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Jon Nuckles
03-31-2011, 1:45 PM
A local tree cutter gave me this wood, which I think he said was honey locust. The log is the crotch piece below and to the left of the mulberry piece on the top of the pile. As you can see from the rough outs, the heartwood is rather orange and the sapwood is creamy. The heartwood is very hard. It is really wet and smells sour (a little like vomit, frankly) when you turn it. It leaves a wet residue on the lathe bed that is very hard to clean off, despite the fact that I had just waxed it.

Can anyone confirm this is honey locust or tell me what it is? If you can identify it, can you tell me if it dries and finishes well (i.e., is it worth messing with when I have plenty of other wood to turn)? The piece on the lathe is intended to be a hollow form, but it has quite a few knots that look like they are going to cause problems as they dry (it is in a plastic bag right now because I didn't have time to finish rough turning it yesterday). I coated/filled them with CA glue, but I don't have high hopes of saving this one.
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Steve Vaughan
03-31-2011, 5:08 PM
That top piece on the pile looks like the honey locust I rough turned. The first piece and one on the lathe look very similar too. But, all mine was clear, so on that lathe shot, I don't have any knots to go by. I do know this, I rough turned a bunch, and soaked in dna for hours to over night. Once I pulled them out of dna, I put them in paper grocery bags, along with the wet shavings. About a month later, maybe 6 weeks, I pulled them out of the bags to just wrap in newspaper. All of them were darkened with mold/mildew...badly. I gave 'em all a wash of bleach/water before I wrapped them in newspaper.

Cody Colston
03-31-2011, 9:18 PM
The Honey Locust I've seen had thorns all over the trunk. Maybe that's Black Locust you have.

David Helm
03-31-2011, 11:08 PM
Black locust also has thorns. I have numerous BL trees on my property and they can be a pain

Jon Nuckles
03-31-2011, 11:54 PM
Thanks for the responses, guys. I wrapped the natural edge piece in paper and left the center open to the inside; I'll keep an eye on it for mold growth. I was learning the ins and outs of my new monster system using the piece pictured on the lathe and thinned it out too much to keep. I learned that the laser doesn't help when you are in a hurry and don't watch what you are doing! No big loss, as the knots were starting to crack even while I hollowed. I'll definitely try something a bit softer for my next practice with the monster -- I went through 7 or 8 sharp cutters before getting too deep. Whatever it is, it is the hardest green wood I have turned so far.