Do you turn wood you cannot identify?

Tom Baugues

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I found this tree limb laying out on a country road. The area had recently been cleared of all the trees and were hauled away. This limb was mostly rotten but I picked it up and brought it home anyway. Now that I have my new Grizzly band saw I decided to cut into this limb to see what it looked like. About 3/4 of it was still solid wood and looked very pretty. Lots of grain...kind of red-ish looking. I cut some of it up into 1 inch pen blanks. The giant black ants (I hope they were just ants) went everywhere as I cut into it and found cavities where they were living. As I cut this up it got me to thinking....Even if I made something really beautiful from this wood the first thing someone is going to ask is...."What kind of wood is that"? Now I would guess that most of you either know what kind of wood you have or can recognize it by its bark or leaves from the tree. However if you do not know what it is.....do you turn it anyway? Now...my wood may end up being simple oak (by looking at the grain) but I really have no idea.
So my question is....If you don't know what it is...do you turn it anyway?

Tom
 
I could present photos of the wood that I have but that really was not the reason for my post. It was just a question about what you would do if you don't know what kind of wood you have.

Tom
 
Some call it dunnowood (dunno what it is), others call it unkwood (unknown)! :D

If it' comes out good -- keep it; if not, call it practice and dump it.
 
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I think that it is absolutely dangerous to turn wood that you cannot identify-

My reason is - what if this wood turns out to be the most beautiful wood in the world and wins many prizes in all of the shows that you enter it in and you do not even know it name.

You will now search for the rest of your life for MORE of this wood and it is beyond your reach -- can you imagine the anguish that your life will be because of this piece found wood from the road? You may even turn to drink to coverup the frustration and loose your job, wife, kids, dogs. You will become homeless and living in hobo camps. All because of this lost limb from the road.:D
paul
 
I think that it is absolutely dangerous to turn wood that you cannot identify-

My reason is - what if this wood turns out to be the most beautiful wood in the world and wins many prizes in all of the shows that you enter it in and you do not even know it name.

You will now search for the rest of your life for MORE of this wood and it is beyond your reach -- can you imagine the anguish that your life will be because of this piece found wood from the road? You may even turn to drink to coverup the frustration and loose your job, wife, kids, dogs. You will become homeless and living in hobo camps. All because of this lost limb from the road.:D
paul



Paul...this is what I was thinking...now...I don't expect to turn any prize winning pieces anytime soon but this is what got me thinking....what if?

Chuck...I like the idea of "FOGWOOD". I might have to go with that.
 
Paul...this is what I was thinking...now...I don't expect to turn any prize winning pieces anytime soon but this is what got me thinking....what if?

Chuck...I like the idea of "FOGWOOD". I might have to go with that.

The only problem with identifying it as Fogwood is that the public is ignorant enough about wood. Someone possibly actually think it is a real name. IMHO I think if you identify it, you should think about just saying you don't know.
 
To answer your question. Yes, I believe most of us do. But one should also use caution to avoid messing with things like poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, etc.
Otherwise, go fer it.
 
Yes I have turned FOG and FIG wood as I am wood illiterate!!!! I do write on each known piece with a sharpie marker. But I do turn wood I find while cutting firewood if it looks interesting.
 
Tom this subject of identifying wood drove me crazy when i first arrived in this part of the world. I wanted to be able to recognise wood when it was in the cut form so i bought this book amongst others from Lee Valley.

Real neat to understand the annual rings and be able to trace it back to the species. No fancy equipment needed just a sharp knife or chisel and a sliver of end grain and depending on your eyes a magnifying glass.

Lost of pictures in the book among other info.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=32448&cat=1,46096,46127&ap=1

This all started after i picked up a large log on the side of the road. Wood I eventually determined was Elder. Boy it sure drove me crazy before i got this book.

But i have to tell you its not the definitive guide. Still came across an exotic wood like Osage Orange and did not know what it was. Thats when the forum came to my aid.:D:thumb:
 
If it looks good (not punky or rotten) and especially if it is free turn it. I have turned a lot of wood that I got free and had no idea but if it turns it is done. Oh and by the way I also call it dunno wood.
 
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Do yerself a favor, don't turn any mystery vines. Especially those that have 3 leaves hanging off the side of them. :D I have turned grape vine and the wood does have an interesting grain. There are a few other noxious woods around the country and I did recently pass up some sumac at the side of a road because I couldn't be sure it wasn't poison sumac. That nasty stuff can have 10 times the irritant as poison ivy. I have heard that Japan has a tree that is used to make the black lacquer that has maybe 100 times the concentration of urushiol. (the stuff that irritates the skin)
 
Arriving late to the party

Shoot, most of the wood I've turn is found on the side of the road or given to me. After a while I got to know the local varieties and got pretty good at spotting the stuff I really liked to turn (versus the stuff I didn't)

I would suggest getting a copy of the National Audubon Society's "Field Guide To Trees - Eastern Region". This book contains pictured of the leaves, bark, berries/seed pods (fruit) of just about any tree in the eastern part of the US. It's really quite helpful to have and is a good reference.
 
Most of the time I've been fortunate enough to know what the wood I've turned is. However, should I run across a piece and not know what it is, well it really makes no difference to me. If it will spin round, then I'm happy. There have been a couple of times I didn't know what the wood was that I had just turned. Once the product was completed I really liked it and sure wished I knew what it was so that I could get some more.
 
Roughly 3/4 of the wood I turn is (Ihac I I haven't a clue). I have recently started having to buy wood:( to keep up with commissions) but in the 2 years I have been turning I have bought 4 pieces. My wood comes from hedges, prunings, people's cast offs, old furniture, freecycle and so on. Sometimes I am lucky and I can identify it but as often as not by the time it gets to the lathe I haven't a clue. I admit this and say so. Only thing to be aware of is that if you make things that are for food use make sure you do know what it is as some woods can be toxic. A yew soup bowl is not a good idea.

Pete
 
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