Black Palm or Black Locust. Black locust is like chucking up a piece of concrete and turning it.
Contributor
Black Palm or Black Locust. Black locust is like chucking up a piece of concrete and turning it.
Bernie
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.
Member
Fortunately, I have problems turning any kind of wood
I did remove some 200 year old Chestnut from our house and I tried to turn some. Hard as concrete and it tended to fall apart along the grain lines. I gave up.
Dave Fried
Speak softly and carry a large bonker.
Contributor
Locust followed closely by 100+ year old chestnut barn siding.
Member
Weeping Willow Burl:
SOFT
FURRY
STINKY
Change One Thing
Member
Weeping willow burl. I just got the first coat one one tonight. I sharpened the tools to shave with and the end grain swirls just pull out even with size, hardener, or the epoxy tonic. This is the fifth try,water spritzing seem to be what works the best. The other thing I noticed is changing the sandpaper often help keep the heat down, avoiding new splits from opening before your eyes.Tim.
Member
Every dang one of them!Originally Posted by Bill Wyko
Mike
[OP]
Contributor
I think threads like this are great. Now I know what woods to steer clear of.
What you listen to is your business....what you hear is ours.
Member
Cottonwood, which like willow is soft, stringy, and stinky. I've yet to finish anything I've started in cottonwood. Someday I'll drop in at Curt Fuller's shop and make him tell me how he turns cottonwood so beautifully!
Member
well not having turned much i would say the Zebra wood pen i did last was difficult. cut at 90 degrees you could hear it screaming I WILL SPLINTER ... it did but was able to save it... i then mucked it up in assembly and it was for the dumpster...
Black locust - done some of that... i like it al lot...
Rasmus Petersen - woodturning.dk.
Itīs not a failure itīs a design opportunity
Contributor
I'd have to say Snakewood. Not because it is difficult to turn, but because it likes to split and splinter. Very difficult to get to the finish.
~john
"There's nothing wrong with Quiet" ` Jeremiah Johnson
In Memoriam
Yhis stuff is extremely hard, and needs much patience. I have a block of exceptionaly dry, and very hard that I chuck up every now and then and give up on soon after.
Bob
ps,
just picked up a piec e of palm, thanks all for the waarning.
Contributor
I had some trouble with kiln dried White Oak at one time.
But then I chucked up some Black Locust recently. Even soaking wet green it gave me fits... my bowl gouge was jumping and chattering all the way...
It'll make great tool handles.
Member
Cottonwood to me is a dream. It is soft, but when dry, it's not real difficult.
Locust is agreed upon. Kiln dried ash in the larger variety. I chunked up a piece 6"X6"X2". NOPE!!! Splintered, cracked, hard as nails, and not very pretty. It sits unfinished to this day. Oh by the way, that was on the POS lathe that was spinning way to fast, and wobbled badly. Maybe I'll try it again.
Be a mentor, it's so much more fun throwing someone else into the vortex, than swirling it alone!
Member
I haven't met a wood yet that I couldn't learn to handle eventually, but then Palm isn't wood. Further evidence that the 40 grit gouge can be a necessity some times.
robo hippy
Member
I'll Second Brazilian Cherry. I was making gavels in about 15 minutes from cherry/maple/walnut when a co-worker asked me to demo for his Boy Scout troop. I grabed a set of blanks, loaded the truck and went to the troop meeting. I put the blanks in the lathe and realized it was the one set of Brazilian cherry blanks I had prepared. The demo took an hour instead of 15 minutes, no-one was impressed except the kid I gave the poorly turned gavel too.
Dry Hickory or dry Osage Orange is not as enjoyable as most other domestic choice either.
Frank
'Sawdust is better than Prozac'
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