The last couple of days I have been playing around with some yaupon holly. It
is pretty small in diameter (6-8 inches max), but it turns very well. I trimmed
some yaupon's for a friend last fall and kept a couple of larger trunks. Left
the bark on and let them dry in an a/c shop. Very little checking. The wood
is close grained, fairly hard and smooth as a baby's butt when sanded to 220.
The skew leaves an excellent surface that only needs minor sanding.

I have used yaupon for tent stakes for heavy canvas tents for over 25 years. It
is superior to locust and oak for splitting when being beaten on by a 4 pound
steel hammer. Yaupon is a type of holly and light in color. It would make nice
chess pieces because of the light color. I wish it grew larger. I am going to
use the rest that I have to replace some bench chisel handles and see how they
hold up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_vomitoria

Regards,
Roy


On Sat, 20 Jul 2013 00:14:06 -0400, asdfasdf wrote:

I need to turn the nozzle of a rocket engine...

here is a picture...

http://www.stevepinker.com/North-Ame...9081&k=Bbmvkvg

or

http://tinyurl.com/kbwbk2g


It is going to be about 3" diameter and 4" long. It won't be
incredibly detailed but the ribs should show. It will be
hollowed out a bit but the wall thickness will be much greater
than the picture. I need a wood that will turn easy without
tear out and should be cheap. The grain is not important as
it will be painted. Any recommendations?