Laburnum is one of the nicest decorative trees for turning It has a very
dark center and a yellow outer layer. Wonderful close grained wood but hard
to find. Some of my best looking pieces came from the nastiest looking
scraps Amazing how the coloring in the grain changes from being wet and
dried multiple times under various types of junk. Madrone and manzanita
root can be very interesting too.
"Jim" wrote in message
oups.com...
Martin, you aren't kidding. I stopped by the saw mill & bought $102
worth of wood yesterday. I don't do it too often & the pile this time
was depressingly small. Locally, we get nice cherry, oak, poplar &
maple. Got a couple of boards of each just to put in the shop & let it
sit for when I need it.

Lately, I've mostly been turning green wood - found wood. I like that
price a LOT better. G We have some neat local woods that never make
the sawmill; osage orange, dogwood, beech & sycamore. There are also
some neat exotics like the japanese sampora that a woman had cut out of
her back yard last year. I'm starting to cut a few of my own boards.
I don't really have the room for even a portable sawmill & drying shed,
so I doubt I'll get into it too much, but besides being a lot of fun,
working with these other woods is very interesting. Also keeps my
wallet from hiding in a dark corner & whining. G

Jim