In article ,
Tom Jones wrote:

I found a fresh cut pile of american sycamore recently, and was planning
to use it for some practice turning green wood. I see sycamore trees in
my area all the time, but am not overly experienced with the wood. I
know it's a hard wood, and from what I've read, it's frequently used for
furniture, so I assume it's a long, straight grained wood that should
turn nicely.

So, I was wondering if any of you have experience turning sycamore? I'm
mostly concerned with health issues; I read that the seeds from sycamore
can cause skin irritation and respiratory problems.

Any comments?

Tom

Just so happens that I brought back to florida from illinois a large
batch of sycamore for turning as over the years had seen numerous items
turned from the stuff. I wrapped most of up in plastic to cure until
next year. Don't know if that is the correct way to do but i've had
success with other wood doing this. Save back a piece for some green
wood turning and experienced mild skin irritation but nothing severe.
The wood seemed to turn well but fractures severely. Be careful that the
piece doesn't break in half while turning. After I turned down a piece I
un-clamped it from between the headstock and the live center and it fell
into two pieces. Fractured completely through the piece. Don't know if
this is indicative of all sycamore or just the piece I'm working with. I
hope this is some help

--
To reply drop "spam" from the email address

"woodturning" The ability to turn useful material to sawdust

Floyd "Who"