Turning American Sycamore

I have only turned one piece, but the other section I have has shown no signs of checking. Its still in the log (about 6" in diameter).

The other piece I turned down the log and made a urn out of it. It turns very well, does tend to fuzz a bit on you though. However, don't let that put you off, just continue to sand through 320 and you will like what you have. Also, the finish will be flat, rather than have the sheen a lot of wood sanded to 320 has. That being said, Deft and a good buff gives you a very nice satin finish. The urn was actually a trial piece to see just how deep and cleanly I could turn without a dedicated set of deep vessel tools. It has shown no signs of warping or checking and the wall thickness is about

1/4". The lid has a finial, all part of the same piece, and shows no signs of doing anything "naughty."

Bottom line, if I had a source, I would turn more of it. But since I am backed up on blanks, I am not looking. :-)

Deb

I have turned some rough bowls from very green sycamore, and let them dry for 6 months in a paper bag with the shavings. There was a lot of shrinking in the width probably about 10% relative to the length grain. But I didn't have any problem with cracking. My advice is to leave the walls pretty thick or turn in thing and let it warp as it wants to if you don't care about being round.

Al

Thanks, that is what I was wondering about. I am turning the sides thick.