Stealth Wood

[Jim Fleetwood]

Friends and neighbors know that I am always on the look-out for local wood that I can resaw and turn into boxes, veneers and now bowls. I have picked up some great sycamore, ash, elm, walnut, etc. Last night I came home from a week long vacation to find four logs of what I think is cottonwood sitting by my house. I have no idea where it came from other than some nice person trying to do me a favor. Each is about 3' to 4' long and and 2 feet in diameter. Has anybody done anything with cottonwood? I know it is kind of soft wood. Is there anything I need to keep in mind when working with it. Can I anticipate anything other than good practice from cottonwood?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jim that is what I have found. I tried a piece and just didn't have any luck with it. Willow to me is the same way. I did go ahead and turned it for practice. Turned easy.

[Reed Gray]

I have turned a bit of it. It tends to be kind of stringy, and will leave a fuzzy surface after turning, cutting, or even sanding. The main thing that I didn't like about it is that it stinks, kind of a sour smell like someone threw up. I read in one of my wood magazines that one use for it is in horse stalls. The horses won't chew on it because of the taste.
robo hippy

[John Timberlake]

I have never turned any, but have a friend who turned a gorgeous platter out of a cottonwood crotch. He dyed it with blue and red aniline dyes to bring out the grain. Don't know if that works on straight grain.

[Frank Fusco]

I have turned a bit of it. It tends to be kind of stringy, and will leave a fuzzy surface after turning, cutting, or even sanding. The main thing that I didn't like about it is that it stinks, kind of a sour smell like someone threw up. I read in one of my wood magazines that one use for it is in horse stalls. The horses won't chew on it because of the taste.
robo hippy

History records that mountain men, fur trappers ca. 1800-1840, camped near groves of cottonwood trees so they could feed bark to their horses and mules. In fairness, I'm told there are two kinds of cottonwood. One was suitable for feed, the other wasn't.