I just turned a piece of plum wood. Picked it out of a friend's wood pile.
Heartwood didn't split, sapwood split horrendously. This was after it sat
in my basement for a year.
"Owen Lowe" wrote in message
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In article ,
"Bob Darrah" wrote:

I want to turn some plum that a friend gave me. It is a piece off the
bottom
of the tree just below where it split into two sections of the tree. It
is
2X2X1 1/2 feet in size. I want to cut small piece for boxes. Can I rough
turn and then boil or microwave until dry. I know the process, not the
wood
though. Is one better than the other for plum?

Beautiful! I've had a few opportunities turning plum and the greatest
success with boiling for an hour to 90 minutes. The wood has also
retained it's reddish-purply and not muddied.

(I think the size of the tree you got is a NW thing. The plum I've
turned has been similarly large.)

--
"To know the world intimately is the beginning of caring."
-- Ann Hayman Zwinger