Bitternut

Since the lumber folks mix it with other hickories, it must be close enough to them in working properties and appearance. The price makes it suitable for whatever you care to turn. The wood won't stand in the way. Doesn't grow this far north.

It's not the same Robo. Bitternut is a hickory. Known here in KY as Pignut Hickory. Probably known by something else in other places. Shrinkage with this wood is unbeleivable.

I roughed turned one 10" bowl and left it 1 inch thick all around. When dry, it measured 8 1/2 inches one way and 10" the other way. It made a nice dog food bowl for the camper. The other pieces I turned were out of some limbs from a neighbors tree (a couple of baby rattles and a rolling pin for his wife).

Thats the only experience I've had with it. I've seen cabinets made from hickory, most beautiful set I've ever seen. I was told the cabinet maker that it was some of the toughest wood he ever worked with because of warping and twisting when the materials dry. He ordered twice as much material as he needed for the job and culled throught the wood for the better peices. (I scored some of the pieces he didn't want to use).

Its called bitternut because the nuts aren't that good, they are strongly bitter.

GO WKU HILLT> > Has anyone had experience turning Bitternut? For what: bowls, hollow

...which I did (a co-worker had to cut theirs down. It can also include some nice purple color (rot/fungal)

We call bitternut hickory "smooth bark hickory" here in Wisconsin, because, not suprisingly, the bark is almost dead smooth and medium grey in color. The nuts look pretty much like those of the shagbark hickory, as do the leaves, but, as said earlier, the nuts are too bitter (too acidic, I think) to eat raw. I think they boil the nuts to make them edible. The wood makes good handles. I hadn't noticed the warping described earlier, but then froe handles, cant hook handles and hammer handles aren't all the fussy. We are at the far north end of the shag bark hickory range in west central Wisconsin and I don't know how far north of us the smooth bark extends.

Pete Stanaitis

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Ted wrote: