>I've just returned from a trip to my "wood-source". Got 3 trunks ~10-12 inch diameter and 4 ft long of black cherry. Then I picked up several 3-4" diameter 1 ft long pieces of what the logger thought was hophornbeam (aka Eastern hornbeam). Anyway, I've found tons of info on the wood and seen loads of bark pics on the web but would love to see a cross-section pic of the stuff to see if that is really what I've got - sorry, I don't have a digital camera or I could post mine. The sapwood is cream colored and the heartwood is a green/brown/yellow/touch of reddish. Haven't turned it yet but it does seem really hard...anyone have any pics of, or comments on, hophornbeam?
>Fine turning stock.Cuts and finishes easily.It`s used extensively up here in Maine for tool handles.I`ve made quite afew handles for large framing chisels from hornbeam so I can safely say that it holds up to abuse from both mallets and hammers(not that I would ever use a hammer on a wood chisel).
>HI Shawn, I've got hornbeam and hop-hornbeam growing nearby. Hornbeam bark appears "muscular" with a grey tint, hop-hornbeam bark is scaly and brownish. They are heavy and dense, related to birch. They were popular for tool handles and the soles of wooden planes.
Eastern Hophornbeam, commonly known as "Ironwood" in its range (and "hardack" here in VT) is a real nice turning wood, though seldom seen with trunk diameters over 10 - 12 inches (6-8 is far more common). It turns beautifully, both end-grain and side-grain, can take as much detail as you can turn into it, and can be sanded to a very smooth surface because it is so fine grained. It is a very nice wood for turned boxes, though it is slow drying, so rough out blanks a little thick, put them in bags, and dry them slowly until summer. Very pleasant to turn green, but very hard wood when dry. This is probably the closest thing we have to French Boxwood as far as turning quality goes here in the Northeast USA, though not as pale in color (Lilac is also a woderful wood, maybe even better, but even smaller and more prone to checking than E. Hop-Hornbeam).
The bark is pretty thin, and has a very regular, small rectangular scale pattern -- about 1/2" wide and about 2" to 3" long, usually raised away from the trunk slightly at each end. When you rub the tree bark, you'll get little scaly pieces shedding off into the snow. This wood does tend to end check, so be sure to coat any cut ends with some sort of end grain sealer, or even melted paraffin wax.
Keep an eye out for small root burls, and curly figure where the trees bend -- they tend to grow with twisted, sinewy shapes, and there can be nice rippled figure where the tree twists and bends.
Love to send along a photo, buy my camera is still missing ...
