Replies

1. 
   Jerry_Thompson | Feb 09, 2002 02:30am | #1

   *
   Dear John;
   I am using quarter sawn sycomore for the first time. It is a beautiful wood. I had trouble with a fine "fuzz" left on it when rubbing against the grain. I tried a card scarper and it got some of it.
   I nesx used a 2 lb. cut of dewaxed blond shellac and the "hairs" came right off the next time.
   The tear out when sawing is no problem but I had some trouble when running it accross the jointer. The was probably from too deep of a cut.
   I am going to get more of it. The flat sawn lumber does not look remarkable, at least from my perspective.
   Jerry

1. 
   Sgian_Dubh | Feb 10, 2002 09:30am | #2

   *Excellent timber for joinery or furniture. North American species is different to European species, and has a different botanical name if I remember correctly. Similar to maple. Makes excellent panels and tops, etc., but but you need to know what you're doing. Guesswork is not helpful with this stuff. Slainte, RJ.

1. 
   AJinNZ_ | Mar 06, 2002 03:30am | #3

   *I got some a couple of years ago to make a butchers block. The guy who milled it supplied me with a couple of bits I used on the sides that had the most amazing colour and grain.The timber was a delight to work in every respect. It planed and sanded very well. glued really well. I will use it more in future.As Sgain said though, your stuff may well differ. At any rate it is well worth keeping.

1. 
   Dave_Arbuckle | Mar 06, 2002 08:33am | #4

   *Referring to Sycamore in a mixed crowd of Americans and British gets confusing very quickly. Sgian mentions that North American Sycamore is different to European. It's even worse than that... ;-)In England, the tree called Sycamore is Acer pseudoplatanus. If "Acer" looks familiar, that would be Maple in the U.S.What Americans call Sycamore is Platanus occidentalis, which it seems the British call "Plane".AJ, I have no idea which y'all have, I would guess the British. If you can see it quartersawn the difference is easy to tell. Quartersawn Mapple shows some medullary rays, quartersawn Sycamore has an incredible number.DaveYou bet I had to look up those scientific names. ;-)

1. 
   John_Krist | Mar 06, 2002 05:41pm | #5

   *Thanks for all the input. Tree is indeed Plantanus. I have found http://forestry.about.com/library/tree/blthesyc.htm a great site for tree info.A preliminary dressing of one board (just barely dry enough to plane)show fine, even-texture wood. Certainly more fiberous than most, and cautions about sharp tools seem warranted. Its light and strong, but the one board that didn't get in the piles twisted as it dried, though it was one of the outside slabs and the tree in general had more reaction wood than I like. Rest of the boards are firmly buckled down with ratchet straps and seem to be drying fine. I am impressed enough to get a 24" x 16' tree today and will try quarter sawing if the Woodmizer buddy will do it.JK

2. 
   AJinNZ_ | Mar 07, 2002 08:05am | #6

   *Dave, the stuff we call sycamore has those 'helicpoter' seeds and a large leaf with 'fingers'.Maple I am familiar with. I have yet to see a maple board here though. There is one outfit that imports it from America, but the price is horendous.

3. 
   Mark_S._Brewer | Mar 13, 2002 02:16am | #7

   *The domestic sycamore found in the U.S. does not have helicopter seeds but has 1" diameter globes of clustered seeds on short stems. The really distinquishing feature of our (USA) sycamore is the exfoliating bark seen on these trees at all ages; they look white with peeling light grey bark. The crown is very open and they are streamside trees for the most part. I crave a kitchen with a mix of sycamore and osage orange panels. They are both lovely.

2. 
   TJinFL | May 06, 2002 05:32pm | #10

   I am planning to build a small dresser (52" H, 30"W, 18"D) for my wife out of some quartersawn sycamore (American variety I think) that I purchased about a year ago (for $2.50/bd ft.!).  I plan to use frame/panel construction for the sides, with a solid top.  Can you give me some advice on what to look out for when working with this wood?  I would appreciate the benefit of your experience.

   Thanks in advance.

   Terry

1. 
   SgianDubh | May 07, 2002 07:19am | #11

   Quarter sawn material will be the most stable, which is always useful, but you might find the grain a bit plain unless you are lucky with some flecking, or even a fiddle back figure. Plain might be what you are looking for though.

   Look out for waviness in the length of the grain, i.e., changes in direction of the grain on the face which might lead to tear out as you plane. If it’s very wavy, it probably has some nice figure too, but it will be hard to plane. Sometimes the best way to handplane stuff with very short waves is perpendicular across the face of the board.

   Edge gluing needs to be neatly done—any gappy or torn edges in ‘white’ timbers will tend to be emphasised by a differently coloured glue line, so try and avoid dark glues or keep the jointed edges smooth.

