Replies

1. 
   splintergroupie_ | Mar 17, 2002 07:33am | #1

   *
   My first woodworking job was making burl clocks and tables (NO SNICKERING!!!) inc hundreds of cottonwood clocks. We didn't do any tables of it, i think bec it tended to split in larger pieces. The cottonwood had gorgeous deep red heartwood and soft, very light cream sapwood with a precise delineation, but it tended to deform a lot in slices and sanded fuzzy--not that that posed a problem with a quarter-inch of plastic on top of it. Keeping the bark on was just about impossible, so we'd glue it back on with resin--in case you were going for a natural edge bowl.

1. 
   Barbara_Gill | Mar 17, 2002 01:46pm | #2

   *Eastern Cottonwood can have magnificant figure. I often turn it. As was pointed out, cottonwood tends to fuzz but will sand well on the lathe. It is a challenge to turn as it tends to tear out; keep your tools sharp. If you would like to see a picture of a finished cottonwood pot, go here.http://www.woodcentral.com/newforum/msgset.shtml

1. 
   Frank_H._Biscardi | Mar 18, 2002 12:57am | #3

   *Is cottonwood the same as poplar/tulip poplar?

1. 
   Jon_Arno | Mar 18, 2002 02:30am | #4

   *Frank, eastern poplar (AKA cottonwood) belongs to the Populus genus in the willow family; Salicaceae, as do the aspens. Yellow poplar (AKA tulip poplar) is a member of the magnolia family; Magnoliaceae. The name "poplar" ranks right up there with "cedar", "ironwood", "locust" and "mahogany" as one of the most misused of all common names.

1. 
   Frank_H._Biscardi | Mar 18, 2002 03:17am | #5

   *Jon,Thanks for the info.Frank

2. 
   Lee_Goehring | Mar 18, 2002 05:13am | #6

   *gp-Ya might wanna keep a coupla really critical things in mind 'bout the cottonwood:1) Watch out for the boll weevils.2) When ya take it outa the water, don't dry it on the high setting or it'll shrink.(Sounds of heavy groaning and splattering tomatoes)Lee

3. 
   gpwestmoreland | Mar 18, 2002 07:17am | #7

   *Thanks for all the useful info. (Even yours, Lee, good one.) But, I have decided not to use it. I decided to turn a chunk of it wet this afternoon, and decided I couldn't stand the smell. The best I can describe it, it smells worse than the bottom rail of an old stockyard fence in a humid climate. Sort of a "uriny" smell. It was bad enough when I was sawing it, but got so bad when I started turning it, I had to leave the shop. I'm not a real sensitive person when it comes to smells, but this was awful. My neighbor had it taken out because the roots were growing down into his underground residential electrical box. Now I'm starting to wonder if it was beginning to tap into his sewer line. BTW, if it makes any difference this is not eastern cottonwood, I live in the Mojave Desert. Is it normal for fresh cut cottonwood to smell this bad? GP box.

4. 
   Barbara_Gill | Mar 18, 2002 01:26pm | #8

   *LOL, I had forgotten about the smell. It sounds as if the wood you had smelled much worse that the Eastern Cottonwood. It reminds me of sweaty horse tack; not unpleasant at all, just different.Now if you want a real stinker, try freshly cut Ailanthus.

5. 
   jack_nissen | Mar 18, 2002 02:22pm | #9

   *gpthe smell becomes quite tolerable after only a few months. i'd hold onto some of it--the price is sure right.jack

6. 
   Jon_Arno | Mar 18, 2002 05:14pm | #10

   *Can't understand why you're putting up such a stink about the smell of cottonwood, GP? It's normal scent resembles that of stale aspirin. Members of the willow family are a natural source of this pain killer. In fact, chewing on a willow twig has been a folk remedy for tooth ache since ancient times. The scent isn't exactly "floral", but it shouldn't be so bad as to drive you out of the shop. The stock you have must be contaminated with something pretty foul. The bigger problems with cottonwood are that it often contains a lot of reaction wood, making it very unstable, and it has exceptionally poor resistance to decay. Otherwise, it has good working properties; easy to cut and shape, glues well and accepts fasteners without splitting. The presence of reaction wood sometimes makes it fuzz up when sanded and may also cause it to stain unevenly, but it takes paint well and yields a very smooth surface under any film type finish. I use a lot of aspen (a close relative of cottonwood) as a secondary wood and for making prototypes, because it's so easy to work and very inexpensive at the mills here in Michigan. About half the cost of basswood and even less expensive than yellow poplar.

7. 
   gpwestmoreland | Mar 18, 2002 08:26pm | #11

   *OK, I'll keep it. I'm going to coat the ends of the sections I have left and let it dry for a while and see if the smell lessens. Jon, I got some more useful info about cottonwood from your article in FWW #41, Keeping the Poplars Straight; thanks. Barbara, I would have loved to see the photo you mentioned, but when I looked in the Wood Central site I couldn't find it. I'll bore you with something else I remember about this subject: I read a book a few years ago about the Lewis & Clark expedition: Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose. When they returned from their 2 year journey across the western U.S., the one species of plant or animal they stated that was absolutely indispensible to their succesful expedition: the cottonwood tree. It was plentiful almost everywhere they traveled, & was used for rafts, tools, implements of all kinds. Anyway, thanks to all for the encouragement and helpful info. If this stuff does turn out to be useful, I'll repost later. GP