Cottonwood - worth milling?

[Ken Platt]

Folks -

I have to take down a fairly good sized Eastern cottonwood soon. It's about 2 feet diameter at chest height, and straight as an arrow with essentially no branches for 50 feet or so. So physically, a promising saw log. I get stuff milled on a friend's Woodmizer.

But, there's a lot of labor in hauling, stacking, and stickering, so I thought I'd seek opinions. I know it's not on a par with the sort of hardwoods we all covet like oak, cherry, etc, but is it useful? Shop projects, secondary wood, stuff like that? Is it useful at all for actual furniture?

I appreciate all input -

Ken

[Jesse Busenitz]

Can't speak from experience but It seems like it'd be close to basswood or poplar. It's really stringy.... I've seen a 4'+ tree 30' tall and no branches, and just wondered how many BF are in there....

[Mel Fulks]

Yeah,it's no good. Seen some movies where it was a used for hangin' horse theives . Check your local ordinances. Branches can get so full of berries that a big one can break off and kill you. Wear a hard hat when near them.

[Myk Rian]

The junk isn't even good for a fire.

[Wade Lippman]

The junk isn't even good for a fire.

If it was good for a fire, then it would be good for woodworking. For the most part; I love butternut, but it isn't worth burning.

[Kevin Jenness]

Best commercial use is probably for excelsior.

[Larry Copas]

I have a sawmill and have milled/dried a lot over the years. The bad is some boards will warp as they dry not unlike some other species, sometimes it will have the fuzzies when ran through a planer, and it stinks when cut. The good is you will get a lot of perfectly clear wide boards. I use it as a utility wood and much prefer it over pine. I have used some as closet shelving, utility shelves, fixed shelves in cabinets, all kind of cabinet parts that won't be seen like toe kicks on the back/sides. I sold a large quantity that the buyer used as paneling and it turned out to be attractive. A lot has went for siding on out buildings. I custom sawed a couple of large orders for subflooring when plywood/osb went through the roof after the first Iraq war.

If you can use it for something similar to what I described it will be well worth the money to get it sawed. If not pass as the wood will just end up taking space for years.

[Jim Finn]

A local interior shutter manufacturer here uses cottonwood and buys it by the train load. He has over an acre of it stacked,drying, outside his plant. I have used scraps from him to make toys. It is much like poplar and smells a bit when cut.

[Frank Drew]

I bought some once from a local sawyer and I wouldn't consider it as a primary wood but it worked fine as a secondary wood; ditto paint-grade. I had no problems with it and would compare it to bass wood; it's softer than poplar but not so soft that it's an issue in the appropriate application.

[Jim Andrew]

Would cottonwood be a good wood to use for drawers? I have a tree that blew down a few months ago, could cut some of it up. I have a neighbor who has an old building built entirely from cottonwood. Probably near 100 years old. still standing.

[Rich Riddle]

Would cottonwood be a good wood to use for drawers? I have a tree that blew down a few months ago, could cut some of it up. I have a neighbor who has an old building built entirely from cottonwood. Probably near 100 years old. still standing.That's up to you. If you choose to utilize it for that purpose, I would seal it well. It has a bit of an odor.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I used a huge stack of it for about half a mile of windbreaks for the cattle once. It was before I was a woodworker, but I remember it being a lot like poplar. It has help up well. This was 25 years ago, and it's all there still. We put it up untreated of course, boards were not in ground contact.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Historical note:

Building the Transcontinental Railroad was a logistics battle, in terms of materials. They used locally-sourced materials whenever possible. The Union-Pacific, when crossing the central states, used the only wood available for crossties - cottonwood. Until they hit the Black Hills where hardwood was available, down went the cottonwood. They tried to use hardwood at the rail joints, and in the center of each rail, but I'm not clear on how often they actually did this.

There was a treating process they used - "burnetizing" - which used a zinc chloride solution as a decay preservative - better than nothing, but not much. Did not improve structural characteristics, or the ability to hold fasteners.

The railroads made their money by miles completed, not by longevity. They knew the cottonwood would not last, but the incentive was to charge ahead, and rack up the miles.. Upon completion, they almost immediately started repair & replace on the ties........another source of $$$. All Hail Credit Mobilier, and the founding of one of the most admirable classes of govco-funded scoundrels!!!

I am not aware that this has any influence on the OP's intended use - just something I learned along the way...........

[Mel Fulks]

That is useful,Kent,as was the post about the blind slats ,since we all need to understand that even "traditionally used"
often just means cheapest most available stuff.

[russell dietrich]

Ken,
I don't know about the wood, but the bark of cottonwood is used by woodcarvers.
Russell

[Dave Cav]

I have a sawmill and have milled/dried a lot over the years. The bad is some boards will warp as they dry not unlike some other species, sometimes it will have the fuzzies when ran through a planer, and it stinks when cut. The good is you will get a lot of perfectly clear wide boards. I use it as a utility wood and much prefer it over pine. I have used some as closet shelving, utility shelves, fixed shelves in cabinets, all kind of cabinet parts that won't be seen like toe kicks on the back/sides. I sold a large quantity that the buyer used as paneling and it turned out to be attractive. A lot has went for siding on out buildings. I custom sawed a couple of large orders for subflooring when plywood/osb went through the roof after the first Iraq war.

If you can use it for something similar to what I described it will be well worth the money to get it sawed. If not pass as the wood will just end up taking space for years.

I think Larry has pretty much nailed it. A local sawmill cuts a lot of cottonwood because so much of it grows around here. It is worthless as firewood, but makes decent lumber within it's limits. The lower grades get used for pallet material, and the higher grades are sold as "west coast poplar". I have used several thousand B/F in my high school shop, but it's not my first choice, or even my second. Yes you can get some very large, clear boards out of it. It also has a lot of reaction wood and tends to close up on a saw blade when ripping, even when using a splitter. It can finish nicely, but is very soft, and doesn't take stain particularly well. It is terrible for turning. It is very light, and makes an excellent secondary wood for dust frames, drawer sides, and so on. It can fuzz a lot when sanded with lower grits and the surface can get torn up and be difficult to cleanly sand. If you can get it sawn for little or nothing it will give you some useful lumber for general utility use.

[Ken Platt]

Thanks folks. I will be taking down a few other trees at the same time, so I'll be having other stuff milled as well. There's always a need for secondary woods around my home, and since I'll be milling anyhow, the added cost is minimal.

Also, as I looked around on the net for info, it seems that it's usable for windsor chair seats. I have an "order" for a set of 6 windsor chairs, so I'll mill some 2" thick for that.

Ken