Yellowwood tree

[Don McClure]

I have been offered the trunk of a 14" diameter yellowwood tree which is apparently an ornamental that grown in KY, NC and a few other areas. Does any one have any experience turning this type of wood?

[Brian Kent]

If this is the same thing as East African Yellowwood (known in California as Fern Pine) then I have several recent posts describing and showing it. If it is a different wood, then I am no help.

[Don McClure]

I believe that it is completely different that the East African Yellowwood from looking at the internet....any else have info?

[Dale Miner]

I've turned a few pieces from American Yellowwood.

It turns much like ash, and it does have a unique qrain and color. It's is not a common tree in SW Ohio, so experience with it is limited to a single trunk section that crotched low and had some nice fiddleback. That was probably five years ago, and as best I recall, the wood was fairly stable when drying, although I do seem to remember that some of the pieces cracked. The cracking may have been related to the stress from crotching low, or the wood might be a bit prone to cracking. I do remember that a sharp bevel contact cut was required to prevent tear out and chipping on face grain items. Shear scraping seemed to make more problems than it fixed. I did turn a few end grain boxes from the wood, and used a Hunter tool for cleaning up the bottoms and lids of the boxes. The end grain cut very clean with the carbide using a bevel rubbing presentation.

All the items from that trunk section sold fairly rapidly.

I say go for it.

And yes, it is a much different wood than the imported varieties.

[Reed Gray]

I got one trunk section of it. Very pretty, turned easily, but almost every piece just shattered while drying. No idea why. The yellow color seems to be pretty stable though.

robo hippy

[Jon Nuckles]

My arborist friend gave me some small pieces of what he called yellowwood a couple of years ago. It was unbelievably bright yellow. I rough turned it right away and wrapped it in heavy brown paper. I may have even coated some of the bowls in anchorseal (original version, if I did). Every piece cracked horribly; not one survivor. Big cracks, too. I don't know if anything would have allowed them to survive. If I am offered any in the future, I will either pass it up or turn it wet to finish and see if it will survive that way. Good luck with yours!

[Reed Gray]

Jon, I turned mine to final thickness. Maybe it is one of 'those' woods.

robo hippy

[Don McClure]

From the above posts it sounds iffy. But say if it is free, why not give it a try....will keep the Forum posted as to progress.

[robert baccus]

Any chance it could be redbud. It is bright yellow. Doing a couple of vases this month,

[Don McClure]

The tree is definitely a yellowwood as it is planted in an arboretum at a local collage under the care of a noted landscape architect.So if he says it's yellowwood. it is. I'll keep the Forum posted.

[Ted Calver]

I learned Yellowwood as Cladrastis lutea but the nomenclature gods have changed it to Cladrastis kentukea. It's a slow growing ornamental noted for the yellow of the wood. It should turn well, but have never tried it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladrastis_kentukea

[steven carter]

I have turned several yellowwood pieces. Some of the log sections literally tore themselves apart, cracking in ways I have never seen before. After letting them sit and crack, I used the parts that were not cracked. One of the rarest trees is the eastern U.S. You can search my past posts and see them. My son has a bowl that is several years old, sits in fairly direct light and is still yellow. There used to be a lot of them in Brown county Indiana, but were harvested and used to make yellow dye. Takes a little patience but definitely worth the effort, finishes really well.