Persimmon wood?

[Wes Ramsey]

I have agreed to dispose of some persimmon logs for a friend. A couple are long enough to get some saw logs from for my mill, but there are some sizeable crotch pieces there for the taking. Anyone able to share some thoughts on turning persimmon? Any pics of finished pieces?

[Mark Greenbaum]

As I was told, when I mistakenly cut down a 16" diameter Persimmon tree, It's American Ebony. The center is jet black and related to Ebony. I've never had a chance to turn any, but it should be interesting if the heartwood can be retained into the form. Show some pictures of the lumber and the logs and the crotch pieces.

BTW: My FIL was really mad at me for cutting that tree. He said back then it was worth about $1000 for the Japanese used to buy it for golf club heads and shoes. (1978)

[Al Wasser]

The stuff moves --- A LOT! I got some bowl blanks off ebay a few yrs back and by the time I turned them they were anything but flat

[Paul Engle]

Treat it like you would any fruit tree wood. hard to manage and tends to move a lot, disrupting grain. crotch piece should handle ok but slow the drying down . turn a bit , dry some in paper bag ( month depending on weight ) with the chips . weight it once a week to see how fast you losing water and remember slow is better.

[John K Jordan]

I LOVE turning persimmon! It cuts like glass and finishes nicely. It is in the ebony family (often called White Ebony) but it's extremely rare that the black heart is bigger than a pencil. Sometimes you get striking contrast in the figure. I have a bunch of persimmon drying now for 10 years and other drying just a couple of years. Persimmon and dogwood are the closest to hard exotics of all the trees that grow around here.

I've sawn logs here and they did warp like crazy when drying, even while stickered with heavy weights on top. But after it dried it was stable. As as example, these boxes were turned dry and they have stayed perfectly round with a good fit on the lids.

persimmon_boxes_e.jpg

If sawing for boards I'd try to quartersaw. For turning, just wax well and expect the blanks to warp! What I have doesn't seem to crack much except at the pith.

Persimmon trees used to be valuable when they were used for golf clubs. These days, not so much! I counted about 30 persimmon trees on our property. A friend has one at least 30" in diameter he want's to cut - that's the one I want!

Makes great firewood too.

JKJ

[Wes Ramsey]

Thanks for the tips guys! I have a bunch of logs to pick up this weekend for the mill. Not sure I want to mess with persimmon lumber after reading about the movement, but maybe I'll get a mess of blanks out of it.

[Mark Greenbaum]

The tree I cut back in the day had a center black heart about 4" diameter at the base of the trunk. It had straight easy to split grain, but did not burn when green. DUH.