# Cottonwood for lumber???



## drcollins804

I am getting ready to cut a large (30+ inch at base) cottonwood at my mom's house. I have never had a cottonwood sawed before and wondered how the wood does for woodworking. I know it doesn't split worth a . When I was in high school my grandfather cut one for firewood and that was the stringiest crookedest grain I have ever seen. The hydraulic splitter that worked off the tractor pump would just cut in and lockup. I never had it do that on anything else.:no: Has anyone ever cut it and how does it work. Wanting to know what to do with it when I get it down. Have it sawed or bury it?:laughing:


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## TexasTimbers

Cottonwood has MANY wonderful attributes actually. One of my customers has given me his whole lower 40 something and it's full of huge cottonwood and mall to medium size honey locust. Many of these cottonwoods are way to big for my mill but i will by hook or crook find a way to utilize them. That should tell you how much i love this species.

It make IMHO about the best framing lumber you can get. It is strong and _light! _You *must* keep it dry though it will not last long with alot of wet/dry cycling. 

My dad turned me onto this wood a couple years ago when i made a comment in passing about it being usesless. He proceeded to set me straight. He said as a kid they built many barns out of it and he took me to one still standing on the property he grew up on. the wood around perimiter of the big 'ol barn is rotting away where it has seem blowing rain over the years but all the framing that has stayed dry is solid as when it came off the mill. You can see the big circle mill was sure tuned well the circle marks are not hardly visible.

I have cut several cottonwood logs and we have some stacked and drying for use as interior paneling. I am going to experiment with belaching it although when I stacked it, it had a nice cream color with light browns and just looked beautifulk for interiror panleing. We may leave it be if it is still that color.

It stank like the dickens. Whenever I saw more i want to prevailing wind taking it away from my nostrils for sure. the smell resides evetually. 

This lower 40 something acres I referred to has been underwater alot lately because of record rains. But when it all dries out and gets hard there are some monster cottonwoods waiting to take a trip to my mill. Only problem is I will have to figure out how to get even a 9' section up to the road and then onto the trailer. Neither one of us has anything that will lift trees this big. :laughing: 


Don't you dare throw that stuuf in the burn pile!


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## joasis

I have seen cabinets and trim made from cottonwood, and it is really beautiful stuff. I haven't cut any, but have 2 huge trees that were given to me, and I intend to use them for rustic stairs in my new home, plus the cabinet doors. I asked essentially the same question long ago, and since then have found it to be an overlooked wood that has a lot of potential. A friend told me that quartersawn, it rivals oak in grain.

The trees I will drop are over 4 feet in diameter, and will be tricky to saw, but it is very possible. I don't have a top saw on my circle mill, and this is one time it would be great for the initial slabbing passes.


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## drcollins804

Thanks for the response. I suspected that the pain in the  grain would look good when sawn but haven't ever seen any that I know of. I am making a pile for the mill from the trees that were damaged by the Ice storm this year and since this tree is in my mother's back door and she wants it down because of fear that it might eventually fall on the house I thought I would try to get it down soon. I will try to post some pictures of it when I get a chance.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## cjstein125

*Timber Frame*

Hello,

Just wondering if Cottonwood would be good to use as a timber frame structure? 6 x 6 posts and beams out of cottonwood? for the people who have used cottonwood, what do you say for using as timber frame?

chris


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## DRB

While it will do for framing I would suggest using oak if it is available as it is stronger and more rot resistant. Cotton wood is fine for use indoors where it is dry all the time. It rots very quickly when it gets wet so it would be no good for a pole barn where the posts are buried it is okay if the posts sit on a foundation. If used outside it must be painted and kept out of contact with the gound I have used it for siding as it will work for that but there are better woods. It can have some interesting grain in it but it normally is very fast growth. It is so wet when first cut that water runs out as it is sawed like you would not believe. BTW it splits much better if you let it dry a while. We sold a lot as firewood but we sold it cheaper then other hardwoods. Some people like it because it is easy to light but it burns fast with little heat.


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## BigJim

I wish this wasn't an old thread, I would like to ask about the cottonwood bark. If it is thick it is fantastic to carve but I believe the thicker bark comes from further up north.


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## klr650

I've got about 1000 tons of doug fir bark (alright a slight exaggeration) - at approximately 2" thick for a moderately old tree I've often wondered if you could turn it. The stuff is very tough, practically impossible to burn - but I'm guessing would look horrible if carved.


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## BigJim

klr650 said:


> I've got about 1000 tons of doug fir bark (alright a slight exaggeration) - at approximately 2" thick for a moderately old tree I've often wondered if you could turn it. The stuff is very tough, practically impossible to burn - but I'm guessing would look horrible if carved.


I haven't heard of anyone carving fir bark, give it a try and see how it carves after you cut about a 1/4 off the top. Cottonwood bark carves smooths as cutting cool butter and looks a beautiful brown. Down this way, northern Cottonwood bark sells for around $10 a pound.


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## slabmaster

*cottonwood*

I mill it. It has many uses when dry, just not in the weather. It does like to move around while drying so make sure you sticker with alot of weight or use ratcket straps to keep it down. You will have to keep the straps tight as it shrinks while drying, but you will have soom nice usable lumber in the end. Good luck.


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## KathrynK

I am also curious about using cottonwood for post-and-beam barn construction (ie, old fashioned gambrel-roof, enclosed barns, rather than open pole barns). I grew up on the high plains and there were stories about cottonwood being used for barns, and it gave very strong wood if cured correctly and protected from the weather. We've got a woodlot here on the farm and a number of very old, very tall, very large diameter cottonwoods. We'd like to log them and use them for our new barn. But in this day and age, I'd have to submit rather extensive building plans to the county prior to getting a construction permit for a barn made of cottonwood. Where could I get engineering and/or loadbearing information on using cottonwood in this manner? Would I be able to size the various posts, beams and other lumber the same as general barn plans specify? Any specific instructions for how to dry such large pieces of dimensional lumber? Reading materials or referrals to good sources of info to help us with this project would be very, very helpful. Thanks all.


