Scrap Pile

[Dr. Deb]

I am doing a restoration/clean up, of a pre-civil war spinning wheel (this is being done gratis). The majority of the wood seems to be chestnut. But somewhere in its history, the froont leg was broken or lost and someone made a replacement. The problem is, all the other legs and vertical pieces are turned and out of chestnut. The replacement leg is octagonal and out of pine.

Does anyone have a piece of chestnut laying in their scrap pile that they would be willing to turn loose of. The preferred size is 2 1/2 square by

30" long. A 1" thick piece that could be glued to make a blank of the same size would also work.

Thanks

Deb

[dpb]

On 9/2/2012 8:00 AM, Dr. Deb wrote: ...

...

Not wanting _much_, are we??? :)

Not a speck of chestnut have I seen since days in VA and those days are

30+ yr in rear mirror by now, sorry...

I've really no leads any more, either...other than the reclamation folks but they're certainly not going to part w/ it for anything but an arm and both legs...

--

[Dave]

On Sun, 02 Sep 2012 08:00:51 -0500, "Dr. Deb"

Assuming the spinning wheel will be for display purposes only, would it not be prudent to just stain the pine leg so it coordinates itself with the other legs?

You might well be looking to restore it to as authentic a state as possible and if that's your intention, then please discard my suggestion.

[basilisk]

I have a small piece, but no, I won't part with it.

You may have better luck finding a small piece of chinese chestnut, the heartwood of the chinese chestnut is very similar, but will be absent the effects of age.

basilisk

[RP]

I have some chestnut I can send you. It'll have wormholes in it. I can't remember where I got it but it's from the upstate NY area. It was trim or flooring last I knew.

RP

[RP]

[clare]

Pretty well any piece of chestnut will be absent the effects of age after it has been turned. If you google, there are numerous places that are selling chestnut lumber for $6 to $10 per board foot.Kentucky, west Verginia, PA, Illinois, North Carolina, gotta be some reasonably close that you should be able to buy for a reasonable price.

Otherwise get a peice of white oak with a tight ray pattern and only an expert will be able to tell you for sure that it isn't chestnut after you have it finished.

[HeyBub]

Is there a chestnut TREE in your vicinity?

Next question: Do you have a chain saw?

[Dr. Deb]

Another woodturner acquaintance of mine suggested the same thing. That is probably exactly what I will do. As for the age problem, a stiff wire brush applied to the soft material between the growth rings will help a lot.

Thanks

Deb

[Bruce]

On Sun, 2 Sep 2012 19:43:50 -0600, HeyBub wrote (in article ):

I just watched a woodworking show where the host (Scott Phillips?) was making a chestnut blanket chest. He claimed that ash, when properly stained is indistinguishable.

-Bruce

[John Grossbohlin]

I kept this thread in mind yesterday while pruning my chestnut trees but there weren't any branches of sufficient size for your needs... The last time I had a piece large enough to use it was the result of storm damage. I managed to make most of a small craftsman chest from the wood but needed to use white oak for part of it. I posted a photo on ABPW.

John

[John Grossbohlin]

I tend to agree with that... in my experience it is a better alternative than white oak in terms of hardness and grain appearance though the color is lighter.

John

[Han]

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in news:J8udndw8VvspUNnNnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

It seemed you had uploaded a picture to abpw, but my newsreader is trying to let google find it oof earthlink, with no result.

[John Grossbohlin]

I can see it on ABPW but neglected to put a subject in the header... so I uploaded it again with a subject of chestnut. Maybe that was the problem...

[Han]

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in news:bcadnedm0pKWTtnNnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Now it came through!! Nice work, John!

[clare]

The "rays" in the oak are a bit more authentic to the chestnut from what I've been told - but I've never worked with American Chestnut.