Hanna Hickory

[Dave Roller]

As a result of Hanna, I have a large hickory in my yard which will have to be taken down. Has anyone turned bowls, or anything else for that matter, from hickory? Or should I just plan on having a lot of good firewood for my fireplace and for my smoker.

I don't know if I can search for photo gallery. If so, I'll try that as well.

 

[loberg]

I looked in my woodbook and found that Hickery is a member if the walnut family. It should turn very well. The plates show color like oak with dark brown heartwood. It is heavy, very hard, tough, strong, and close-grained. Use for anything that needs strong wood (handles, yokes for oxen). If I were in your area I would help you in exchange for turning wood. I was going to recommend the Western Forestry Center in Portlande, OR but they seem to be more ecology than indentification. You can Google Jesup Wood Collection and look for identification.

 

[Michael Stafford]

I have turned boxes and bowls from hickory. It turns well and finishes and polishes to a nice finish. It might not be the most interesting of grains but it is a hard durable wood.

 

[Griesbach]

Hickory turns very well when green but it's as hard as concrete when it's dry. I suggest you rough turn what you want as soon as you can and seal the end grain with Anchor Seal or another end grain sealer and then bag them till dry. finish turn with very sharp tools and you should be fine. Hickory will take on a very nice finish and hold up very well to any reasonable use. It is, however, prone to cracking and splitting so take reasonable steps to dry slowly.

 

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned boxes and bowls from Hickory. Turns nice and really finishes well. Some can have some interesting character and some is pretty bland.

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

Hickory is aweful hard. On small items its great, but a big hickory bowl (say 12") will wear you out. Rough turn a couple big bowls just so you can say you did it, but cut the rest into blanks for boxes, plates and smaller items.

Its OK to set some aside for the fireplace and the smoker. It is not a sin to be less than selfish with turning wood.

Frank

 

[MichaelMouse]

Not sure that hardness http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm has a lot to do with it. The steel is certainly harder than the wood, so stringiness and flex are probably bigger barriers to easy turning than hardness. I turn hop-hornbeam, and it's harder, as is bodark. No pleasure, but having wood of sufficient size for creating what's in your head - free to boot - makes it well worth the effort.

Probably a third of the "pecan" furniture out there during the heyday of that wood was actually its near twin, hickory.

 

[Matthew Clarke]

I've turned hickory, locust (Black and Yellow), cherry, maple, etc. — mostly the hardwoods that you find in the northeast. My basic mantra is, 'take time to sharpen your tool(s).' If your tools are sharp, what you will find is that wood is wood. As MM points out, your hss tools are a lot harder than the wood. Most of the time, when I find a student complaining about how hard or difficult it is to turn a piece, I just take his/her tool, sharpen it and give it back. Mostly, they are amazed at how easy it becomes to do the same task they just found to be so difficult. So, just make sure you are always cutting 'downhill,' and keep your tools really sharp. It is worth the investment of time in terms of your results and pleasure turning the wood.

Turn safely,

Matt

 

[Dave Roller]

Thanks, everyone, for the input. A year from now I hope to have a couple of hickory bowls to show. Maybe by then I'll learn how to post pictures on this forum.

I wish MM hadn't mentioned stringiness. I remember when I split a hickory for firewood a few years back (before I was turning). I sat at the log splitter, and for just about every split I made I had to finally separate the pieces with a hatchet. No fun, even with a log splittter.