My first turning from Sassafras

[Roger Chandler]

I have not had any turning time in about 3 weeks.....tonight I thought I would try to get a little in....better than watching the dog & pony show called the State of the Union address.......but I digress! :rolleyes:

I have this piece of sassafras that Mike Cruz gave me at a DAMP Wood Society gathering in December......it had to be cut in half to remove the pith because it had begun to crack already. This left a pretty small piece of wood that was not suitable for many forms......so I needed a quick fix, and a small bowl was the order of the evening!

This one is 5.25" wide, and 1-7/8" tall......I made a little foot for lift, and put a flared out side on it....I was not going for an ogee, just a flareout, so even though it looks similar, it is not a true ogee curve. The aroma of the sassafras is unique, and I decided to wear my Trend air helment when I remembered some folks have a sensitivity to this wood.

The grain reminds me a little of the way catalpa looks......it has a good bit of chatoyance as well.....reflective of the light even when it was turning on the lathe.

Pardon the little blue area on the rim...:mad:...my shop has some shadows in the evening, and when I was doing a knock back on the WTFinish with micro mesh pads, the blue one evidently left a bit of color behind..:eek:..I did not see this till I took pics :o...I will have to take this back after the finish cures and repair that!

Comments always welcome!

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[Harry Robinette]

Roger
That sassafras sure makes the shop smell good.Did one last year I think 22" biggest piece of Sassafras I ever saw. How did you like turning it I thought it turned really nice and it sanded better then most woods.

[Roger Chandler]

Roger
That sassafras sure makes the shop smell good.Did one last year I think 22" biggest piece of Sassafras I ever saw. How did you like turning it I thought it turned really nice and it sanded better then most woods.

I agree Harry.......nice aroma and it did sand up nicely........cut easy as well.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Really nice bowl Roger. I love turning sassafras. Sands and finishes well. Sure does smell good while turning.

[Justin Stephen]

I learned how to turn mostly from a bowl turning class I took with Mark Supik a few years ago. One of the bowls I turned in that class was green sassafras and I'll never forget the smell. I remember taking the still wet bowl home to my wife and telling her to smell it. Sadly, that has been the one and only time I have had a piece of it on a lathe.

[Roger Chandler]

Thanks Bernie and Stephen. I have 3 more pieces of this sassafras .....one is bigger and two are close to the same size as this one.......with the grain pattern being tight ringed like it is, I would like to do a hollow form, but I am not sure if the largest piece I have will accommodate it, but I think it would look good if I could get it oriented where the grain runs at a bit of a diagonal .......lets hope I can get it that way!

[Prashun Patel]

Did it smell like rootbeer? I only have skinny sassafras around me. Waiting to find a larger one I can turn!!! Lucky dawg.
Nice bowl; enjoy following your work. You haven't asked for C&C, but I'll offer mine since this is a form I struggle with and I might learn something from others' responses to this:

I find the flare at slight odds with the bottom curve. My eye wants the bottom to take off quicker from the base or for the top flare to be less straight and shorter. Anyone else?

[Roger Chandler]

Did it smell like rootbeer? I only have skinny sassafras around me. Waiting to find a larger one I can turn!!! Lucky dawg.
Nice bowl; enjoy following your work. You haven't asked for C&C, but I'll offer mine since this is a form I struggle with and I might learn something from others' responses to this:

I find the flare at slight odds with the bottom curve. My eye wants the bottom to take off quicker from the base or for the top flare to be less straight and shorter. Anyone else?

Pretty good eye, there Prashun.......;) ......you need to know this about why the shape is the way it is.....this piece of sassafras was smallish, as I mentioned in the initial post........I wanted to get as much depth and volume as I could with this, so if I had done what you mentioned, it would have lessened how much the bowl would hold as to contents.

I could have easily made it a more pleasing curve, or a true ogee [as I had contemplated] but being it was as shallow a piece as it is [only 1-7/8 inches] I widened out the bottom and left off with the style choice. I hope that makes sense to you :D ........that was my thought process when I was doing the turning.

As to the aroma.......you asked if it smelled like rootbeer?.......to me it has a pungent, yet pleasing smell......and yes it does have similarities to some sassafras drinks or rootbeers......only of course not as refined......a hint perhaps.....it smells like some drinks I have tasted, if that made sense? :confused: I guess there is a connection between our olfactory senses and our taste buds!

[charlie knighton]

nicely done Roger, sassafras is soft and looks good

[Chip Sutherland]

Good looking bowl. Looks like the sassafras I turned. I have found chatoyance in several pieces. Not much just enough to excite me a little. I'm not crazy about the smell and I still have one piece left but it's been sitting for a couple of years now. Maybe it has seasoned some.

[Roger Chandler]

Good looking bowl. Looks like the sassafras I turned. I have found chatoyance in several pieces. Not much just enough to excite me a little. I'm not crazy about the smell and I still have one piece left but it's been sitting for a couple of years now. Maybe it has seasoned some.

Was it local wood to you there in Texas, Chip? I wonder what the native range of the tree species is.....any idea?

[Chip Sutherland]

Yes is was local wood harvested from east Texas near Mineola several years ago. We didn't know what the wood was until we ID'd it from the grain, bark and leaves. Although we had a pretty good idea when the chainsaw made the first cut.

[Jason Ritchie]

Nice looking bowl Roger! Love the grain pattern. I also like how you did the bottom of the bowl. I have never turned sassafras before but maybe I will come across some one day.

[Roger Chandler]

Nice looking bowl Roger! Love the grain pattern. I also like how you did the bottom of the bowl. I have never turned sassafras before but maybe I will come across some one day.

Thanks Jason!