Turning wood from trees standing dead...

[Chris Hachet]

At the university where I work, we were taking down some ash trees and I was going to take some of the wood home to turn. Arborist cutting down the trees said that wood that has been standing dead, especially ash, is often too brittle/unstable to Turn well.

Is there any truth to this claim?

Wood seemed pretty stable and solid to me.

[Fred Belknap]

I think it would turn ok, there may be wormholes in the dead ash. I'm not sure it would work for tool handles but get some and give it a try.

[dan petroski]

I question the validity of that claim. I’ve turned a lot of dead standing wood with no notisabl difference. I look for dead standing to turn. Just my opinion and not criticizing an expert. Dan.

[Wayne Jolly]

I would guess that it depends on just how long it has been dead. I got some walnut from a tree that had been dead for a while. Turning it was no joy and I think I had a good layer of worm crap on me. The wood was full of worm and bug holes, and some of it started cracking. I got kind of a rough shape turned, but I do't think the result was usable so I tossed the rest.

Wayne

[Prashun Patel]

Impossible to generalize about this. You have to see it for yourself or take the word of another turner who's seen it.

Arborists may not appreciate how much instability or decay we can tolerate or even desire.

[Reed Gray]

I have turned a couple of standing dead trees. Most were dead a year or three before I got to them. I got more cracking from them than I did from fresh trees, and the uncut ends also checked much worse than fresh trees. If there is any of the olive brown color, take as much of it as you can handle. If it is plain white, well, it makes good firewood. The white just never sold well for me.

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

I agree it may be difficult to predict. I've turned some wood from trees standing dead for several years and it was sometimes has wonderful buggy character and turned well. Persimmon, sassafras, ERC, etc. I've never had ash like that though.

I read once that some tropical "exotics" are harvested like that - the tree is girdled, left standing, then cut down the next year. The article I read said they got better stability and quality that way.

JKJ

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I tried turning some dead hackberry, it turned fine. Tried turning some dead sassafras and it was so full of interior cracks that it was worthless for even small bowls. I was told by a local retired forester that sassafras in particular has interior grain separation from swaying in the wind. right now I have a standing dead black walnut about 17 inches in diameter. I noticed that it's leaves fell off in late spring in 2017.

I have found that standing dead trees are still quite wet inside. They will crack faster than green wood in many cases. That may have to do with being in the mid Atlantic where it rains a lot and humidities are usually high.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Free wood? Grab some and turn it. I've turned dead trees. They turn fine, if not, toss them out. I love proving "professionals" wrong.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

If the trees have been standing too long you will find the long splits on the outside of the wood, bark probably gone by then as well.

An Ash tree that has been standing for a year or two, will turn just nice and the wood is strong and solid.

Even when spalting is showing the wood is often still fine, but you will have to check that it is not getting soft and punky.

Take the wood, cut pieces off it, check the wood, and turn it if not rotten or split, have fun and take care.

[Alex Zeller]

You may want to check about moving the wood. It sounds like you are not far away but around here the Emerald Ash Borer has just made an appearance so they are starting to watch closer. If your region has been hit hard and there's not many trees left alive it may not matter. As for the wood, I would try it, what do you have to loose.

[Chris Hachet]

Thanks...will give it a try!