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Not So Favorite Turning Wood

J

John Taylor

Joined
Apr 15, 2005
Messages
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Location
McDonough GA
Since there seems to be a popularity contest going. What woods do you avoid? I will never forget my first experience with Bocote. It smels like it was the tree they kept the dog chained too. The first time I turned a small bowl I kept stoping to see if my dog has an accident in the shop. Yhe color and grain is great. I do not like some of the smelly woods.
 
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For really stinky wood try Thuya. Some folks like the smell but it causes the same reaction you described for me (i.e. I check my shoes).

I've finally given up on Ebony for pens. I have no problem for bowl lids and finials but with pens (and their super thin walls) I have too hard a time keeping it from cracking. Its not worth the fight when I can do Blackwood just as easily.
 
Since I posted in the other one, I will post here too. I absolutely detest turning red oak. I don't like the texture, the smell, or the way it finishes. I dislike it so much that when someone comes to me with a job using red oak, I charge a premium for having to turn it.

I will use it on occasion when I have to for flat work, but I still do not like the texture, the smell, or the way it finishes. I use it only if I have to, and there is no substitute like white oak or ash that will work.

Bill
 
I just did a bunch of cherry that smelled like it was growing on top of a septic system! I normaly love cherry but not this tree. Burned most of it. I have to say my favorite smelling wood has to be amboyna!
 
least favorite wood

I tore out my yew hedges in front of the house, and noted the beautiful color, and eyes. I made a few small things. Then my son in law took his out and made the effort to save one for me. I power washed it 6-8x, and whished. Multiple branches grew together. Each pass with the gouge required sharpening.(I thought due to grit), then I saw some sparks (I thought due to git). Then I "stumbled upon "a 1" stone. Got that out and a branch flew out. I spent 5+ hours on a small shallow bowl (due to multiple sharpenings), and only continued since it was so pretty, and to make my son-in-law feel appreciated!!!! (xmas present) I have another "blank" by the wood stove waiting for me to have the courage to make heat out of it and "cut my loses" !!! It is pretty 🙁 Gretch
 
more terrible wood

I'll add cottonwood to the list. I've seen a few pieces turned from cottonwood posted on the web and somehow someone made it work. In my experience it smells like a barnyard, it's incredibly messy to turn when it's green (must be about 60% water!), and like most green poplars looks like shredded wheat after a pass with the chisel. It even stinks when it burns. Best just to leave it down on the river bank, where it belongs!

Don
 
I'll second some of the nominations above. I've turned the following and they all smelled like urinals:
- cottonwood
- red oak
- american elm (smells like urinals and manure)
 
It's funny you said Bacote because that's the wood I have a love hate relationship with. I love the way it looks and it sells well. I don't mind the smell but the dust is just a pain. It gets in your shoes, down your neck and basically just all over. It won't turn with curls like some woods.
 
Jeff Jilg said:
I've turned the following and they all smelled like urinals:
- american elm (smells like urinals and manure)
Click to expand...

Did one out of elm this morning from my shelf of roughs, and you could still catch just a whiff of that indescribable scent when sanding with a nearly spent 320. I went to a fresh disk rather than re-live what it was wet.

Oh yes, for smell I nominate willow. Like its cousins, it's rank, but mixed with a bit of that tannic tang you get from oak to mix in. Do not attempt to dry it in the microwave, even in the old one downstairs. The family will never forgive you.
 
I HATE OAK. lets see...open ugly grain, gross color, smells like burnt hair and urinal cakes. mmmmmm...oak...and Wenge just looks like oak with an ebony stain.
 
And don't forget box elder. Smells like old, well ripened gym socks. The other wood that smells surprisingly bad is apple. Sprays water like a hose too.

Bill, I gotta say I purely love red oak. Pungent as it is, I love the grain, the lignin rays, the look of the bark, etc. I hate that it turns my hands black but a quick wash with dandruff shampoo takes care of that. I do have to clean off the ways every time I turn it, though, and that's a pain for a lazy like me.

Another poo wood is zebrana.

My least favorite of all, however, is also one I turn alot. Figured red maple is soft, stable, etc. It also gives me sinisitis from the dust. I have tons of it but have to wear a respirator when I sand or I'm hurtin for days. Box elder does the same thing to me. Ah well, the price we pay.

Dietrich
 
Locust... doesn't smell bad but it's so hard the "shavings" come off like metal slivers. They stick to everything and if they get under your cuffs, collar or in your shoes they really hurt.
 
I haved learned to dislike any member of the rosewood family, makes me break out terribly. 🙁

I was given a lot of pecan that was sitting in a barn for over a decade drying, turns beautiful but is hard as concrete. Spend as much time sharpening tools as I do turning. 😎

Also got a large eucalyptus tree during the last hurricane- it stinks when green, shrinks and cracks worse than anything I have ever seen, and it harder than pecan when dry. :mad:

One last one- always heard about "piss oak" but never knew why they called it that, until I turned some. That was the worst smelling wood I ever had the displeasure of working with. 😱
 
definatly agree with jeff and bill. The Master I learned my trade from would
roll over while resting in peace I was always taught that the only thing red
oak was good for was FIREWOOD . I always counted my blessings that the only thing it was used for in historical buildings was the timber frame and that was it . Like you Bill I hate and never thought of a surcharge ;I just refussed the job if I coul not get them to change wood. I did turn some porch coulums once out of spannish ceader and I think I took about a dozen lemons in the shower with me, It really kicked up mama's asthma. It was also very diffacult to hold detail, but that was before I new about wetting the wood.
 
Canary! I have an allergic reaction to it no matter how well I protect myself from the dust. I think just touching my skin is enough to trigger it. It's beautiful but I now stay away from it.
 
Pepper wood

I saw a sign that said Free wood. I stopped and there were several sections cut from a tree on the ground. The tree was about 24 inches in diameter. I began to load the wood it's Free and all 😀. A person came out and helped me load my truck and I asked him what type of wood it was he said it is Pepper. Pepper I asked 😕 he said yes and picked up some little clusters of what appeared to be peppercorns. I noticed a spicy odor as I loaded the truck. I have not turned any yet. Any advice or comments on this wood?

Myrel
 
pepper tree

If it is like what I have been told in Fla (maintenance peop-le identified the wood for me) where I scavenged wood from beach clearing, it turned great. I had some large pieces that had yellowish heart wood with black stable cracks, and the rest of the wood was dark- redish. I have made lamps and bowls from it. In my 5 yearly trips to fla since, I helped clear the beach campsites!!! My sister collects the berries for xmas decor. Some people I believe are allergic-not me. Gretch
 
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