What to do with camphor laurel?

[Alex]

Some days ago I got some nice pieces of Camphor laurel and I don't know how to preserv them of cracking. I aplied some sealant but anyhow cracks are becoming more obvious. By the way, I haven't seen this kind of timber before and I don't know how good is for turning or carving and as well segmenting with other timbers.:confused:

Any suggestion will be appreciated

Regards to all

[DarrylF]

You need to seal the end grain of the timber - you can buy a sealer that does the job nicely from Trend Timbers, but at least paint them.

Camphor laurel turns well and comes up nicely - but the smell, which is quite pleasant when finished, can be seriously overpowering when turning. I rarely suffer from allergies or anything, and I have really trouble turning it. Respirator time :)

[ptc]

wonderfull stuff. left a shed full of it when i left Queensland for tassy, but must admit always turned it dry,
might practice on the huon stuff.

[Alex]

Thank you

I like smell but not dust (of course)

I'll wait a while to see how things dry, as I don't like cracks as anyone else, but my "cheef cook" is desperate to see finished things as soon as posible. She has to wait. At least in the workshop my word is last :D

[Don Nethercott]

Camphor Laurel is a great wood for turning. The grain can be very distinctive, but apparently varies from area to area. I've been told it is almost white down south and gets better as you go north. I live in the Northern Rivers and the grain is fantastic - however it can be overbearing if you have too much of it.

Regards splitting - cut your timber into round blanks on the bandsaw, then seal the end grain (ie around the outside - not the flat ends or it will never dry).

I use 90-95% paraffin wax (I get paraffin pellets from the craft supplies shop, the blocks of paraffin, if you can get them, are apparently impossible to cut into usable chunks) and 5-10% bees wax. The bees wax keeps the dried wax flexible so that it doesn't crack.

Get an old electric frypan from a garage sale and melt the mixture in that. When hot carefully roll the blank in the liquid wax and set aside to dry.

Store for 6 to 12 months in a cool dry shady spot.

Have fun.

PS If you ever get to the Northern Rivers there are huge trees everywhere here and it is a declared noxious weed.