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Author Topic: Best essence of wood for tops  (Read 7237 times)

MrYo

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Best essence of wood for tops
« on: December 15, 2009, 12:37:35 PM »

I want to try to work some wood, so please give me some advice :)

Maurizio
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Spinningray

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2009, 02:48:55 PM »

Orient the grain to attain radial equal density. At any point on the top, the density should be identical for the entire circumference.
The top axle is in line with a radial line from the center of a log to the outside. The crown is the outer growth rings and the tip section is the inner growth rings. This will give you two sides of the top that shimmer in strong light depending upon the wood.
Laminating wood rings is another good way to balance the wood.
Furniture grade plywood gives good density distribution and looks nice when finished.
Bond wood rings to a delrin tip section to retain your precision machining for the bearings.
Find a concentric ring maple wood branch of large enough diameter. The center of the branch is the axle of the top.
Experiment and have fun. You should have good success.
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Neff

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2009, 05:07:19 PM »

Wow, that clears up some muddy water in my head.
Anybody ever tried laminating MDF?
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ta0

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2009, 07:06:39 PM »

My head is muddier than yophosis' and I am not sure if I understand correctly. Alan, do you give two different ways to orient the top with respect to the branch?

Quote
Find a concentric ring maple wood branch of large enough diameter. The center of the branch is the axle of the top.
That it is clear: the top and the branch are coaxial and in principle the density depends only on the distance to the axle and is uniform around the top.

Quote
The top axle is in line with a radial line from the center of a log to the outside. The crown is the outer growth rings and the tip section is the inner growth rings.

Do you mean that the spintop axle is perpendicular to the branch "axle" and is all to one side of the branch? I see that will probably give you the same density at symmetrically opposite sides of the axle (but will change somewhat around the top).

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Spinningray

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2009, 07:26:26 PM »

If I am using a branch (generally for 2" tops), the axis of the top is the center line of the branch.

If I am using a log (6" or larger in dimeter), I will make the axis of the top perpendicular to the center line of the log. The top would be no taller than the radius of the log. The bigger the log, the better. The flatter the curve, the better.

I have used OSB before. It seemed to work alright. I used it for a solid top.

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ta0

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2009, 08:15:48 PM »

Thanks for the explanation.

Quote
The top would be no taller than the radius of the log.
Have you ever considered using the whole diameter? I realize that at the height where the top crosses the center line of the log there will be a great variation in density around the circumference. But in theory it would still have radial symmetry (as is the case for Holey). Perhaps it would be difficult to find a log uniform enough in the longitudinal direction to do that.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2009, 08:17:21 PM by ta0 »
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robtsou

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2009, 08:33:05 AM »

Personally, I'm not a big fan of MDF but it should have pretty good initial balance.  MDF is pretty dense (heavy), I'm not sure about it's strength (I've never seen plywood "break" the way particle board does), and it's pretty hard on your tools (but so is plywood because of the glue).  That being said, if you make the walls thick enough and keep your tools sharp, I'll bet you get a pretty decent result.

Rob
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silvertop

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2009, 10:02:22 AM »

Balancing a wood top is best accomplished with a wood of uniform density.  Trying to line up the center of the log seems way too complex --- and the growth rings are not of uniform size or density throughout their circumference.  Rings are thicker or thinner in various directions based on sunlight availability on that side of the tree, and a lot of other factors.  Another factor might be that the center (or pith) of a branch or log is often considerably weaker, and might well not hold your top tip nicely???
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Spinningray

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2009, 01:36:41 PM »

Finding just the right piece of wood is critical in attaining a well balanced wooden top. I look for logs of sufficient size so that the tip section doesn't have to be from the center of the log. The mid section of the log tends to have the most consistent growth ring sizes and densities. It does take a little longer to mount the wood on the lathe, but makes a big difference on balance.
Exotic woods are more dense and tend to have less variation in density through the wood. They generally make well balanced tops.
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jim in paris

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2009, 10:39:08 AM »

Buona Sera Maurizio !

i've asked my friend philippe the woodturner the same question
his answers recall what alan said
besides the fact that high density woods tend to give best results for solidity and balance, the idea is to take advantage of the wood itself , selecting which section to use for what purpose
philippe often examines the "duramen" and sort of " interprets" the colours and marks in the wood...he told me that some woods like oak can take 20 years before stopping their transformations...
you can buy exotic woods from specialized shops, the pieces of wood are already cut and dried...it's a good alternative to raw wood as, for tops, you don't need big pieces... but it can be costly

ciao

jim


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MrYo

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2009, 08:29:22 PM »

Grazie!!!! Thank you you info are very useful, here we have a lot of chair factories so i think i can find good dried wood and make a try :-)

Maurizio
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jim in paris

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2009, 01:28:32 AM »

dear Maurizio

you can look at this link

http://www.maisondutournage.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=1401&Itemid=202

it's a shop for wood turning , located in the south of france near Montpellier, i have already ordered some tools and the service is good
they charge 7 euros for 10kg of material : quite cheap

there is a description of each wood in their catalogue , you can receive it for free

the link goes directly to the wood section

jim
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Pulpowsky

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #12 on: December 19, 2009, 02:02:40 AM »

Oh, la la!

I know La maisson del torunage, but I didn't surf in it enought. I'm sure there are good places to buy wood in Spain but this source is really cool.

C'est magnifique!

Today is my "Day to buy my lathe" I am quite excited, is 8 AM and my eyes are opened as dishes.
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MrYo

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #13 on: December 19, 2009, 08:39:25 AM »

@Jim Thank you, this is very useful to dig! My father worked on wood for over 50 years, mybe is time to steal his experience :)

@Pulp I like this way to make personal the Tops experience, not only the play but a more intimate knowlege constructing them. This is more affordable than make yoyo

Maurizio
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the Earl of Whirl

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Re: Best essence of wood for tops
« Reply #14 on: December 19, 2009, 10:03:27 AM »

I am anxious to hear about Pulp's experiences with his new lathe!!!
Good luck with your new equipment, mi amigo.
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