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## buroak

Cottonwood is a very nice wood to use for shelfs (knick-knack) as it is light weight. I use minwax stain (ipstich pine is my favorite) and Deft finish. I think the stain brings out the grain and looks real nice. I would not recomend it for cabinet or flooring because it is a softer wood. If the trailer is kept inside it can be used as trailer decking. Very forgiving when the back-hoe bucket is dropped on the trailer. Also makes good camp-fire wood.


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## mrbutton

Cottonwood works and looks a lot like poplar. I used to work at a furniture factory where we made long grain butcher block out of it and built furniture with it. Looks better painted then stained.


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## SeanStuart

mrbutton said:


> Cottonwood works and looks a lot like poplar. I used to work at a furniture factory where we made long grain butcher block out of it and built furniture with it. Looks better painted then stained.


Isn't Cottonwood a type of Poplar?


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## cjstein125

*2nd Post*

Hello All Again,

I have to chime in again with the topic. I have my own sawmill (Timberking 2000) and I want to build a small storage shed out of cottonwood, which will be a timber frame.

Questions are as follows:
1. For all the people using/used cottonwood, do you cut the wood and let it dry somewhat (year or two) before you cut the tenons, plane and dimension the lumber OR do you do that as soon as it comes off the mill?

2. I have access to cottonwood so that is my choice to use. I understand that the would should Always be kept dry, but what (if any) considerations should I use when planning my storage shed which will be about the size of 20' x 40' or so?

3. Any knowledge will be great from all you PROs that have done this before.

I am sure I will have many other questions....this will be a huge start!

chris


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## MaxPower

Cottonwood is a Populus spp. Along with aspen. It is sometimes called popple and is one of the most cosmopolitan Genus in the world. This is different from Poplar, or Tulip Poplar, Tulipwood etc. which is not related at all to Populus. Its native to Eastern US forests. This is a really common confusion.


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## DRB

cjstein125 said:


> Hello All Again,
> 
> I have to chime in again with the topic. I have my own sawmill (Timberking 2000) and I want to build a small storage shed out of cottonwood, which will be a timber frame.
> 
> Questions are as follows:
> 1. For all the people using/used cottonwood, do you cut the wood and let it dry somewhat (year or two) before you cut the tenons, plane and dimension the lumber OR do you do that as soon as it comes off the mill?
> 
> 2. I have access to cottonwood so that is my choice to use. I understand that the would should Always be kept dry, but what (if any) considerations should I use when planning my storage shed which will be about the size of 20' x 40' or so?
> 
> 3. Any knowledge will be great from all you PROs that have done this before.
> 
> I am sure I will have many other questions....this will be a huge start!
> 
> chris


I woudl dry the beams a year at least. Cottonwood has a lot of water in it and shrinks a lot on drying. Make sure you have no ground contact with the wood and you will be okay. Cottonwood is okay for use as siding if painted and as beams if kept dry. Anything to be painted shoudl be planed so that it is easier to paint. Beams and structure need not be planed but you may want to to get uniform sizes. It is not nearly as strong as oak so plan on bigger beams and shorter spans. I would use beams with the heart in the center to minimize warping yes they will crack but that is not a problem in a shed. On 2" structual pieces whatch that the gain is not cross as it will be pretty weak if it is not fairly straight grained. To avoid cross grain do not saw crooked logs into anything that will bear a load. Cross grain is not as big of an issue in siding.


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## PSDkevin

I have no experience here. I am interested in timber framing a shed too. I have read a bunch of info and there seems to be two schools of thought. One to dry the wood before. The other school of thought is it's okay to frame green as long as the pieces are nearly the same MC and you cut and assemble close together so the joint dries as a joint. I know I am not explaining this well but it made sense to me. I am hoping a timber framing type person responds cause I am interested as well.


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## woodstowoods

jiju1943 said:


> I wish this wasn't an old thread, I would like to ask about the cottonwood bark. If it is thick it is fantastic to carve but I believe the thicker bark comes from further up north.


there are actually 2 species of cotton wood here, the thicker bark stuff is junk, its not a "mature" tree. stuff is nearly impossible to cut a flat board from. on the other hand the cotton wood with the shallow bark mills nice and has a cool grain. I love getting these in because there is a ton of lumber in one of those monsters, and even though it does not bring a great price the yield is high. on the negative side they both smell like cat piss any time you work it.


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## cjstein125

*2 x 6s cottonwood?*

I would like to use cottonwood as 2 x 6s for a storage shed that is about 24' x 48'. Would this be good practice? Is this wood strong enough to handle the task?


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## HomeBody

In the book "History of Macon Co. IL" they say that the town of Decatur was first settled in the 1850's. The pioneers used the wood from a large grove of cottonwood trees to frame their buildings. Remnants of the grove are still there, along the Sangamon River just below the Lake Decatur dam. Gary


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## bigbo1234

cjstein125 said:


> Hello,
> 
> Just wondering if Cottonwood would be good to use as a timber frame structure? 6 x 6 posts and beams out of cottonwood? for the people who have used cottonwood, what do you say for using as timber frame?
> 
> chris


I'm using cottonwood to frame the interior of my timber frame home. It is a good wood and feels nice to use. Just keep your tools sharper than possible as it makes a huge difference in cutting, if your saw gets dull this stuff gets really fuzzy and stops the blade. It also cuts so much better if dry not green.


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