Crepe Myrtle

[Wally Crawford]

I scored some crepe myrtle today. Most is in the 6-7" range, but a few chunks might be big enough for a small bowl. I have never turned this wood. Anybody out there that has and if so, what does it look like?

[Karl Loeblein]

If you can find some curly pieces like where the trunk flares out then it will make some beautiful pieces. Otherwise it can be very plain.

[Walter Mooney]

Wally, not only is is plain, but all I’ve ever had cracked like there’s no tomorrow! It makes great tool handles, as it’s pretty hard wood. Good luck!

[John K Jordan]

I scored some crepe myrtle today. Most is in the 6-7" range, but a few chunks might be big enough for a small bowl. I have never turned this wood. Anybody out there that has and if so, what does it look like?

I've only turned a few small things. 6-7" is pretty big for ornamental crepe myrtle, at least around here!
I've successfully dried a number of crepe myrtle blanks by cutting the round into smaller pieces for spindle turning and sealed well. I don't think I've ever had a big enough piece for a bowl, unless it could have been a tiny bowl! Turns well for finials and such.

JKJ

[Richard Coers]

From what I've seen, you need to turn it to a thin finished wall when wet. It moves quite a bit, but that is part of it's appeal.

[Don McClure]

I have turned Christmas bell ornaments out of Crepe myrtle of just this size for several years. I usually use prunings and coat the ends as soon as they are cut with Anchor seal, then store out of sunlight for 6-9 months before turning. This has given me good results with minimal cracking. My experience with fresh cuit summer wood is that it tends to crack.

[Eugene Dixon]

I took a forked piece of crepe myrtle and cored it right down the center to about 3" of the bottom. Put a tenon on the end for turning, OBTW. Each fork was ~3" in diameter stem if I remember correctly. The ideas was to make vase. Turned the outside and it started cracking. I realized the fork was probably going to split apart as well. I poured epoxy into the cored hole and filled the cracks with epoxy (which interlocked with bottom fill). Really made a nice vase. I happened to have a glass vase that fit well. SIL wanted it really bad. Wish I had a picture.