Ever turn Catalpa?

[Bob Rotche]

I have an arborist friend who likes to drop the occasional unusual trunk section on my driveway and challenge me to figure out what it is. Last one yielded 2 very nice, large (12-14") bowl blanks but he stumped me on what type of wood it was. Ran into him yesterday and turns out it is Catalpa. Looking forward to giving it a spin but just curious if anyone has experience with this.

[charlie knighton]

no, but it not around virginia unless it has been transplanted, i believe a lot of florida turners can give you some insight

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Bob,
Catalpa is the only wood I know that shrinks so evenly that you can cut a slab across the trunk and let it try and it won't even check. I don't turn it but I made someone a rustic coffee table out of a 2" thick slab. That was 20 years ago and it is still prefect.
faust

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned a couple of pieces. It dries nicely and turns ok.

[Roger Chandler]

Bob........catalpa [also known as the "cigar tree"] can make some pretty projects. Sanding can be a challenge at times, but it can make a very nice turning and as mentioned it is generally very stable and lightweight when dry. Here is a hollow form I made from it with a walnut collar..........just so you can see its potential.

238708

[Reed Gray]

The smell drives me crazy. Almost sweet to the point of making me sick. Could be an allergic reaction. It can have nice color, but when dry, it feels too light, as in not heavy enough.

robo hippy

[Jamie Donaldson]

Just turned a NE catalpa bowl this past weekend, a crotch with some moisture remaining. The smell is not too bad, but sanding is a gummy mess that clogs paper very quickly!.

[Bob Rotche]

Thanks all for the info- the wealth of experience on this forum is amazing!

[phil harold]

Bob........catalpa [also known as the "cigar tree"]
Cigar tree have not heard anyone else use that term in ages.
As kids we called it a the Lady Cigar Tree

[Roger Chandler]

Cigar tree have not heard anyone else use that term in ages.
As kids we called it a the Lady Cigar Tree

Phil.........as kids [way back when :D] we called it the "monkey cigar tree" I suppose because like a monkey one had to climb the tree to get one of the cigars [seed pods]

[Rick Markham]

Monkey cigars is what we always called them too Roger.

[Roger Chandler]

Just to add some info........when I was a kid, there were numerous catalpa trees around......some very large, and there still are many large ones around in this part of Virginia where I now live. The hollow form I pictured above is from a very large on we cut up nearly two years ago............it was about 36" in diameter at the middle of the trunk.......lets me know the tree had some age on it.

[Robert Henrickson]

My father, now 92 and grew up in Rhode Island, called catalpa "Indian cigar tree".

[Bob Coates]

If you turn it wet, wipe it off the lathe bed or any place the turnings land on cast iron, it will rust immediately. You can turn a bowl etc either down the center with the pith(shows great grain) or cut the pith out turn like most other woods. The trimmer that I got mine from took a 5" limb and cut a 3/8 disk, and said it would not check so the first one I turned was down the pith and about 16 x 7. Finished in oil
Bob

[charlie knighton]

anybody got a picture of a tree, i must have spent a sheltered youth, seems i would have run into it with the boyscouts.......

[Robert Henrickson]

Just google, or go to Wiki. I had one in my front yard in Washington DC, and it's all over central Kentucky

[Bob Rotche]

Too bad I didn't learn about its stability before I cut it into traditional bowl blanks with the pith removed! Would have loved to try a full circumference end grain platter or bowl. Oh well, maybe next time.

[Bob Bergstrom]

My father, now 92 and grew up in Rhode Island, called catalpa "Indian cigar tree".
Indian cigars here on the south side of Chicago also. Never smoked one, but sure pulled the seeds out of the pods enough times