Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Strange Wood
Dick Hines
>A friend gave a short log with cypress looking bark. When I ripped it with the chain saw the inside was kind of Cat yellow. I turned a bowl last night, to stupid to post picture, and it truns great. There is no noticeable smell. We think it is some kind on Camaecyparis. That is in the cypress family.
Anyone have any experance with this. He said he had more so looks like I will get some more. Want to turn a hollow form with the next piece.
Re: Strange Wood
William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey
>What part of the world does the tree come from? If the wood has no odor, it is very unlikely that it is a Chamaecyparis. This genus includes Altantic White-Cedar, which grows in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S, very near the coast, and Port-Orford-Cedar and Alsaska-Cedar, which grow on the Northwest coast of North America. Do you have any leaves or cones? "Bark like cypress" doesn't help much either, since there are so many different trees called "cypress" with very distinctive bark patterns and colors.
Re: Strange Wood
Dick Hines
>Well I don't think it'd cedar because there is no cedar native to the US. What is called red cedar is really a juniper.
The tree was already cut in the logs when my friend got it. No tops. He does bonsai and is really into trees and bushes so I will go with chamaecyparis until I get a better idea.
I have never seen the other woods so I am not sure. All I know is he is going to give me more. That's all that is important iI guess.
Thanks for the ideas though. If I get it pined down I will postanswer.
Re: Strange Wood
William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey
>East coast or West coast?
I have a bit of experience with AWC, Chamaecyparis thyoides, and have used it for deck and hull planking, and my house is clapboarded in it (has been since 1720 or thereabouts), and there is a specimen growing in the back yard. For a softwood, it should be amenable to turning, but it is very light weight and soft, and the figure is subdued, to say the least. At least, unlike DF and SYP, there is much less demarcation between early and latewood. More importantly, it just doesn't have the fortitude of something like yew, or the rich color and figure of redwood burl.
Re: Strange Wood
Gary Evans
>Dick,
I also would like to know what part of the country the wood came from. It might be Osage Orange. I have see it in Alabama with a Caterpillar yellow color when first cut.
GE