Hawthorn

[BaileyNo5]

I was visiting a friend in British Columbia, and when he found out I was a woodturner he insisted I take some hawthorn home. Also got a nice piece of birch while I was at it. I've not dealt with Hawthorn before, but it seems to be a heavy, dense wood that might make a good mallet. I brought a few sticks home and rough turned a quick carver's mallet. This was a test, I've got lots more to play with and can get as much as I want. My buddy hates the stuff and his place is covered with it.

Have no idea how it will act as it dries, guess I'll find out. His trees were not very large, so what I have are basically big branches. To make anything of size, the pith has to stay in, so this thing may just come apart at the seams. I'll seal the ends, pack it in shavings, store in a cool place. It turns nice while green. Pale yellow in color that darkens to orange with exposure to air. Let me know if anyone has experience with it.

[AHill]

From Wikipedia on Crataegus (Hawthorn):

"The wood of some hawthorn species is very hard and resistant to rot. In rural North America, it was prized for use as tool handles and fence posts. The wood being hard it is described by Johns as the best substitute for boxwood for wood engraving."

[robo hippy]

An arborist friend says it is called 'the Mother of the Oak' because the thorns keep rodents away a bit from the acorns. The wild variety, which this one is should be pretty hard. If you are putting it in with shavings, use dry ones, or news paper, or paper bags inside plastic and change the paper every day or two. I would also soak both ends in a penetrating oil. The ornamental hawthorn usually has big bark inclusions.

robo hippy

[MichaelMouse]

This is a case for PEG 1000. Heart-in branches soaked in a 50/50 solution for two-three months at 20C or 1-2 at 40C will yield a heavier, softer surface mallet which won't make radial splits or ring your elbow in use. Some of the hornbeam types I have made have 20 - 30 years of use in the local carving club.

Exceptional woods deserve exceptional treatment to get the desired outcome.

[BaileyNo5]

MichaelMouse said:

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This is a case for PEG 1000. Heart-in branches soaked in a 50/50 solution for two-three months at 20C or 1-2 at 40C will yield a heavier, softer surface mallet which won't make radial splits or ring your elbow in use. Some of the hornbeam types I have made have 20 - 30 years of use in the local carving club.

Exceptional woods deserve exceptional treatment to get the desired outcome.

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Is PEG 1000 similar to the Lee Valley End Grain Sealer? And I'm assuming a 50% PEG 1000/50% water solution? Thanks.

[Arlin Eastman]

Good turn on the mallet and I still have 4 of them to make for people here.

Arlin

[MichaelMouse]

BaileyNo5 said:

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Is PEG 1000 similar to the Lee Valley End Grain Sealer? And I'm assuming a 50% PEG 1000/50% water solution? Thanks.

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Only visually, while the wax "sealer" is in suspension. Wax is an occlusive, stopping up the end grain which is the vascular transport system of the tree, attempting to slow loss to approximate face grain rate. PEG in solution uses the vascular system to penetrate the structure, where it fills empty space and prevents loss of bound water, "bulking" the wood. http://owic.oregonstate.edu/sites/defaul...bs/peg.pdf 50/50 is by weight, as you see.

PEG 1000 can also be used to retard or prevent surface checking on the endgrain of rough turnings. It's similar to the shavings in the bag system, preventing the end grain from rapid shrinkage, forming checks which might expand into splits. It does this through its hygroscopic nature, attracting and holding moisture from the air more than cellulose alone. What doesn't start, doesn't expand.

Though Ed Moulthrop and sons have a way of getting an appearance of finish onto treated wood, mortals like myself (and possibly you) will have a Hell of a time trying to get anything to stick to the surface, or penetrate the slicky sticky treated wood. Acetone wash and Watco is as close as I have come to doing it. With a mallet, hygroscopic action helps keep a "dead blow" surface, though it feels downright clammy in humid weather.

[MKepke]

Just LIL

Would it work to saw out the pith, joint and reglue the green wood using, say, polyu glue? Then turn and dry as normal.

-Mark

[MichaelMouse]

MKepke said:

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Just LIL

Would it work to saw out the pith, joint and reglue the green wood using, say, polyu glue? Then turn and dry as normal.

-Mark

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Nope. Hie on over to the FPL website and pick up the Wood Handbook. It's free, and you'll learn how and why wood behaves as it does. Your example would pull apart readily. Ripping up the middle, allowing to dry, then jointing and regluing would work.

This chuck held more pressure on the wood than any glue is capable of, and look what happened overnight.



Look at the end of a cut branch and notice the radial checks are wider at the edge and narrow toward the center. More wood to contract proportionately out there. Heart checks, which originate at the center, are wider at that point of origin.

[BaileyNo5]

My hunt for PEG 1000 in Canada is turning into a wild goose chase. Lee Valley used to carry it - 8 years ago. Amazon.com and Rockler have it, but won't ship to Canada. I can order a metric ton from China - guess that would have to be a group buy. I can also find small quantities, food grade, in drugstores, where it is sold as a laxative. Interesting. Might have to just break down and buy the Pentacryl, which Lee Valley does carry.