Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Opinions on Hackberry Wood
Brett Sherwood - Richmond, IN
>Hi, I'm new and this is my first post. Does anyone have any opinion, good or bad about Hackberry Wood? I just turned a pepper mill out of some "road find" small logs of it and was impressed with the grain.
Funny smell...
steve antonucci
>The smell was a turn off initially, but I got used to it.
Two kinds of hackberry: spalted and really spalted. The spalted kind turn and sands easily. I turned a bunch of it last year, and I'd do it again.
Steve
Re: Opinions on Hackberry Wood
Chuck Ludwigsen
>I like it. It turns well and has a nice light coloring.
Chuck.
Re: Opinions on Hackberry Wood
John Lucas
>Brett
I have a log that is spalting as we speak. I love spalted Hackberry. I seal one end and put the other end on the ground. They usually spalt quite readily.
Re: Opinions on Hackberry Wood
Phil Joines Krum, Texas
>John,
How long do you let them sit? Seems like there is a fairly narrow window between nice and completly gray.
Re: Opinions on Hackberry Wood
Gary Evans
>Phil,
I had some hackberry pieces that laid out for nearly two years without going completely gray. This is in East TN, a fairly moist environment. Hackberry is one of my favorite woods because of the ease of spalting.
I had a hackberry log sawed one summer. The boards were flat-stacked for exactly one day before I got them on stickers. They had already started to color. Fortunately, I got them dry quickly enough to stop the process. I expect them to make some really pretty paneling as soon as I get around to it.
GE
Re: Opinions on Hackberry Wood
keith zimmerman, Normal, IL
>Hackberry is one of my favorite woods, especially spalted. It turns a lovely gray-brown color that, I think, is spectacular when finished with Minwax Tung Oil Finish, then buffed. The grain and surface variations are also magnificent. The wood turns quite easily and takes a finish quite well. I have turned several end grain weedpots and all turned out beautiful.
keithz