Replies

1. 
   Dave45 | Oct 21, 2006 03:56pm | #1

   Is Catalpa even a hardwood?  IIRC, Catalpa is a very soft wood with a very fiberous (stringy) grain - sorta like Cottonwood.  If I'm right, I doubt if it can be sanded smooth - and certainly wouldn't use it for a chair - lol.

1. 
   Chairwright | Oct 21, 2006 04:10pm | #2

   I'm using it for a windsor chair seat, it is 1 3/4" thick.  I've made lots of windsor chairs and this wood seems to be strong enough for the seat function because it the seat is so thick.  I am beginning to doubt, too, that it can be sanded really smooth.   I applied a liberal coat of 1lb super blonde shellac and that didn't seem to help very much.

1. 
   Dave45 | Oct 22, 2006 02:31am | #3

   I don't think I've seen Catalpa since I was a kid in MO in the 50's.  We had one in the back yard and when Pop cut it down I seem to remember that the wood was really "stringy".

1. 
   Chairwright | Oct 22, 2006 04:22am | #4

   That's interesting.  I bought a dry plank from a sawmill.  It was a dream to carve and very light but seemed strong for my pupose.  I've read that it doesn't burn well - they say it just doesn't burn and it is rot resistant.  It doesn't appear stringy to me like, say, hickory, but it does have some unusual properties.  When I was working it, just with hand tools, it smelled like hot day old coffee, and it was a pungent aroma, not really unpleasant but strange.  Did you try to split it for firewood when Pop cut it down?