairs, tables, cutting boards, bowls etc.) all needs to be dried first. Timber can be air dried (slower) or "kiln dried" (faster).

Commercially, most timber is kiln dried - process where the "green" timber is placed in "kilns", and a lot of energy is used to extract the water. Not only does this use a lot of energy, but I think it hardens the wood, and can reduces it's colour and character.

All timber I get that is "green" I air dry - either by turning it into the rough shape and letting those pieces drying, or sometimes putting all the timber under cover, and let the water slowly seep out of the wood. For this tree I've chosen the former, as I think less will be wasted through splitting as it dries.

Turning a branch into a small bowl - I mount on lathe as shown on left, and turn into a rough outer shape as shown in the right. After taking the photo, I removed the bowl inside. Then I'll let the whole dry, then remount on lathe and finish properly with a good smooth surface and Danish Oil

Drying wood has a risk though - as the wood dries it shrinks in certain directions, and that process, along with any stresses the timber might have (e.g. through growing) can cause the timber to crack/split, rendering that part of the timber unusable. Depending on the tree, sometimes 50% of the timber can be made unusable during drying. Part turning items can help to reduce the cracking.

Certain species of tree are more prone to splitting whilst drying - and unfortunately Damson trees are one of those. So, I've had to make careful choices as I cut up the tree, to try and save as much timber as I can - and most importantly, that has meant part turning pieces as soon as I can. In addition, this tree had some rot in it (that's why it came down in the storm), and this has created additional waste wood.

Some initially turned items

So far, I've been fortunate to extract some great quality timber - a few bits are cracked, but that is OK - I've turned some items into rough, over sized, shapes, whilst still "green" (i.e. full of water), as this should speed the drying process up. Once dry, I'll return them to the right size, with a smooth finish & apply Danish Oil as a finish. Most of the items are smaller bowls, but there are 2 larger vessels.

I've turned these from both branches and some small boards I've cut out of the tree - there is no one way these bowls are made - a number of different techniques have been used, some of which are shown below.

I particularly like this bowl, from near the edge of the trunk - my only concern is that it might crack too much whilst drying - it will be dried in a bag with wood shavings to slow this process down.

2 vertically sides bowls, roughly turned, waiting to dry, when they will turned again to a final wall thickness, when dry.

Part turned bowl - outside has been turned, after taking this photo and hollowed out the bowl. It's likely this bowl will crack along a fault line within it - but I hope this will add character to it, once dry and finished.

Some of the steps turning a small board chain sawn from a larger log into a bowl, which will later be turned to a final finish once it is dry.

Vessel Experiments

I'm experimenting with some vessels too. These are a bit more risky - they are likely to split whilst drying, in particular the lid, but it is worth the risk, and the cracks might add to the character of the piece. These will be dried slowly to try and reduce this problem, then turned to a final size and finish.

Some failures

Not every piece I've turned has worked - wood in example below was too soft and rotten, and the tenon on base of bowl broke when I start hollowing it out. Some of the wood was so soft it was like turning Cheese (not that I've actually turned cheese on my lathe, but I can just imagine!).

Short Video

Short video showing some of my processes (wood turning is dangerous, I have a lot of experience, see "Website Disclaimer" under About menu).

Next Steps & Buying the Pieces

The next steps are waiting for these pieces to dry - this might take weeks or months depending on the weather conditions. Then I'll re-turn pieces into a smooth finish, and apply a Danish Oil finish. I'm not going to rush this - wood can't be rushed.

I haven't worked out the prices for these pieces yet as it depends on how much work is involved in each piece. I estimate at this stage the prices to be between £15 and £115 excluding postage.

If you are interested in buying any of these pieces, do use the Contact link on my site and let me know you're interested in these pieces. Once some are available, I can personally reply to your email - you won't be added to a mailing list and you won't be contacted about other items unless requested. Items will be placed on Etsy for sale, or be available directly from me.