# Turning Willow



## coffeetime (Dec 28, 2006)

I got a few pieces of Willow to turn. I've never turned any before and wondered if anybody had any tips or thoughts about it. It is green, so I want to do a few bowls then wrap then and finish them in a couple of months.
TIA
Mike


----------



## hands made for wood (Nov 2, 2007)

hey Mike, I turned some wet willow a couple months ago made a couple bowls it's very nice wood easy to turn, the bowls that I made did not crack there was just a little warping pretty unnoticable though. But that's about all I can give you from my experience.


----------



## thfay (Mar 4, 2008)

I have turned green willow. I found the wood wanted to shred rather than cut and the movement was noticable as the wood dried. 

But after rough turning and an appropriate time for drying (several months as I was lazy getting back to them), the bowls I made polished up quite nicely with good grain pattern. Preserve oil finish looked excellent to me.

T. H. Fay


----------



## coffeetime (Dec 28, 2006)

Well I turned one bowl so far. That is the wetest wood I have ever turned. I did have some shreding on the interupted cuts but once I got it all smooth out and resharpened my tool it seemed okay. So I have one bowl roughed out setting on the shelf drying. I also cut some 4/4 as I like to do segmented bowls and thought that this is some of the whitest wood I have seen. Wonder what it will look like pared with black walnut.
Thanks for the info guys.

Mike


----------



## Lilty (Dec 20, 2006)

I hear that Willow smells bad while turning. Is this true?


----------



## thfay (Mar 4, 2008)

I remember some odor to the willow but (and my memory may be having its frequent senior moment) not as bad as pecan or red oak.

The willow I turned was very green and indeed very wet. The color turned out to be a pleasant light brown with reddish figgure but the color may be due to the enrvironment where it grew.

FYI. The whitest wood I have turned is popcorn tree, an obnoxious invasive species hated by farmers in Mississippi, but with a lovely chocolate brown heart wood and creamy white sapwood.

T. H. Fay


----------



## coffeetime (Dec 28, 2006)

Yes it did have an odor, but it wasn't real strong. I did not really notice it, but can remember one now that you mention it. 
Never herd of popcorn wood. I asume it called that because of the color and not the way it grows. Or maybe it's so called that because it keeps poping up everywhere, much like cedar here. 
Mike


----------



## allenn (Apr 13, 2008)

*turnig wet*

Where's here, that you get cedars popping up like weeds? All that we have, here in northern Colorado, even in landscaped areas, are junipers. I do not like junipers - they make me sneeze and they make me itch.

Thanks,

allen norris


----------

