Madrone?

[Clint Baxter]

Questions for those familiar with Madrone.

Was talking to my sister yesterday and she informed me of all the madrone firewood she recently acquired. We discussed the possibility of having her send some to me.

Is Madrone bad for checking? Is it worth the effort to get some for turning? Anything that would be nice to know about turning Madrone?

Evidently she has some huge cedar trees and says there are a lot of big leaf maples there as well, (she lives on San Juan Island in Puget Sound.)

I'm thinking of making up a shopping list for her but would like any input on where we should focus our efforts.

Thanks, Clint

[John Altberg]

Clint,

Madrone is "worth the effort". Like most woods, it will check if not sealed on the ends. When turned wet, it will practically move before your eyes, so do everything you want in one session. It is extremely dense with tight grain. Starts out creamy yellow and darkens down quite a bit with exposure to light. Takes a great tool finish and sands down to a buttery soft feel. I have recently turned some that was quite dry. Turned quite nicely with very sharp tools and high speed.

My father lives on Orcas Island, so I get some of the wood every time we visit. Met a turner there who ONLY turns madrone. He makes very thin bowls turned wet, then lets them warp as they want.

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Clint.....there is a member here....can't remember his real name but uses "robo hippy" as a nickname....IIRC he turns Madrone almost exclusively.

I did a search.....Reed Gray is the guy's name. If he doesn't respond to the thread, you might PM him.

[Clint Baxter]

Ken, IIRC, that would be Reed Gray. Hoping to hear him chime in here. Suspected he would be a good one for info on Madrone.

Clint

[Don Alexander]

imay be in the minority, but i haven't found any wood yet that isn't good to turn, just some are more fun than others :D

[James Combs]

imay be in the minority, but i haven't found any wood yet that isn't good to turn, just some are more fun than others :D


Ditto Don.

[bob svoboda]

Don't know about Madrone, don't care much for Western Red Cedar, but absolutely love Big Leaf Maple-get all you can haul!

[brian watts]

i just post on boiling it sat.. i boil it before turning it and it help ALOT ..you ar ea lucky person if you can get it for free

[Ralph Lindberg]

Is it green/wet or dry?

Dry is, well, not fun to turn and often can split. Madrone has a lot of stress in the wood, which is why we tend to boil green/wet wood.

We are due to get a shipment of raw (green/wet) Madrone burl late next month, looking forward to it.

[Rob Mathis]

I grew up in Western Washington. Southern Puget Sound
Madron grows like a weed there. You can cut it and next year it will be sprouting runners from the cut off part of the stump. It is fairly easy to work when green but it gets very hard as it dries. We use to use it as fire wood. It burns great and very hot. It is easy to find it in 2ft diameter. The bad thing or good thing about it is I do not think I have ever seen a piece that is straight.