Woodturning Materials
So, what can you use as a wood turning material? The better question is, what CAN’T you use! The wood lathe can certainly be used to create objects from most any wood you can imagine, and probably a fair amount of woods you have never heard of much less imagined. But the possibilities don’t stop there. I also use acrylic plastics, deer antler, water buffalo horn, off-cuts from Corian counter tops, corncobs (no, really, I swear), wood composites, and even custom made pens with items encased in special polymers that allow you to do decoupage-like items. One can even rescue the shavings from today’s bowls to make tomorrow’s pens through a process named by its creator, Phoenix Pens. Really, the only limitation is your imagination.
In the absence of published information about these woods, at least under the common names as sold to me, I relay my own, albeit, limited experiences of these woods …
This post discusses Red River Gum, a wood common in Australia but not commonly seen or used by wood turners in the United States except in burl form.
I undertook a major project to make bottle stoppers using TruStone material, which I have written about in the past. This post is simply the photo of the …
Amazakoue, as some folks call it, might win the contest for highest number of common names. This variety of names makes it potentially difficult to locate in dealer …
In this post Rainbow Poplar, a color variant of the common wood Yellow Poplar is discussed along with the characteristics of the main wood as well. This post …
Pecan, a close relative of Hickory, is an uncommon turning wood since it isn't generally grown or harvested for timber purposes, but is rather an orchard tree grown for …
English Walnut isn't a wood most woodworkers will ever encounter since it is rarely harvested for lumber or timber purposes but is instead an orchard or ornamental tree, although …