cottonwood question

[Gretch Flo]

I have been playing with dying some white ish wood with dyes-have a couple of pieces of crotch figure cottonwood left. When going over to the neighbors wood pile 2 days ago to pick up a couple of pieces of ash I had them save for me this winter, I saw the stumps of cottonwood (bulldozed in a pile) they had hauled out of their yard perimeter a couple of years ago (he owns a construction company and has some big "toys" there for removing stumps,etc). My question is would the trunks have chatounce?????? It would be some labor on my part to cut them to look (without breaking a leg to get to them). Gretch

 

[Barbara Gill]

I have found that all Eastern Cottonwood has some degree of chatoyance. Not all Cottonwood has great figure though. I have found the most dramatic figure to be where there is a major bifurcation. Often the area where the roots and trunk join there will be nice figure in other species, walnut for instance. It might be worth the effort to find out if Cottonwood does.

 

[Gretch Flo]

cottonwood

I have found that all Eastern Cottonwood has some degree of chatoyance. Not all Cottonwood has great figure though. I have found the most dramatic figure to be where there is a major bifurcation. Often the area where the roots and trunk join there will be nice figure in other species, walnut for instance. It might be worth the effort to find out if Cottonwood does.

Thanks Barbara. When I get a chance in the next couple of months,( outside work and gardens call) I will cut a large hunk off just above the roots and see. Will let people know.
Have turned another small crotch cottonwood today in prep for coloring. I know that alot of trees have better figure at the base. Not sure if this is condusive for coloring "chatounce" This will make the 2nd one of cottonwood this week. Gretch

 

[Bill Boehme]

If you are looking for wood that will show iridescence when dyed (or chatoyance, as the French say -- meaning literally "eye of the cat"), then you need to find wood that has a pronounced ray pattern as well as close grain and very light color. Also, sometimes a drying defect known as "honeycombing" which results in casehardening can enhance the effect -- so as often the case in woodturning, a defect actually can become a desirable "feature". Wavy grain grain patterns as mentioned by Barbara greatly enhance the effect.

 

[MichaelMouse]

The cat's eye comes because the light is returned to the eye or deflected away differently by the orientation of the wood grain. So you're looking for areas where there is randomization. I'm sure you've noticed that end grain looks darker than face grain? The figure comes when the two are mixed on the same surface. Has nothing to do with ray figure, though the radial surface shows the best curl. Has a lot to do with growing stresses. You'll get good chatoyance from the inside of curved trees, the feather figure under branches, and so forth. Some trees, particularly the soft maples like A rubrum or A negundo are very prone to a generalized, rather than stress-created figure, producing curly or quilted figure even on trees grown in the woods with little branching.

Bottom line, you're likely to find some nice figure near the base, especially if the tree had some swoop. Branch loading will show some as well.

Some reading for you, if you care. http://www.aaes.auburn.edu/comm/pubs/bulletins/figureinwood/index.html Among other discoveries, you'll see where elm and birch get their reluctance to split and their flame figure. Regrettably, the photos are B&W.

 

[Gretch Flo]

Thanks Michael

I like the reference about wood figure-I skimmed thu the first 2 pages and bookmarked. as I need to get into the basement(to turn) after dispatching a trapped raccoon (annihilating neighbor's bird feeders, and getting into mine), and picking out some cut ash from a neighbor that just felled it . She;ll cut it up for firewood so must beat her to it!!!! Gretch

 

[Bill Boehme]

... I need to get into the basement(to turn) after dispatching a trapped raccoon ....

"Dispatch" as in sending it off somewhere to attend to some important business? 😀 ... or some other meaning of the word? 😱 Properly cooked, they are quite tasty ... some say that they taste somewhere between chicken and 'gator and a bit south of squirrel (or perhaps I thinking of rattlesnake).

I bought a Havahart trap a few years ago when the 'coons and 'possums were wanting to move in with us. The problem was that there is a never ending supply of the critters and every time that I put the trap out, I would soon have a new "occupant" in the trap. The lake where I released them soon became built up with subdivisions and shopping centers and was no longer ideal as a place to dispatch them.

 

[Gretch Flo]

varmint control

"Dispatch" as in sending it off somewhere to attend to some important business? 😀 ... or some other meaning of the word? 😱 Properly cooked, they are quite tasty ... some say that they taste somewhere between chicken and 'gator and a bit south of squirrel (or perhaps I thinking of rattlesnake).

I bought a Havahart trap a few years ago when the 'coons and 'possums were wanting to move in with us. The problem was that there is a never ending supply of the critters and every time that I put the trap out, I would soon have a new "occupant" in the trap. The lake where I released them soon became built up with subdivisions and shopping centers and was no longer ideal as a place to dispatch them.

Bill-it is illegal where I live to transplant a nuisance pest elsewhere-just told my neighbors that when they were going to trap and release them. Maybe they'll rely on me to help them out. There were 4 yearling sibs at my bird feeders at 1 am sat nite-I am working this week and leave at 6 am so cannot "trap" this week". Neighbor and their dog, shooed a huge one out of their bird feeder area with a mop sat nite too.Gretch

 

[Curt Fuller]

We have lots of cottonwood and raccoons around here. Hard to say which is more abundant. I've also hand them wreck havoc with my bird feeders. Racoons that is. In fact they've torn the birdfeeders right out of my cottonwoods.

But on your question of chatoyance in cottonwood, I've found it is very prevalent where the roots begin to spread from the trunk. And as Barbara said at the "bifurcation" points (thank you for teaching me a new word Barbara). The underside of the areas where a large branch grows from the trunk will actually have wrinkles if you pull the bark off. And inside it will be beautiful wood. Cottonwood also tends to absorb minerals or something when left sitting out and takes on some nice colors as a result.

 

[Mike McDonald]

According to Michael O'Donnell in Turning Green Wood, in general, the most likely place to find figured wood is the bole. (The area from where the roots join the trunk to the first split.)