What do I look for?

[TracyP]

I live near a tree service less than 1/4 mile from me that has an awesome pile of wood that is stacked up and being primarily ground up for mulch. They have huge piles there that have already been ruined, "mulch". I am willing to go to them and offer to purchase the good wood that they grind up and sell it to the folks here and make "0" on it. I pass by it every day on the way home and it is a crying shame that all of this wood is being ground up into mulch. What should I look or ask for that will help the folks here that are so eager to help me when I need it? I don't know if the wood would help folks here but if it did; I would be willing to pull the trailer a couple of days per week to collect the wood. Please post any interest here or pm me.
Just trying to keep good wood from going to mulch!!! Although mulch does have it's place!

[DaveO]

A good log turning blank has nice figure and grain, that is first and foremost. Second is the size, I would like to see a log split in half, minus the pith, that is 5"+ thick and around 12" square. So you are looking for trunks with figure that are 12" plus in diameter and can be cut into 12" square. I have a small lathe (HF fav) so I can't handle much over 12" dia. But many have real lathes and can turn a much greater dia..
That said, all wood is good turning wood....some is just much better than others.

MTCW,
Dave

[NC Scroller]

Tracy, for those who turn pens, most pen blanks are a block of wood only 3/4 sq by 5-1/4 long. So as DaveO said most wood can be turned into something. It just needs to have some character.

I would think maple, beech, and cherry would be what the bulk of the folks would want. Especially if there is a burl involved.

[woodArtz]

Hey Tracy, you can't go wrong with wood that has some nice flaws. Spalting, ambrosia beetle stains, and of course a big ole gnarly burl. My brother was about to burn a few 12 to 15" diameter maple logs that were nicely spalted. Thankfully, he called me over to check it out first . Let us know what you find .

[Woodman2k]

Tracy,
ditto to what everybody has posted.I will also add sycamore,freshly cut sweet gum,and if your just starting to turn,even poplar to use for practice is good.Get some end sealer or latex paint will work to some degree in a pinch,and seal the end grain on the recently cut stuff.He may give you as much as you want because that $4 a gallon fuel that is powering that chipper is eating his profits.Give me a call if you want to go over there on the weekend and we can do some exploring.