Chinese Tallow Wood

[Breck Whitworth]

I recently had the privedge of finding a treasure inside of wood I never dreamed would be so beautiful. These bowls are all made from the same Chinese Tallow tree. I never would have believed that so much variation could be found in this one tree. It is commonly called a pop corn tree down here in MS. It is considered an invasive species that was brought here from China in the 1700's. They made furniture and soap from it. I was running out of turning wood when this blessing came to me hidden inside wood I almost didn't give a second thought about. To those of you who may have the opportunity to turn some of this wood please go for it. It is a hidden treasure worth looking for. All of my bowls from this wood were turned completely green from the chainsaw to the finished product in a few hours each. Hope you like the wood as much I do.231958231959231960231961

[John Keeton]

Really interesting in that the heartwood appears so light and the sapwood so dark - usually the opposite. Nice work, and you are right - beautiful wood!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Wow - that is some really cool looking wood! Love the color contrast! I am guessing - seeing as how you turned it to finish size from green wood - that the wood does not move much when drying? Sounds something that would be highly desirable in turning!

[Dennis Ford]

Nice looking work and the wood is good too.
I have made some goblets from small branch size pieces of Chinese Tallow but they did not have any of the color this has. Will have to look for some larger pieces.

[Tom Winship]

The bowl in picture 3, I would name Appaloosa Pony. Beautiful wood.

[Steve Vaughan]

That's really wild! Well, I mean beautiful! Would love to get my hands on some of that stuff...does it just grow that far south?

[Bernie Weishapl]

Breck that is some beautiful wood and really like the bowls.

[Michelle Rich]

I luv the last bowl on right

[Breck Whitworth]

Steve this wood is a close grained wood, but on a couple of pieces I did get more movement than I wanted. Probably because I left too much of the pith in or took too long from start to finish including sanding too long, creating too much heat. The technique I use works on most woods provided human error is eliminated. I recently finished a 14" x 6" sweetgum bowl and it has done extremely well. A very slight oval appearance has been the only movement. It sold after three weeks. But I will agree that Chinese Tallow wood is good wood for green turning. If I spend more than 3 hours in the total time from the start to the end where I apply the first coat of finish I can have a problem. I sand to about 400 grit on green turnings, 600 on dry.
Thanks for all the comments and critiques they are always welcome!