Blue Madrone

[Russell Neyman]

I know a lot of you who live places besides the Upper Lefthand Corner (Washington, Oregon, Northern California) envy those of us who have a plentiful supply of madrone. Well, a neighbor dropped two very large old growth trees today, and one has an unusual feature -- blue veining throughout the 50-foot length offset by the typical pink madrone coloring. At the base the tree is about 18", and the upper regions are mostly about 8" in diameter. The second tree is bigger (about 24") and likely to have more figuring, but I grabbed several pieces and headed back to the shop before they began that one.

I absolutely love to turn this stuff, especially when it's so fresh. It cuts like butter, and distorts into beautiful shapes. I hear from friends that blueing to this degree is pretty rare. I will have something cut out of the first bolt before I head hits the pillow tonight.

Now, I'm NOT in the bowl blank business, but if you're interested in some of this send me a private message and I'll put you in touch with the guy who has it. With the USPS "if it ships it fits" program, I imagine it could be had pretty cheaply.


Hutchins Madrone.jpg

[Reed Gray]

Can't say I have seen blue in it, but every shade of pink, red, purple, brown and black. My favorite wood to turn and then watch it warp. Boiling takes all the fun out of it.

robo hippy

[Ralph Lindberg]

Russell, I'm GUESSING it's a fungal thing

If you can, bring in a piece to the meeting this week, put it in show-and-tell and let's talk about it

[Bill Bolen]

Mouth watering....sure wish I were a close neighbor!

[mike ash]

I took a piece of fresh cut madrone 20" diameter log chunk (with NO blue stain) and left it in a black plastic bag of about 6 months. When I pulled it out and milled blanks for bowls, it had some beautiful blue staining that look very similiar to what I see in your photos. Therefore, my guess is a fungus has caused the blue stain!!!

[Russell Neyman]

Yeah, I turned a small piece of it late today, and the blue is a blueish-gray, but very interesting. I'm sure it's somehow fungus-related, but the contrast of blue and pink is really nice. These are huge pieces, and I can ask the guy to cut me just about any size I want -- 12x12x12 or larger. Yes, I will bring some to next week's OPWWA meeting, but the guys back east will probably want to get it shipped pretty soon because it's GREEN stuff.