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 irratation and respiratory problems.

Any comments?

Tom

If sycamore is the same as a buttonwood tree, which I think it is, the
tree with the always shedding bark, big leaves I have turned it a lot
recently. It turns like a dream green, has a nice peach color with many
red specks and is a pleasure to work with. The bowls I have turned have
very little warping (with the exception of a very paper thin one I
turned) and no checking problems. I think you'll enjoy it. Also, no
heath problems associated with it by myself but I do always wear a dust
mask. Happy turnin'


STEMO

Tom,

The sycamore I turned was very prone to warping. Nevertheless, I
really liked it and am keeping my eyes open for more.

Disclaimer, what I got was fresh cut from someone's front yard and it
had huge growth rings from constant lawn watering and feeding. It had
the most shrinkage toward the center of the tree and less to the
outside. A ten percent wall thickness for roughing a hollow form was
entirely inadequate.

As Sycamore is closely related to maple I would not worry too much
about toxicity, just use common sense protection.

David

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 irratation and respiratory problems.

Any comments?

Tom

Hi, I'm still new to turning, but American sycamore is the only thing I've
turned so far. I came across a downed tree late this summer and cut it into
useable turning chunks/firewood. I will say after several hours
chainsawing, I got a rash on my arms, and down my side similar to poison
ivy, just not as bad. No respiratory problems noticed. I have
handled/turned the wood since I cut it up without any rashes. As far as
turning, I thought it was fairly easy green, but, as stated, I'm new to
turning and have nothing to compare it to. Hope this helps! -dave





"Tom Jones" wrote in message
...

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 irratation and respiratory problems.

Any comments?

Tom

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 irratation and respiratory problems.


American Sycamore (Platanus Occidentalis, aka Planetree) is a good turning
wood. In the UK, it is called maple (but is unrelated to what we call maple
(Acer)) and used extensively for treen. Sycamore has the unique quality of
being able to handle repeated saturations with water and not check. That's
why it is used so often for wooden spoons. I don't know if it was used to
make buttons, but its water qualities would mean you could leave the buttons
attached when washing shirts. Like Stemo says, it turns very well when
green. Dan

Well, maybe not. See Acer pseudoplatanus.

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T465.HTM

Platanus occidentalis, as noted is the American "sycamore," though I imagine
it's like our robin, named after the British Isles type by homesick
settlers. The "button" in buttonwood that I know comes from the shape of
the seeds.

If you like Latin binomial nomenclature, look up the American robin....

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
news:24old.27582$V41.10702@attbi_s52...
American Sycamore (Platanus Occidentalis, aka Planetree) is a good turning
wood. In the UK, it is called maple (but is unrelated to what we call
maple
(Acer)) and used extensively for treen. Sycamore has the unique quality of
being able to handle repeated saturations with water and not check. That's
why it is used so often for wooden spoons. I don't know if it was used to
make buttons, but its water qualities would mean you could leave the
buttons
attached when washing shirts. Like Stemo says, it turns very well when
green. Dan

Well, maybe not. See Acer pseudoplatanus.

Interesting. I wonder how common that tree is? No wonder the settlers were
confused. Apparently, botanists agree from their use of 'pseudo' on the
name. Dan


http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T465.HTM

Platanus occidentalis, as noted is the American "sycamore," though I
imagine
it's like our robin, named after the British Isles type by homesick
settlers. The "button" in buttonwood that I know comes from the shape of
the seeds.

If you like Latin binomial nomenclature, look up the American robin....

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
news:24old.27582$V41.10702@attbi_s52...
American Sycamore (Platanus Occidentalis, aka Planetree) is a good
turning
wood. In the UK, it is called maple (but is unrelated to what we call
maple
(Acer)) and used extensively for treen. Sycamore has the unique quality
of
being able to handle repeated saturations with water and not check.
That's
why it is used so often for wooden spoons. I don't know if it was used
to
make buttons, but its water qualities would mean you could leave the
buttons
attached when washing shirts. Like Stemo says, it turns very well when
green. Dan

Did you look up the robin? Kids always loved that genus.

"Dan Bollinger" wrote in message
news:gTGnd.120690$HA.30466@attbi_s01...
Well, maybe not. See Acer pseudoplatanus.

Interesting. I wonder how common that tree is? No wonder the settlers were
confused. Apparently, botanists agree from their use of 'pseudo' on the
name. Dan

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

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