Staghorn sumac

[ThomJ]

Anyone turned any staghorn sumac? Any thing special in it? I just cut one down, 5" dia.

 

[micharms]

I turn lots of staghorn sumac. It is very soft but has great green (loml says yellow) colouration. Great grain also. This isn't the best photo but it is the only one I can find of anything I've turned using sumac. I have a few pen blanks I'm planning on turing and will try and get one done in the next day or two and will post another photo then.
Michael

 

[workinforwood]

I use that wood a lot with intarsia. It's beautiful, the olive like green color with some brown in the heart, large growth rings, the stuff grows fast, and it is a very soft wood, so it can tear out real easy and dent real easy. When I say tear out, I don't necessarily mean it's a brute to turn and it will explode, but it is a very soft fuzzy wood...spin it and you'll see what I mean by all the fuzzies.

 

[wolftat]

Check it out under black light.

 

[srf1114]

some species of sumac can have produce a severe allergic reactions. how does this one do?

 

[micharms]

Poison sumac is a relative of poison ivy and poison oak. Staghorn, as far as I know (and I'm no expert) may cause an allergic reaction in some but is not a strong allergen. Different people have different sensitivities to all sorts of things so everyone should be sensible and at least use respiratory protection when turning.

Michael

 

[JerrySambrook]

It is a soft wood for turning. You might want to firm up the inside with some ca after you drill for your tubes, redrill, then bond on the tubes.
It is also very easy to sand into a non round condition because of the vast difference in the late and early ring hardness.
Kightly snading with a 1/2 wrap sanding process spreads the force over a larger area and will minimize the differentiation between the early and late ring sanding "ridges"