What to do with Willow

[Dave Pugh]

I have a guy coming in to cut down a big willow tree that is right next to my house. Not sure what type of willow tree it is, but the main branches are fairly thick. I do not have the means to mill the tree into lumber myself, but could probably work a thick branch or part of the trunk down, and use it to make something small. I am just now getting into wood working. What are some things that can be done with willow? I think I heard someone say it was a black willow tree. Is it possible to take a hunk of the wood and carve out a basic bowl? Small little table by using a band saw to cut firewood sized pieces into boards and joining them for the top? Would require a lathe I don't yet have to make small legs from the main branches. Any other little projects? Is it worth keeping some of the cut tree?

[Tom Hamilton]

Dave, the folks on the turning forum responded to your question as follows: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?147203-Anyone-turned-Willow&highlight=
The short story is: good for turning.

Merry Christmas, Tom

[Cody Colston]

Black Willow is beautiful when green but loses some of the color when it dries. It is also unnaturally light when dry. It's very stringy when green and will clog the gullets on a bandsaw blade.
In short, it's not worth messing with IMHO.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Willows and cottonwoods have long fibers that are good for paper but not really for lumber. They tend to warp easily and not have much figure to them or strength.

[Chris Fournier]

Willow is the wood of choice for violin family blocking and linings and can fetch a decent $ if well sawn and dried. I have sold plenty of it for this use in the past. You must break out the log quickly as it degrades rapidly.

[george wilson]

Chris,I was going to mention that Strads have willow blocks in the points of their body shapes. We had to make our first projects out of willow when I first got into school shop. It was featureless and soft. Not a wood I'd want to work today.

[Chris Fournier]

Yeah I agree George, it's not much fun to work but the Strad faithful often seem to insist on it. I found the powdery saw dust to be a real irritant.

[Brian Tymchak]

Interesting question. I googled up Black Willow and found these tidbits

on forestry.about.com:

The numerous uses of the wood of this and other willows is furniture doors, millwork, barrels and boxes.

on ostermiller.org:

Light and flexible willow wood is used for wicker-work furniture and basket. It does not split when nailes. Before the discovery of plastics, toys were made from willow. Artificial limbs, packing cases and some furniture parts are also willow products. Its warm brown tones and attractive grain make it a beautiful paneling wood.
WRT using branch wood, generally, branch wood is avoided by woodworkers as the internal stress grown into the wood is released when cutting. Branch wood even after final milling can continue to release stress and distort. I suspect this would be especially true for fast growing trees, such as willow. I've had ash trunk wood "wig out" on me and bind up my TS blade as I cut it. I suspect that willow branch could be very "lively" when cut.

[george wilson]

Barrels? Maybe "White cooperage",meaning nail kegs,or other barrels that don't have liquid in them. Maybe I'm wrong about that,though. White oak is used for kegs that will hold fermenting liquids like beer,because of the pressure they build up.

[Brian Tymchak]

I just paste it as I cut it... ;)

Yea, I gave that second take when I read it too.

[Lee Schierer]

It makes a good fire for cooking hot dogs and roasting marshmallows......,:D

[Tom Hargrove]

I have not used willow for turning, but have used it as a secondary wood. The willow I used was kiln dried, and was quite stable. It was bland in color. Since it was a secondary wood, it did not get any stain or other "color." The thing I remember most about it is how bad it smelled when it was being machined.

[Danny Hamsley]

Most branch wood is poor for woodworking because of tension wood formation in the branch. I would focus on the main trunk and not waste much time with the branch wood.

[Mark Ashmeade]

Cricket bats. The best cricket bats are made of willow.