How to ship turning blanks?

[shoottmx]

Been asked to ship some of the maple shown in the maple bowl thread. I have 8-10" diameter logs cut into 12" long sections sealed on both ends.

How would you go about shipping these? Split in half? Band saw round? Seems they would be so heavy the cost to ship would be prohibitive.

Thanks, g

[Steve K]

The first thing I would investigate is the legality of shipping green wood. For Instance; FAQ Importing firewood

[hairy]

I have shipped and received large flat rate box from USPS full of turning blanks. Spindle and bowl blanks, small logs and half logs and prepared round blanks. If it fits, it ships. Large box is $15.80 for continental USA.

usps

[SteveS]

If you have a large number to ship out then freight would likely be the most cost efficient method.

It costs me $200 to have 900 lbs of african blackwood shipping from portland to bothell via freight vs paying $40 to have a 35 lb block shipped via UPS from the same location. If you have less than 70 lbs to ship then UPS might be good. I've also shipped 90 lb sections of blackwood log via Fed Ex from bothell to MA for about $100.

[iclark]

At one time, Greyhound was a competitive way to ship bulky items. I have not seen them mentioned here for wood, so I do not know how well or how costly that would be.

I would suggest waiting until it is a bit cooler before shipping green wood because of the cracking problems. Half-log is better than whole-log for that reason, too.

Half-log rounds would be cheaper to ship, but a half-log that is 3-4" longer at each end than a round would be gives more opportunity to BS off any cracks before turning.

[shoottmx]

Thanks guys, I'll see if I can jam a couple in a large FRB.

g