Turning Beech

[Dietrich Floeter]

I turned a 12" bowl of beech today and repaired two serious cracks in the process. Before I bagged it in shavings the rather thin rim had already split an inch or so. My question is this: Is beech even a remotely good wood to turn? Or will this wood always split and destroy itself? Am I beating my head against a tree? thanks

[daryl moses]

I have a lot of Beech on my property so I do turn quite a bit of it. I've had mixed results turning it green. Some turnings if turned thin split almost as soon as I take it off the lathe, some never split. Of course they all warp to some extent.
Here of late I rough turn all my bowls leaving the rims thick and use Robo Hippies idea of wrapping them in plastic wrap and letting them dry for several months. So far this has worked great!!
I've also noticed that you can return them to the lathe after being wrapped while they are still somewhat "green" and have had very little warpage and no splits.

[Dietrich Floeter]

Thanks Daryl, I have another large hunk taken from the 28" trunk and will take another whack at it.

[robert baccus]

Beech is known for its moving habits--even after seasoning. In industry it is usually used for small turnings, handles ect. You will probably never see a piece used in furniture. A good strong, heavy wood. European beech is a different animal. Makes good wedges and great glueblocks as it is difficult to split.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Dietrich I have turned quite a few Beech bowls and vases with very little splitting problems, I use the brown paper bag to dry my bowls in a slow fashion, done this for many many years, it works good for me.

Beech shrinks about the most of native hardwood, right after Rock Elm and about as much as Hickory, to accommodate that you have to give the wood the time to change it’s shape, so slow drying is required for it not to split.

Here are a few of the pieces of Beech I have turned, both thin and thicker, so yes it can be turned with good results, just give it time to dry slow.

Turning at slower speeds might also help as well as using a sprayer to squirt some water on the piece keeping it wet till you are done with it, sand after it has dried would have you be able to stick the piece in the empty brown paper bag quicker with less of the quick drying that happens on the lathe.

314689 314690 314691 314692 314693 314688 314687 314694

[robert baccus]

No fair Leo--I think you could turn concrete and make it look easy.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

No fair Leo--I think you could turn concrete and make it look easy.

Robert thanks for your thought :), but, Beech is a nice turning wood, just that a lot of people don’t like it much, finding it bland and then also have problems with drying it, I think at first glance it is not an exciting looking wood, close-up it shows those little flecks, and as it is a denser wood it does finish rather well, the drying is up there with some of the fruit woods, but if taking care they can be dried rather well consistently IMO.

[Dietrich Floeter]

Leo, your work is astounding. I see where I need to go with my techniques, keeping it wet and work faster. On to the next chunk.