Walk'n & Look'n

[winterwood]

I must walk everyday to maintain my health, usually I walk a mile in the morning and a mile in the evening. Yesterday while out for my stroll, I came across a pile of brush on the side of the street. Some one had cut a Lilac bush down, there were some nice pieces 3 or 4 inches across and about 36 long. So as any wood turner worth their chips would do, I took the best ones with me. (I guess I must have been a bit of a sight waking the last 1/2 mile with an arm load of wood).
The question today is: Has any one turned Lilac, what should I expect or should I bring the bundle to where I found it.
Thanks
Dennis

 

[micharms]

Dennis:
Lilac is a wonderful wood to turn and very fragrant. It is however tough to dry as it likes to develop spiral cracks along the length of the pieces. Even end coating it right away will not ensure that the checking doesn't happen. Despite that I really enjoy turning it and the added bonus is that my shop smells nice for a while.

Michael

 

[MarkD]

As Michael said, it is very prone to cracking. I have not used it for pens but It made a beautiful bowl http://www.penturners.org/forum/f45/worthless-lilac-bowl-experiment-115163/

 

[winterwood]

Thanks guys, maybe it should be stabilized............but then it may crack during the initial drying process?
Dennis

 

[wood-of-1kind]

Even with cracks, you can infill and the 'contrasting' colour will really add beauty to your pen blank. One of my favourites and as Michael has mentioned, the lingering aroma in the shop is a bonus when turning lilac.

 

[micharms]

Since the wood needs to be dry before stabilization it will crack. Unfortunately that is just the way of things with lilac. You can still get pieces without the cracks but it is pretty much hit and miss. You should be able to get pieces large enough for any pen you want to make. I've made a Triton rollerball and it looks great with the combination of sapwood and heartwood with some nice purple colour. I've also ended up with pieces large enough to turn small vases and a few other things.

Good luck!
Michael

 

[winterwood]

Thanks everyone for your input, I am anxious to turn it.
Dennis

 

[Gumbercules563]

Can you freeze it? Yes the water will expand as it freezes however I have been able to freeze roses in their prime so I can get the colors I want to gather. I have not tried this on wood, but if will most likely crack anyway what do you have to loose? I wood keep them frozen for at least 2 months. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[TimS124]

Maybe try a bowl-drying trick...peel the bark off a piece and soak it overnight in denatured alcohol. Weigh it when it comes out of the alcohol and let it dry for a day...weigh it again, wait a half day, weight it again...when the weight stops changing, it's dry.

For Lilac, I have no idea if that will help fight the cracking during drying but I would certainly try it on a piece if it were mine.

Worst case, it'll still crack but since it'll be dry, you can stabilize it, then cast it to fill in the cracks.