American Sycamore

[Jim Hipp]

I bought a number of boards of Sycamore from a local guy with a mill. Although the block-19"X23"X13'-he cut the boards from had actually been cut some time earlier it had been stored uncovered and when it was cut into boards it was very wet and strikingly beautiful with lots of red swirls.
I moved the boards into my shop and let them begin to dry over several months.
I ran a piece of one of the boards recently thru my drum sander and there was no trace of any red.
So why did the red disappear?

[Reed Gray]

I got one sycamore tree, probably a European Plane rather than American Sycamore. When the tree company was cutting it, the shavings were blood red. Most of that color was gone with in about an hour. That particular tree was darker than any other sycamore I have turned. Most likely some bacteria that when exposed to air, it dies. The arborists had never seen anything like it either. For bowl blanks, you want/need quarter sawn. It has spectacular medullary rays, kind of like oak does.

robo hippy

[Jim Hipp]

Thanks for the reply. Shame the color disappeared.

[Karl Loeblein]

It’s been my experience the red color from fungus will often disappear (or turn brown) when the wood dries and gets exposed to oxygen and/or uv light. Box Elder (aka ash leaf maple) is notorious for losing it’s bright red coloring. Best to cut the for the best grain figue like Robo suggested since that will remain long term.

Here’s a box elder bowl with curly figure from the buttress portion. The tree was full of red flame, but I much prefer the figured wood over the red which doesn’t last.
.IMG_0461.jpgIMG_0462.jpg

[Stan Calow]

I've had several pieces of local sycamore that have significant areas of red. The piece in the photo has been in the shop for several years waiting for inspiration and the red (about 30%) is slightly browner but not much. I wiped with DNA to highlight contrast. I don't think this is a fungus or mineral stain. The mill I bought it from said they see a lot of red in sycamore. It moves a lot too.

sycamore.jpg

[Don Stephan]

Several years ago I researched the red color of flame box elder on the Internet and found a research summary that said the red was produced by the tree due to trama, and not by fungus. Every comment I have seen over the years, on various forums, said red in box elder is not light fast.

Dr Seri Robinson's first book, "Spalted Wood," has a number of photos of centuries old pieces with spalted veneer still holding the color produced by various fungi. I did not think that the colors produced by fungi in spalted wood fade with time.

[Richard Coers]

Every species of wood changes in color. You are in for a lot of disappointment if that bothers you.

[Reed Gray]

Side note on sycamore, it has a very high water content, which means that if you twice turn your bowls, they can warp beyond the 10% rule, 1 inch thick for 10 inch bowl.

robo hippy

[Richard Coers]

Several years ago I researched the red color of flame box elder on the Internet and found a research summary that said the red was produced by the tree due to trama, and not by fungus. Every comment I have seen over the years, on various forums, said red in box elder is not light fast.

Dr Seri Robinson's first book, "Spalted Wood," has a number of photos of centuries old pieces with spalted veneer still holding the color produced by various fungi. I did not think that the colors produced by fungi in spalted wood fade with time.

Well said Don. I've never seen a healthy box elder that has red streaks in it. They always have a rotting core when you find red.

[Mark Wedel]

That is an interesting point about rotting - I got some plum wood that has various purple streaks in it, and the core of that tree was also rotted. It makes me now think that if the core wasn't rot, I wouldn't have had that interesting coloration.