Corkscrew Willow??

[Fred Miller]

Hi All,

I have a small corkscrew willow tree that needs to be cut down. It's only 8-10 inches in diameter at the base. The way the branches grow, literally in a corkscrew spiral, I'm wondering what the wood would look like if turned into small bowls.

Has anyone ever turned this stuff?

[Bob Hallowell]

Fred I don't know but it sounds like it could be nice, Also you could do a HF with the pith in the center so you could have a big piece if it is nice.

Bob

[Steve Schlumpf]

Fred - I've never seen anything (that I know of) turned from corkscrew willow. Would be interesting to turn a bowl and see what the grain pattern looks like. If you do decide to cut the tree down and turn a bowl or HF - make sure to post some photos! Hope it works out!

[curtis rosche]

whats the difference between corckscrew willow and plain willow?

[Fred Miller]

I don't know much about trees until they're cut into lumber. The small branches on "Plain" willow are straight and consistent.

On "corkscrew" willow, the small branches spiral in a definite corkscrew shape. When the branches have grown to a bigger thickness they tend to straighten out.

I'm not much of a turner, but I'm real curious to know if that spiral pattern is retained in the grain after the tree grows larger.

[David Newson]

Don't know if its any good for turning, but I use to have one in the garden until its fate was signed with the chainsaw, very vigorous grower loves loads of water and not good to have any near underground drains or house foundations, very easy to root from a large six foot cut of branch just push it into the ground and that's it, give it loads of water for a couple of months until its rooted well,best if kept small by hard pruning every year that way it keeps the tight corkscrew branches, very sought after by flower arrangers over here.