Turkish Hazel?

[Olaf Vogel]

Across the road from me a tree is getting cut down. According to the arborists, its a Turkish Hazel, one of the biggest they've seen in the city. its about 24" diameter 80' tall. Has anyone tried this before? Is it any good for turning? Just wondering if I should "claim" it.

Its funny....about a year ago I decided to try turning green wood. But living in a major city, I wondered where I'd get wood. Doh!
Well my neighborhood is about 100 years old, so there's a ton of old trees. When one gets marked to be cut, I just stick on a sign asking for the wood.
Most of the time that guys are REALLY cooperative. And a 20 or a few beers helps too.

Of course, now its all piling up under the porch....good thing its winter and I can focus on turning....
:)

Olaf

[Jamie Donaldson]

I've turned lots of different woods over the years Olaf, but have not before heard of Turkish Hazel? Grab some and show us what it looks like, and remember that if you can't turn it, you can burn it! Or at least someone you know might have a functioning fireplace.

[Dale Miner]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corylus_colurna

If this link is a violation of the TOS, please delete.

[David E Keller]

Looks like it's somewhat related to birch or hornbeam... I think of both of those as being readily turnable. When I think birch, I think spalt, so maybe you could set aside a piece or two and see what the fungus can do with it. I hope you'll share your experiences once you've given it a spin!

[Olaf Vogel]

Well I did manage to score some really nice pieces. The arbourists were great and cut the trunk almost exactly as I'd asked.
Luckily I'd just bought a dolly because they are back breakers. There's still a couple of too big to move and at 9 pm, I didn't want to offend the neighbors with chainsaw noise.

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Will try to get to these on the weekend