Ailanthus tree of heaven

[kevin nee]

Hello, I have an opportunity to get some Ailanthus tree of heaven Burl.
I have never heard of it and my Google searches don't give me much.
Any one have experience with this stuff. I have plenty of wood so I don't
want to get wood just to get wood. But I would hate to miss out on some.
spectacular material. Any info would be appreciated. Kevin

[Darryl Hansen]

It turns easily but seems to spalt quickly if you leave it out in the elements. I think this was the "Tree that Grows In Brooklyn" story. It is an import.

[John Thorson]

Not a very pleasant tree it seems...
http://forestry.about.com/od/silviculture/p/ailanthus.htm

[Michael Kellough]

It grows very fast and the wood is very soft.
I've never tried to do anything with it.
Just trimming branches emits an odor I find offensive.

[John Keeton]

It is an invasive species, and as noted, is very soft. I have never seen a burl on one, but it might be interesting.

[Frank Drew]

Kevin,

Ailanthus is essentially a weed tree but a local sawmill operator gave me a small board once and the wood is surprisingly attractive (it looks rather like ash) and isn't a soft as its lowly status might suggest. I've never noticed a burl on one, but then I never pay the trees much attention. By their nature, burls can be very interesting, so if someone is pretty much giving you this, take it and see what you've got.

[Roger Chandler]

I have seen some wonderful bowls and such made from Ailanthus.........it was planted here in the valley well over a century ago because the tree was needed for some type of catapillar that was useful...........there is a lot of it here in Virginia. Our former club president has turned a good bit of it.......some of what he acquired was big enough to turn some 12 + inch bowls..........the wood has a light creamy color and one of his bowls had some burl eyes and swirling grain in it........it was a beauty for sure!

[Bob Hamilton]

Hi:
As has been said, Ailanthus looks quite a bit like ash but is quite a bit softer and lighter in weight. There is often a quite distinctive yellow line where the sapwood and heartwood meet. It turns quite well and finishes fine. I did have some black mold appear on some of my drying roughouts that seemed to go very deep into the wood so I was unable to get rid of it during final turning, but that may have been a problem with my drying methods since it was one of the first woods that I obtained green and did as twice turned bowls.

Here are a couple of photos:

Shallow bowl from top (~12" diameter)

http://www.bobhamswwing.com/justpics/new%20pics/ailanthus1.jpg


Shallow bowl from bottom

http://www.bobhamswwing.com/justpics/new%20pics/ailanthus2.jpg

Profile view

http://www.bobhamswwing.com/justpics/new%20pics/ailanthus3.jpg

And this one had both a drying crack and some rather unattractive black speckling due to mold (~13" diameter):

http://www.bobhamswwing.com/justpics/images3/100_8917.JPG


Take care
Bob

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Older thread on Ailanthus, here.

I hope this works better :o

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?96677-Ailanthus-bowl

This is from the only burl I have ever seen on Ailanthus, wasn’t impressed with it, however the regular wood is nice to turn and good looking IMO, smell is less appealing but disappears when dry.

288515 288516288517

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I found some pictures of Ailanthus burl and added them to my previous reply, hope you will find it helpful.