Ever turn hickory or beach?

[Rob]

Friend at work says he fell a few trees. Might go get some.

 

[DaveO]

Beach might be really abrasive on your tools, as I remember from Boy Scout canoeing..."sand is an abrasive"
That said I have turned Beech and it turns very well. In general the harder the wood the better it turns IMO. Hickory might give you some trouble with it's interlocking grain, but that's nothing a 60 grit gouge can fix.
Free turning wood is the best kind of turning wood, no matter what kinda wood it is.

Dave

 

[MrAudio815]

Hey Rob,

I agree with DaveO and Beach may be hard to on a faceplate and I am sure it would get everywhere. :grin:


I have turned a Beech pen a cigar kit. It turned very well, and was easy to sand. The sand paper marks come out easily, which is nice. Beech wood, is cool, especially if it's spalted.

And I have some Hickory, but haven't turned it yet. I have turned some Pecan, which is in the same family if I am correct. The pecan was very similar to the beech. It turned well, sanded well, it was green and I finished it and it did move, but I like it, it's unusual.

I'll turn some of that Hickory in the next week or so and post about it.

Have fun with it Rob.

 

[walnutjerry]

I have turned hickory---------turns pretty good green, did not have any trouble when remounting it after drying. Moves a lot it seemed like so leave it a little heavier if you want to true it up after drying.

Jerry

 

[CarvedTones]

And I have some Hickory, but haven't turned it yet. I have turned some Pecan, which is in the same family if I am correct. The pecan was very similar to the beech. It turned well, sanded well, it was green and I finished it and it did move, but I like it, it's unusual.

Some sources don't even differentiate between hickory and pecan. Technically speaking, I think pecan is a hickory with an edible nut (maybe I should say more widely appreciated; pignut hickory isn't poison). I just started carving a wood spirit on a seasoned pecan walking staff last night. The tools are barely winning the battle, so you definitely want to at least rough the bowls while it is wet.

 

[Woodman2k]

I'll second what Jerry and most everybody else has said.The Beech turns real nice green and when dry will be tough to turn.It would also make a real nice benchtop if you could mill some.As far as the Hickory goes ,turn it oversize and green.When it drys it does some serious distorting.I've got some football shaped platters that I cannot remount because even the recess warped badly.But it is gorgeous wood.Have fun with it.
Greg

 

[flyrod444]

I've tiurned both and like hickory. It moves more than most woods as it dries, but dosn't check or crack bad. Beach turns well green, but out of 5 green roughed out bowls my students and I turned, not one dried with out splitting so bad that we didn't even bother to return them. I did finish one platter out of it. It started out around 14" in dia. and ended up around 10" when I got all the cracks turned out of it. If you can cut some 4" slabs out of the beach and let them dry for a few years it makes a great wooden mallet.
Jack

 

[Rob]

I believe, but not sure, that these trees were felled last year. I'll have to check.

So I guess turning beach is bad, but turning beech is good. Give me a break, I'm the product of the public school system.