Willow

[Tom Bucanan]

I have been reading the past posts about turning willow and they seem to be kind of conflicting. Some people say that willow is a dream to turn and therefore, one should grab all of it that they can. Others say that it is a very difficult wood to turn (stringy when green, large space between growth rings, plain, and has a high tendency to crack). What do you guys think? A huge willow has come down (not sure if it is weeping willow or black willow) and I can have as much as I want. Is it worth it to get this wood or should I continue turning oak, maple, and beech?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom,

What's your experience level? If you are a beginner....grab it and turn it. Turning is just like running or bicycling....you gotta get your mileage in and the more you do the better you get.

I suspect differences between people's experiences are just that. Willow is a soft wood. I'd expect a lot of tearout that could be minimized if you use extremely sharp tools. When wet, I'd expect it to be stringy....when dry I'd expect a lot of tearout.....

Good luck!

[Burt Alcantara]

Right now, willow is my favorite wood. Unfortunately, I used most of it up learning how to turn and didn't like it. Now that I have a better understanding I find it to be a fascinating wood. It contains a lot of surprises.

It will turn with tear out but sand smooth. I find frictioning BLO will bring up the grain and chatoyance. I follow this by frictioning SealCoat thinned with mineral spirits. After this sets up I give it at least 5 coats of poly then optionally buff.

If you live anywhere near me I'll be glad to take it off your hands.

Burt

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned willow and like it. It is stringy when green but can be had with sharp tools. Tear out is a fact of life with willow but can be minimized. I use a P & N 3/8" or 1/2" conventional bowl gouge to make the finial cuts on it. Sharp again. After it is dry and ready to re-turn sometimes I will sptitz with water or put some mineral oil on it and then take the last couple of cuts. When dry any tear out left sands right out. I use antique oil on mine then buff. They turn out pretty good looking. Like Ken said if it is free jump on it and turn away.

[Cody Colston]

Green Willow is stringy...it's hard to cut out a blank on the band saw because it gets packed in the gullets of the saw teeth. It tears out horribly when dry but as mentioned, the tearout can be sanded away.

After drying, Willow is light as a feather. It's amazing how little it weighs.

Weeping Willow is plain looking but Black Willow has some great color to it.

I don't turn it anymore.

[Tom Bucanan]

I have been turning for approximately five years and have a PM 4224. I typically turn large functional bowls and I have sold a few at a local gallery. I have a pretty constant supply of oak, maple, ash, and beech (I cut up the crotches and scraps from a logger in the area), but I have never turned willow. My mom just came home last night and told me that her friend had a huge willow tree cut down and that I could have all that I wanted. She said that it was pinkish or reddish (any difference between the color of black and weeping willow?) and that it was HUGE.

I guess that willow is not really worth the effort. I have heard that it takes forever to dry and I guess that tear out is a problem both when it is wet and after it has dried (initially I was under the impression that willow was a lot better after it dried). I may just stop over next weekend with my dad and grab a couple large chunks to make a few bowls and see how it turns. Thanks for all the advice.

P.S. Has anyone cored willow? I have the kelton coring system and I was just wondering if willow can be cored even though it is so stringy.

[John Shuk]

I've seen nice bowls made from willow. I've never turned it but I have some in my basement for a few years now. It seems it would be a bit stringy from what I can tell.