Tree of Heaven or

Re: Tree of Heaven or

Rob Bourgeois, NW Mississippi

>I have the tree in my back yard. Depends on how close the tree is, I guess, since I have pine that is within 10-12 feet of the tree. Both of them are about 50 to 60 feet tall and the trunks are about 18 inch for the Tree of heaven and 24 for the pine.

Dont ever plant this thing. It send up millions of seedlings and thousands of root shoots that will become little trees is given a chance. The tree has a funky smell to it when its alive so it could smell when turned. Its doesnt even burn well.

I didnt plant it but the previous owners did. IF it wasnt for the shade that it provided it would be gone.

Re: Tree of Heaven or

Jon Arno

>Darryl, Ailanthus is certainly no angel as a living tree...and it contains some pretty potent extractives. Both it and some of its Southeast Asian relatives are used in the making of incense and also various folk medicines.

The wood has a moderately foul smell...and I suspect it could be an allergen for some woodworkers, but it's not highly toxic. In fact, Ailanthus and several of its relatives are popular low cost cabinetwoods in the Orient.

The species that is now running wild here in North America is Ailanthus altissima and it produces a yellowish blond wood that is relatively soft...about as dense as tulip poplar or aspen...but with a ring-porous figure similar to ash. I've only used it a couple of times for making small decorative items and while I've never turned it, it's shaping characteristics suggest to me that it probably would turn pretty well.

Re: Tree of Heaven or

John Lucas

>I've turned a lot of Christmas ornament balls from Alanthis. I realized right from the start that the side grain was going to be pretty boring so I turned the balls so they were relatively flat. this left a lot of end grain showing on the top and bottom and the rings really show. I dyed them red or green or yellow. This made the rings show off even better. People really seemed to like them. It turned easily and hollowed easily.

This was my first experience hollowing through the pith since I was using a small limb section. I've turned quite a few different woods through the pith now.