hackberry and scyamore

[byron constantine]

Anyone have the occasion to use these types of wood? The hackberry
is lite colored and somewhat tight grained.
Byron

[Brad Hart]

turning hackberry is akin to turning younger smaller soft maple. There usually isn't much difference between heartwood and sapwood. It spalts pretty easily but goes punky fast.

Sycamore comes in 2 varieties both are very dense and heavy. Version one will be your average bottomland which grows thick tall and straight. It is a pleasure to work with both in turning and flatwork. Then there are the odd hillside field varieties which tend to be more squat and have masiver branches. This is the perfect tree fort when you are a kid type tree. The branches have a lot of movement when you work them so they are worthless for flatwork but are still turnable if you turn them thin and dry them well.