As a new turner I would avoid the oak, difficult to turn and not many
turners like it, and the cottonwood, it is very soft. The others are all
nice to turn. If you get any silver maple put it in a plastic bag for 30 to
90 days in a shaded place and you will get some nice, albeit soft, nicely
spalted wood. Hackberry also spalts nice, just leave it outside in the
shade and roll the log once a month.
Tony Manella
ndd1"at"prolog.net (remove "at")
http://home.ptd.net/~ndd1/
Lehigh Valley Woodturners

wrote in message
ups.com...
Living in the rural midwest I have many oppotunities to collect newly
fallen timber. My question is given this selection of timber what's my
best selection and what should I just stay away from. BTW, I'm very
new to turning!

-Terry

Elm
Oak
Sugar Maple
Silver Maple
CottonWood
Osage Orange
Locus
Hackberry
Mulberry