Pistachio wood

[Don McClure]

A friend gave me some newly cut pistachio wood from an ornamental tree they took down. It is not a native to upstate South Carolina, so I have never turned it before. Does anyone have experience and or advice for turning it.

[Thomas Canfield]

I have a trunk section (6-9"D x 6'L) that has been on my woodpile for about a year and looking for answers also. Too many other projects got in line first to try.

[Dan Forman]

Pistachio | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwoods) (http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/pistachio/)

Looks interesting. I think some luthiers use it for guitar fingerboards, so I would expect it to be hard and long wearing.

Dan

[Ryan Mooney]

Love it, I picked up a blank from my cousin who had a cut several pallets of it for fingerboards and had saved some of the offcuts for bowls. I've only turned the one piece but it was really nice wood to turn.

I twice turned it and the second turning was really pleasant, cut nicely (especially for how hard it is) and took a great finish quite easily compared to a lot of woods (kind of like really nice walnut).

The piece I had was at a graft line and had a ton of nifty colors as well.

Well worth using is my $0.02.

[Barry Richardson]

I recently rough turned a bowl from my first piece of Chinese Pistache, which I'm thinking might be what you have since you said ornamental. Turned great, but it was green, I've had it drying in a box for a few weeks so I went and took a look at how it was doing. No cracking, so I doubt if it will at this point, already seems pretty dry, but it turned oval pretty significantly, hopefully I left enough meat on it. So my only advice so far is leave yourself plenty of thickness on the roughout. Mine had a lot of sapwood, which might have made it move more. The heartwood is a pretty streaked green.