Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Lilac Wood
kevin French, Antrim NH
>I found an old foundation in the woods today. It had the largest pieces of old lilac I've every seen, some of it was 5-6" across. It died a long time ago but is still solid. The trucks also have long twists in it.
Is this wood good for anything? Turnings?
Re: Lilac Wood
Luke Herzberg
>Hey Kevin, I had an old gnarled lilac that I cut down a year or more ago. I figured it would be neat to cut some small boards from it, maybe make a tiny box. I let it sit for a couple months and tried sawing into it, found it still soaking wet and within a day the single "board" I cut curled up like a tired old hound dog.
I've still got the piece laying about...might try cutting into it again in another couple years. The wood turned very yellow as it dried. I have no idea what it might look like when finished.
- Luke
Re: Lilac Wood
Bob Hackett
>Lilac can be a very good wood for turning and for treen such as the wooden spoons we`ve been seeing lately.I`ve also seen spokeshaves made from it.
It`s very tight grained and has a cream colored sapwood and a tan/grey heartwood that around here usually has purple streaking thru it.
The down side is that it`s very unstable and the only way I`ve found so far to keep it from self destructing is to halve it and then coat all surfaces with Anchorseal(a wax emulsion end grain sealer).
If you work it green and live with the distortion or are lucky enough to have it dry in any size I`m sure it`ll become a favorite wood.
Good luck with it!
Mainely,Bob
PS-I was lucky enough to salvage a bowl blank big enough to turn a Japanese tea bowl.It remains one of my favorite pieces,a real joy to turn.I remember the shavings smelled like iced tea mix.
Re: Lilac Wood
steve knight
>I smoked some meat with it and it was great.
Re: Lilac Wood
kevin French, Antrim NH
>This stuff has been dead a long time
Re: Lilac Wood
Bob Hackett
>You could then expect it to be spalted to some degree making the wood that more incredible(but harder to work).
What`s keeping you,other than the monsoon season we`re currently experiencing?
Mainely,Bob
Re: Lilac Wood
kevin French, Antrim NH
>1. Yes the Monsoon (Thou we found it in the Monsoon, Haul in one's another story. also see #4 below)
2. It's a 1/2 mile in the woods and you can't get there from here 'cept on foot, and there's a heap of it. (Means more than two trips at two pieces/trip)
3. Headed out-O-town this weekend. (North and West to see if there's an end to the rain)
4. Been there for quite some time now, don't reck'n it's gon'a go too far, too fast.
5. We'll see how the Black Flies are next week.