Kentucky Coffeetree

To the best of my knowledge, there are no special restrictions placed on Kentucky Coffeetree by the United States government.

I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby.  I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon.  In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors.  I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.

However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested.  The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood.  That is inherently an individual decision.

I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations.  This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store.  Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.

Health Hazards:

Aside from the usual hazards posed by wood dust, there are no known negative health effects associated with Kentucky Coffeetree.  As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Kentucky Coffeetree

It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.

Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.

Complete information about health hazards associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database.  Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.

Fortunately, I experienced no negative side effects when working with Kentucky Cofeetree.

My Personal Experiences:

This was my first time working with Kentucky Coffeetree and ideally my last.

The problem is not that there is anything specifically wrong with Kentucky Coffeetree other than, in my opinion, it is not a wood well suited for turning.  It is very similar to Oak or Ash in that it is very coarse, open grained, and the fiber lift on the cross grain sections is substantial and extremely difficult to sand out.

Kentucky Coffeetree Interior

All woods with this same coarseness and open grain behave the same way when turned but they have other applications for which they are perfectly suited.  Not all woods, in other words, are well suited for turning and my question becomes: Is it worth it to continue working with a wood that clearly isn’t suited for turning when I have a hundred other blanks that will turn beautifully with a minimum of fuss? I face this conundrum fairly often since I have a lot of wood from different sources, most of it obtained before I had a lot of experience and didn’t know much about one wood from another.