Sugar Gum?

4/5/04, 1:33 AM #1

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine
Guest

Sugar Gum?

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Daughter comes home tonight with a girl friend of hers (did that come out right?) and guess what? She brought me WOOD!! Yeah, can you believe it?! Seems her friends Dad cut down a large Sugar Gum yesterday, and she brought me home 2 large chunks of it, and her friend said that her Dad said that if I wanted more of it to come and get it!

Now than, being a displaced Yankee that I am, I have no clue about these Southern woods. What can ya' all tell me about Sugar Gum?

Todd O.

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/5/04, 3:15 AM #2

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK
Guest

Re: How about sweet gum?

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK

>

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/5/04, 2:19 PM #3

Bob Nelson
Guest

Re: How about sweet gum?

Bob Nelson

>If you plug both "sweet gum" and "sugar gum" into Google, you get listings for what appear to be completely different trees. Bob

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/5/04, 6:07 PM #4

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK
Guest

Re: Sweetgum...is a

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK

>southern tree with star shaped leaves. Sap wood is creme in color with darked heartwood. Quarter-sawn lumber has some interesting flecks, so your turnings could have some interesting grain design. Sweetgum is notious for NOT being stable so expect some movement. Turn some and decide for yourself.

Enjoy,

Dale

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/6/04, 1:04 AM #5

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine
Guest

Re: Sweetgum...is a

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Told a guy at school today that I had gotton some Sugar gum and he laughed his head off. He told me that it must be Sweet gum. I found a leaf, and it is not star shaped, but is more elongated with a point on the top. Was going to saw a chunk of it off tonight, but didn't get to it, and now Wrasslin' is coming on, so I'm done WW for the day.

Todd O.

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/6/04, 1:37 PM #6

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK
Guest

Re: Wellll.....

Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK

>Either you got a leaf that that not typical, or could it be it's not really sweetgum? Anyway, enjoy the wood, the price is right. If knowing the wood species is of great importance send me a sample and I'll take a stab at it....Dale

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/6/04, 11:14 PM #7

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine
Guest

Re: Wellll.....

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Naw Dale, I don't think it's all that important. I just like to know what woods I used in a project so I can answer the inevidable question of "What kind of wood is this". Bob Nelson suggested a Google search, which I am going to do soon. I had a tree identifing site book marked once, but I can't find it now. I might of deleted it, but I think it'll be easy enough to find again. Thanks for the offer tho.

Todd O.

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/7/04, 12:12 AM #8

Jack from Maine
Guest

Re: Wellll.....

Jack from Maine

>Just tell people who ask that it is Mystery Wood.---Crackerjack

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/7/04, 3:06 AM #9

Bill Houghton
Master Craftsman
Offline
8,480 posts

Registered: 1/1/70

Better

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>is to tell them that it's Florida Hornbeam, a species hardly known outside its neighborhood, and then blather on for as long as you can get away with (watch for the eyes glazing over - this is your cue to stop).

Slightly OT, but we used to tell people our dog (Newfoundland/Malamute mix, and the sweetest dog that ever was) was a Sonoma County Gopherhound. Some of them believed us.

Re: Sugar Gum?

4/7/04, 4:55 AM #10

Cliff in Kanman2
Guest

Re: Sugar Gum?

Cliff in Kanman2

>I have a row of sugar gums alongside my house.

Of course I do live on the opposite side of the globe. Over here sugar gum is a straight grained eucalypt with a pale creamy/yellow colour. Quite hard but nowhere near as durable as something like red gum or jarrah.

Cheers,

Cliff

Sugar Gum?

Posts