View Full Version : Black Cherry
David Peterson
06-14-2010, 11:34 AM
I recently cut down a stand of Black Cherry trees on my property. These were all pretty young trees, the largest measuring around 3"-5" diameter. The trunks were all pin straight and knot free but I don't know if such small trees would be any good for turning. I'm not a bowl turner but I do enjoy making handles and such for my various chisels along with the occasional spindle for furniture repair. I've cut up and sealed a couple dozen good size pieces as an experiment but I thought one of you could tell me if it's worth the wait to use this stuff.
John Keeton
06-14-2010, 11:38 AM
David, you would need to avoid the pith, and you would want to avoid the sapwood for handles. So, with a 5" piece, your usable wood is going to be somewhere around an inch or so, and the grain direction would be such that you may experience a lot of shrinkage and distortion. In any event, I think for chisel handles a harder and more durable wood may be in order.
Just my thoughts.
David Peterson
06-14-2010, 12:16 PM
Thanks for the quick reply John. I suspected something like that although I'm pretty new to the idea of working with "wood in the wild" as my lumber source. Pith and sapwood are familiar to me but I need more education about the parts of a tree that are more suitable for woodworking.
I would love to use some of my own trees to start with. Of course I have more mature trees, mostly maple and cherry, but before I get that ambitious I'm gonna need a bigger saw (or, more probably, the phone number of a good lumberjack).
charlie knighton
06-14-2010, 12:17 PM
handles and such for my various chisels
try big dogwood
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