Thread: Box Elder?
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BillinDetroit BillinDetroit is offline
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Default Box Elder?

rjdankert wrote:
Hello, My first post here. I have been reading here for awhile. Also
other sites and the library. Bouoght my first lathe this winter
(mini). I have turned a few things - tool handles etc. but no bowls.
I have some logs (9-11 in. dia 16-20 in. long) and I' like to try
some bowls. I live in SW Michigan. The logs came from a tree that a
friend had cut down this spring. The person that cut the tree said it
was a box elder. A few days ago I took the bark off of one piece then
split it with a wedge down the middle. I then took one of the halves
and cut two sides off with the bandsaw. The result is he

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10171074@N02/

1.) Is this wood box elder? I did a fair amount for research on the
web. My understanding is that the heartwood should be a cream color.
The heartwood on this piece is a golden color and there are no red
streeks. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the tree's leaves.

2.) If not box elder what else might it be and what might it be used
for?

3.) The piece that I cut will be cut for two bowl blanks that I am
going to try to turn in the next few days. At this point I don't know
what I'm going to do with the rest. What is the best way to keep
these if I decide I might want to make something from this wood? I
don't know what or when.

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.

Bob



I'm thinking you have an all American chunk of slippery elm. Take a cut.
If it stinks like a horses behind, that's what it is.

Ignore the smell ... the wood has tightly interlocked grain that looks
REALLY great when you turn shallow curves into it (think platter with
shallow sides rather than popcorn bowl). The grain will remind you of
the pattern of feathers on a partridge breast.

I've used oil with polyurethane over it to good effect.

Bill


--
I'm not not at the above address.
http://nmwoodworks.com


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