   Lastly, try and select rift sawn timber for your legs, especially if the legs are square. This is stuff viewed from the end where the growth rings cross your square blank approximately diagonally from corner to corner. Try and select the bark side to face the outside corner too, or the pith side, but I prefer the bark side out. This suggestion appliees to all timbers really, but it helps prevent one face showing characteristically flowery plain sawn figure, and the other face characteristically quarter sawn figure. And as before it matters more with square section stock than it does with oblong section stock. In addition it’s usually, but not always, only the front legs that really benefit from such meticulous selection—the back legs can be fudged a bit because three edges will often be pretty much hidden. Slainte, RJ.http://www.RichardJonesFurniture.com

2. 
   woodrae | May 08, 2002 06:39pm | #12

   Terry—

   American sycamore is a lovely wood, but not particularly stable and prone to warping, even when quartersawn and properly dried. Since you’re building a fairly large structure, I would try to minimize the amount of broad surfaces in the chest. Instead, break down parts into sub-frames and sub-assemblies. This approach will minimize warpage. For example, on the sides of the dresser, you might introduce a center stile so that you split the panel in two. Or consider adding a center rail along with a center stile, which will let you divide the area into four panels. On tall drawers, make sure your corner joints are strong (dovetails, box joints, etc.), or use "false" fronts, whereby you build a drawer box, then screw through the box into a solid-wood front. You get the idea.

   The solid top should be fine, because you’re going to attach it securely to the framework of the case. Just remember to allow for wood movement of the top, by either using screws in oval or slotted holes or by screwing wooden buttons to the underside of the top and letting them slide in grooves cut in the case frame. Be sure to add one or two center rails on the case and attach the top to these to reduce cupping in the center.

   As Richard indicates, sycamore is prone to chipping and tearout. If you get in a bind (you’re thickness planer leaves a raggedy surface; your hand plane just won’t make the grade; your fingers are getting cramps from so much card scraping), you might consider calling a local cabinet shop to see if you can rent time on their industrial wide-belt sanding machine. Bring ‘em the bigger parts (the panels and the top) that you’ve cut a little oversize in width and length, and have ’em sand them up to 120 or 180 grit. Then use a random-orbit sander or sand them by hand and cut ‘em to final size back at your shop.

   —Andy

1. 
   TJinFL | May 10, 2002 12:28am | #14

   Andy -

   Thanks for your suggestions, I'll definitely follow your advice.  I just purchased your new book - very nice job.  A perfect addition to my growing reference library.  Only in the woodworking world do you get direct replies from the experts.  That's neat.  Thanks - your reply and the one from Richard Jones both made my day.

   Thanks for sharing your expertise.

   Terry

   Delray Beach,FL

   Edited 5/9/2002 5:29:53 PM ET by TJINFL

3. 
   sschefer | May 08, 2002 10:03pm | #13

   Here's an explanation about the species.   

   The American Sycamore (Platanus Occidentalis L.) is also known as planetree, buttonwood, and buttonball-tree. It grows in all states east of the Great Plains except Minnesota. It grows to a larger diameter than any other American Hardwood. Trees are on record to exceed 10 feet in diameter and an individual tree in Indiana was 33 feet in circumference 4 feet above the ground and 168 feet tall. Usually they are 2' - 4' in diameter and have broadly ovate leaves 4" - 8" wide that resemble Maple leaves. They have "globular heads of seeds" 1" - 1-1/2" in diameter that hang down singly from a 3" - 6" slender stem. The bark is smooth, whitish and mottled which can peel off in large thin flakes that exposes patches of brown and gray. Bases of large trunks can be dark brown and deeply furrowed with scaly ridges.     The wood is only moderately heavy and hard (sp. Gravity 0.47) and is an easily machined straight grained and uniformly colored wood. The heartwood is light brown and is not readily distinguished from the sapwood by color, although it can have an orange or reddish color. It is interchangeable with yellow poplar as an interior wood. Quartersawn Sycamore, however, is highly prized for an outrageous fleck figure and is used for interior trim and paneling and other special applications. Steve - in Northern California

2. 
   musick | Mar 25, 2002 10:34pm | #8

   Sycamore is a relatively soft light wood. Comparing it to Silver Maple would be a fair comparison. As they are both large, fast growing trees that require good moisture. Remember Silver Maple has very little in common with Sugar or Red Maple when comparing wood properties. Sycamore commonly has a lot of figure and can best be used for projects that that won't take a lot of abuse. As it is often considered a "Junk" tree in most logging operations you can acquire it relatively cheap from many sawmills. Often loggers won't even take the time to harvest it as they have a hard time selling lumber for a break even price. I think one of the best uses for it is drawer sides and bottoms.

   Hope this helps.

3. 
   jonsherryl | Mar 26, 2002 03:53am | #9

   John, as the posts so far indicate, sycamore is relatively soft (only slightly denser than yellow poplar) and has excellent shaping properties. It is often used commercially for making scrub brush backs, because it turns and shapes so well. The quartersaw figure is so ray dominated that it is sometimes referred to as American lacewood. The bad news is it is extremely unstable and has very poor decay resistance...so, avoid using it where in-use stability is critical (wide edge-glued panels, etc) or in exterior applications.