Tight-grained species options?

[Glen Blanchard]

I am looking for a domestic, tight grained wood similar to maple or cherry. The blanks will be turned into hollow vessels. Would sassafras be a good substitute? Any other suggestions other than cherry?

[Bob Bouis]

Bradford pear is tight grained and widely available. It turns well, cuts easily, and is fairly hard (though not as hard as pear wood is often claimed to be, at least as far as I can tell). It's light colored when freshly cut but takes on a nice reddish brown color with oil and time.

[Roger Chandler]

Bradford Pear can make good hollow vessels, but be aware that wet BP will move significantly! It needs a good bit of time to move, and will crack if not dried slowly. Roughing out can help, so you might need to mist the turning while doing the rough out stage, then seal with anchorseal, and bag it. Put in a location where the humidity and temperature are fairly consistent.

[John K Jordan]

I am looking for a domestic, tight grained wood similar to maple or cherry. The blanks will be turned into hollow vessels. Would sassafras be a good substitute? Any other suggestions other than cherry?

Glen,

What does "tight grained" mean - diffuse porous, very fine pores, smooth texture?
What does "similar to maple and cherry" mean? Just the fine, diffuse porous grain or also weight, color?

You might mention your size requirements - "will be turned into hollow vessels" could mean any size. Lots of great fine-grained domestic wood is not typically available in large sizes. And will you turn green or dry? Will the pieces be dyed or painted?

Sassafras, at least what is in abundance here, is not what I would call tight-grained wood - it is ring porous and fairly coarse. It does turn nicely, is light weight, and finishes fine.

Dogwood is my favorite heavy, fine-grained domestic wood but finding it in large sizes is difficult and it is not usually available commercially. It warps even more than the bradford pear mentioned. Holly is wonderful to turn, very fine grained. I like persimmon - hard, heavy, but not particularly fine grain. If color is not an issue and light weight is OK, I love turning eastern red cedar - fine grain, finished beautifully.

ERC
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Yellow (tulip) poplar has fine grain and is available in big sizes. I have y.poplar trees on my property that are over 3' in diameter. Some people don't like to turn it but I think it is great. Dries easily, is relatively stable, takes stain well. I used a big air dried block to make this Beads of Courage container:

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But if you want something similar to maple or cherry I'm curious why you don't want maple or cherry.

JKJ

[Glen Blanchard]

Glen,

What does "tight grained" mean - diffuse porous, very fine pores, smooth texture?
What does "similar to maple and cherry" mean? Just the fine, diffuse porous grain or also weight, color?
JKJ

My inquiry has nothing to do with color. Maple and cherry (the two species I work most with) both have a very smooth texture with very little open pores. It is this characteristic that I am after. 100% of the wood I use is purchased. I was hoping to find a slightly more economical alternative to the blanks I usually purchase.

[Aaron Craven]

If you're looking for economical and smooth textured, I suppose Poplar could be an option. Not the most exciting of woods and I wouldn't normally compare it to maple or cherry, but in this case...

Or if you want to go the the extreme end of "economical" there's always pine.

[Bob Bouis]

It's hard to get more economical than free for the taking, which was why I suggested bradford pear. You probably won't find it in a lumber yard, though.

[Glen Blanchard]

If you're looking for economical and smooth textured, I suppose Poplar could be an option. Not the most exciting of woods and I wouldn't normally compare it to maple or cherry, but in this case...

Or if you want to go the the extreme end of "economical" there's always pine.

Pine! Well I suppose I don't need to be THAT economical! I've thought about poplar. Although I have worked with it, I have never turned it though. Many of these pieces will be painted, so the wood itself does not need to be attractive.

[Aaron Craven]

Pine! Well I suppose I don't need to be THAT economical! I've thought about poplar. Although I have worked with it, I have never turned it though. Many of these pieces will be painted, so the wood itself does not need to be attractive.

I got some Poplar from a friend several years back who was cutting down a tree. I made a couple of popcorn bowls out of it (unfortunately a lot of my blanks did not survive until I could rough turn them and they split pretty badly). It turns nicely for the most part. A little more prone to tear out than cherry; not sure if I'd say it's worse than soft maple. Keep your tools sharp, and you can probably minimize that. There's always sandpaper for what you can't.

I've never bought poplar, but it's usually stocked by the big box stores. Not sure if they'd have it in the sizes you'd need. Of course if you're painting them, you could buy whatever size is available, cut it as necessary to do glue-ups of whatever dimensions you want. It won't matter if the grain matches (though you'd still want to make sure the pieces are oriented in the same direction of course).

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Beech would be a good dense wood at a lower cost tier and sold as lumber, even European steamed is available.

Domestic Hop-Hornbeam is another dense wood, though I don’t think readily available as lumber, often mixed in with Maple apparently.

[Wes Ramsey]

What about post oak or live oak? Both are very dense and finish very smooth. Of course, if you're painting them, pine and cedar are always cheap and readily available.

[Reed Gray]

For paint grade, go with poplar. Smooth even grain, cuts well, sands nice, and takes paint very well. Alder might be close, but probably not much of that down there in Texas. Sweet gum may work, but not always available as lumber. Pear and apple are nice, as well as dog wood, but again, difficult to find as lumber.

robo hippy

[Gregory Cowart]

Mesquite would be a tight grain wood found in Texas. The pieces I have turned out of Mesquite have been stable. No big cracks and they haven't warped big time.

[John K Jordan]

... 100% of the wood I use is purchased. I was hoping to find a slightly more economical alternative to the blanks I usually purchase.

Ok, maybe y.poplar then. Hey, did you ever use grain filler? Even red oak can be made as smooth as glass.

Too bad you are not in TN. Cherry and maple are free here if you have a vehicle and chainsaw and know how to find it. The problem is not how to find it but having the discipline to not get too much. This is is from a couple of hours of sawing for a friend - he stayed really busy trying to turn all this before it went bad!

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Most of the hardwoods around here end up as firewood or dumped to rot. When I got my sawmill the word got out and I soon had more free logs than I could possibly use.

We get so spoiled and sometimes forget not everyone has the same resources. Once a friend visited from the west. She said all of the trees were she lives are softwoods. She left here with her station wagon so loaded down with wood from my stash the frame was sitting on the axles.

JKJ

[Glen Blanchard]

The problem is not how to find it but having the discipline to not get too much.

JKJ

In my dreams!!!

[Joe Kieve]

If you can find pieces large enough for your project, dogwood will fit your requirements; domestic, tight-grained.

[Brian Tymchak]

Alder is often used in cabinets as a lower cost substitute for cherry. I have no idea how it turns or if it is availble in turning blanks.

[Reed Gray]

Alder is a great imitator. Around here, it is more expensive than poplar even though it is the native, and poplar is not. Before MDF came around, poplar was the go to paint grade trim for houses.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

If you can find pieces large enough for your project, dogwood will fit your requirements; domestic, tight-grained.

I have on occasion found big dogwood but most is small diameter, 6-8 inches. The largest came from yard trees. Second largest from the edges of fields. In the woods they are usually skinny. I suspect it is the amount of light the tree gets and the competition for moisture and nutrients.

A neighbor gave me one big enough to cut a 12" wide board from the center. That was highly unusual, at least around here. I think I mentioned earlier that dogwood is one of my favorite woods for turning. I have a bunch drying, some since 2006.

JKJ

[Don Orr]

Birch ?????