Possible score...now what?

[John K Jordan]

Flowering Dogwood is one of my favorite turning woods. It cuts so cleanly, hard and smooth as glass. (It will hold it's own alongside cocobolo and other exotic woods.) The wood was traditionally used for tools and loom shuttles. I save nearly all that comes down or has to be removed on my farm. Most are 8-10" in diameter but I did have one that I got 1x12s out of the center with my sawmill. I also got some large turning blocks (6x12) from that tree and some 3x3" and smaller pieces, some over 4' long. The bigger blocks have been air drying for about 9 years now. They seem pretty stable after about 4-5 years.

Since dogwood is not a commercial wood it can be quite valuable.

I've turned many things such as magic wands, goblets, Christmas ornaments, finger tops, turned boxes, pepper grinders, pens, mallets, tool handles, weedpots, conductor's batons, french style rolling pins, parts for spinning wheels and other repairs, jigs and fixtures, and much more. It takes an incredibly beautiful finish and when cut smoothly I sometimes don't use any finish, just buff. I've given out small turning blanks when I do demos and people who haven't tried it before often ask for more! Wonderful wood.

It is notoriously difficult to dry without gaping cracks since the shrinkage is so high. You are best off staying away from the darker heart wood. The white wood is the good stuff anyway. Pieces with both light and dark can be beautiful if you can get them to dry without cracking. The sapwood shrinks more than the heartwood so pieces with both will probably distort badly while drying

Dogwood shrinks so much that if left in the round you might get a 1" wide split in an 8" diameter piece! If you cannot process it quickly, it is probably best to cut in half down the middle or at least make a relief cut with the chainsaw to the pith down one side - this may let the stresses relieve at the cut rather than at random splits.

What I do with green dogwood:
When cut from the tree, I coat IMMEDIATELY with anchorseal and put the sections in a cool, shady place until I can section them.
I usually cut the logs into 16-24" sections which are easier to handle.
Depending on the size, I either slice down the middle with a chainsaw or my 18" bandsaw.
I cut turning blocks as large as possible from the white wood, avoiding the dark heartwood; I save down to 1" or so.
If the dark heartwood is solid, I may leave it in many blanks, often 1/2 and 1/2.
Any blank with any heartwood gets that entire face coated with anchorseal
I expect any piece with the heartwood to warp like CRAZY.
I stack the blanks staggered to air dry. I allow 2-6 years to dry depending on the size.
When dry, I square up all six surfaces the blanks on the bandsaw to remove any warpage, check for cracks, and let me see what I have.

When turning something like a box that needs to be stable, do like Raffan suggests and turn it mostly and hollow, then let it set at least over night to relieve stresses before doing the final turning and fitting.

I have no idea how it behaves green, say for a bowl since I turn dry wood. I suspect it will warp like crazy.

A few pictures, if I can get them to upload:

bells_PC244161es.jpg bells1_comp.jpg
The bell ornament in the center back is dogwood. I find bloodwood nicely complements the slightly pink color often found in dogwood.

ornaments_comp.jpgdogwood_box.jpg
The ornament at the left is dogwood.

peppermill_dogwood.jpg
I made a matching set of crush-grind salt/pepper mills from cocobolo and dogwood. We have been using them daily for many years now.

JKJ

[Anthony Whitesell]

Do you know anyone with a 14" bandsaw and riser, 17", or 19" bandsaw? Offer then a couple of blades and a beverage of their choice. If the center is rotten through the length, a bandsaw may not be necessary. It would be possible to cut in half with a bow saw and then cut into long turning squares on the tablesaw using a vertical bandsaw mill type of jig (such as http://www.rockler.com/carter-accuright-log-mill). You would get a bunch of blank for tool handles, peppermills, and the like. Since you are cutting turning blanks, the faces don't have to be nice and neat.

[Robert Opalko]

I do but a couple of those blades would be more than what the portable mill would charge.. I might try splitting the one solid one but, a bowsaw, really?