Best White-ish Timber for turning

[ec0411]

Hello guys

I'm trying to get a somewhat large chess table done including the pieces, and I'm wondering on the timber I should use for the white pieces. I' probably goingto use red mahogany on the other side.

Could you guys recommend me some white-ish timber suitable for turning?

Thanks guys

[dai sensei]

Best white timber is good quality Holly from the US (but does grow here to). Next would be Norfolk Island Hibiscus or Bonewood from Aus, but vary rare. Then there are the light timbers, Silver Ash & Jacaranda to name a few. Visit you local timber merchants and see what they have.

[Phily]

I cut down some holly recently and have played around drying it in the microwave. Takes a while but the results have been pretty good with the timber settling to a creamy white colour - very nice. Its also enjoyable to turn!

[The Bleeder]

You could try Poplar. The stuff I have is white...hasn't darkened over the last 8 years.

[Cliff Rogers]

white beech

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gmelina_leichhardtii
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=white+beech&biw=1280&bih=911&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qrXnVNbrFee5mAXBjYGQDQ&ved=0CCgQsAQ

[tea lady]

White maple is nice. And also hard enough to turn quite thin.

[DaveTTC]

Privot turns beautiful, is plentiful and white. I was just mucking around with some 6 months ago and it struck me as being a pawn shape when i had finished.

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

[tree lopper]

Privot turns beautiful, is plentiful and white. I was just mucking around with some 6 months ago and it struck me as being a pawn shape when i had finished.

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

A couple of species of privet are DAFF declared weeds in Qld, and classified as one sort of undesirable tree or another in other states as well. Do everyone a favour and make wood out of those trees.

[DaveTTC]

I think the privot i had was one such variety. It was from southern Sydney

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

[MAPLEMAN]

Paulownia would work well...easy to turn and one the most stable timbers on the planet...MM:2tsup:

[smiife]

Depending where you live I think!
Around here... northern nsw, jacaranda is
always available

[Toymaker Len]

Pittosporum is a nice common weed with nearly white wood.

[whitewood]

Paulownia would work well...easy to turn and one the most stable timbers on the planet...MM:2tsup:

Nice to see someone else recognizing the attributes of Paulownia. Most posts have bagged it because it's soft but it has it good and bad characteristics like any timber.

Whitewood

[jcge]

Privot turns beautiful, is plentiful and white. I was just mucking around with some 6 months ago and it struck me as being a pawn shape when i had finished.

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Dave - I have often wondered if privet would make a good substitute for box (buxus) - is it dense and what type of finish did you achieve?

John

[jcge]

Pittosporum is a nice common weed with nearly white wood.

Len - I have the same questions about Pittosporum as Privet - is it dense , fine grained and does it finish well?

John

[rustynail]

Len - I have the same questions about Pittosporum as Privet - is it dense , fine grained and does it finish well?

John
It ticks all those boxes. Holly is better but Pittosporum makes a good alternative.

[DaveTTC]

Dave - I have often wondered if privet would make a good substitute for box (buxus) - is it dense and what type of finish did you achieve?

John

John - It looks like it would finish quite well. It has a hard dense feel about it and turns like butter.

You need to understand before you look at my pics that I am extremely fussy with my timber and go to long lengths to make sure it dries out well and evenly. There is a lot of talk about sealers, painting the ends, stable drying environment etc.

This privot I picked up around Christmas 2013 and I stuck it under the bed in my Mazda 3000 bus (sleeping on bed) It was in the bus during the summer heat till I returned home about a week later. Prior to my retrieval it had been sitting in a 6 x 4 trailer for a week or two.

Upon getting home I dragged it out of the bus onto the road-base dark gravel drive where it stayed for the next 8 - 10 weeks throughout a hot inland summer. It got regular shade from about 5 pm till about 9am the following day.

Once the summer was over I dragged it down the drive to the shade of a white cedar. It happened to be a section that was rather damp and would collect rain water after a fall as half the house empties there.

After it was allowed to season for about 7 months I then decided to use some for practice pieces. Some of these were spiral candle sticks and this one below was a practice mill shape

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/22/6c95cc4d5f0eabf8847670a56c9e7fb1.jpg

You may notice two pale shades ... no not sap wood and heart wood as you can see I turned close to the centre of the branch. Not sure why the two colours.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/22/04c6e62cf48bb1653d4a91035139b87a.jpg

Like all my work I take great care to look after it and keep it in top form for future refference. Please ignore the imbedded gravel from where the kids have been pounding the drive and the scratches from where they have used it playing on the concrete.

If you really wont to know how some glow looks on it I guess I could treat the piece to a few seconds on the lathe, a wipe of emery paper & a drop of finish.


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

[jcge]

Rustynail - thanks for the feedback on Pittosporum. (And the recommendation for holly)

DaveTTC - seems like you have let all of your drying secrets out of the bag ...:U. Thanks for the pics - the last shot shows the turning across the heart to look pretty tight.

Regards,
John

[MAPLEMAN]

Nice to see someone else recognizing the attributes of Paulownia. Most posts have bagged it because it's soft but it has it good and bad characteristics like any timber.

WhitewoodCheers Whitewood...why people would bag this stuff beggars belief.It is remarkably stable,shows little tangential or radial movement during seasoning,consistent color and grain,has beautiful figure ,dresses,turns and carves brilliantly,borers don't seem to like it,readily takes a stain of color and YES,it is light,BUTso is Red Cedar!!Vastly underestimated.A very versatile timber this one....MM:2tsup: