Anybody ever turn Japanese Tallow(popcorn trees)

[Hu Lowery]

Going to try to get the wood lathe cranked up again after the first. Been shut down getting close to three months for one reason or another.

I have a lot of Japanese Tallow on this place, big for those trees. Fine healthy trees which I won't hesitate to make unhealthy in a heartbeat! I have little tolerance for invasive species.

I'm thinking about turning some very wet to finish size, maybe a few blanks too. What can I expect?

Thanks for any Assistance,
Hu

 

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

AKA: chinese tallow?

seen some stuff turned from chinese tallow. wood was really not much to look at.

good for practice if nothing else.

or the burn pile

 

[Hu Lowery]

Probably the same thing or close

Might be called a little different in different areas. A very white wood that has a lot of sapwood and not a lot of heartwood. Seems like the heartwood might be dark on the bigger trees but I'm not positive.

The wood seems to be pretty weak and the texture maybe a little coarse. I don't really think it would be much to turn but I didn't think sweet gum would be either and I understand it is, that is why I asked about the tallow trees. One thing, I can't do any harm cutting them down. Very few animals eat the seeds and the commercial value of mature trees is nil as far as I know. Never noticed the wood having a lot of BTU's burning it outdoors but there are tons of BTU's in the seeds for their size. The tallow in the seeds goes up almost like a kitchen match head.

I took a look at pictures of the two trees, either very close cousins or the same tree. Both look so close to what we have here I can't tell which I have. This was one of Ben Franklin's few oopses apparently as he is credited with first bringing it here. Later in the early 1900's the federal government introduced it in the gulf coast states to help us! Ranks right up there with kudzu as things established down here to help us!

"We are from the government and we are here to help you."

Thanks a bunch for your reply, kinda confirms my suspicions. Might cut one or two down just for spite!

Hu

 

[odie]

I haven't heard of Chinese Tallow before.......probably because it's not considered a very desirable turning wood and is mostly in the SE USA.

It's considered an "invasive species" and apparently is crowding out other native species in our forests. Thought to have been introduced by Benjamin Franklin here, and it's been used as a source of seed oil in China for years.

ooc

http://www.texasinvasives.org/resources/publications/04_Tallow_TFA.pdf

 

[Dennis Ford]

I have turned it a few times. Most was bland color and plain figure, larger pieces can have very interesting color variations. It smells a little bad, cuts nicely while wet, a little stringy when dry. It did not bother me but I have heard of reactions to this wood.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Can have sone variations in color from white to a dark brown . The dark colors have a nice grain. Not easy to turn. I have day to leave it for a good while after starting and come back. Has a lot of tearout and will need some 80 grit gouge work.

 

[Hu Lowery]

Thanks a Bunch!

Thanks for the additional information!

I do have some fair sized trees of that stuff and may cut one down just for spite. Should be some of that dark wood I thought I remembered in the trunk as these are bigger than the ones I cut years back. No hope of getting rid of these things but I have to cut them out of my grass in my yard, the hay pasture, and anywhere there is a speck of dirt showing.

I have to confirm but I think I can cut down a chinaberry snag in the side pasture. Not much left but the trunk and a few small limbs but it is alive and while I believe the wood isn't great turning, it is in the mahogany family and a pretty dark wood.

I appreciate all of the information!

Hu

 

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

Thanks for the additional information!

I do have some fair sized trees of that stuff and may cut one down just for spite. Should be some of that dark wood I thought I remembered in the trunk as these are bigger than the ones I cut years back. No hope of getting rid of these things but I have to cut them out of my grass in my yard, the hay pasture, and anywhere there is a speck of dirt showing.

I have to confirm but I think I can cut down a chinaberry snag in the side pasture. Not much left but the trunk and a few small limbs but it is alive and while I believe the wood isn't great turning, it is in the mahogany family and a pretty dark wood.

I appreciate all of the information!

Hu

chinaberry is different that chinese tallow (I learned that a few years back, even though we always called the tallow trees "chinaberry")

wood from chinaberry is turnable and can look nice.

 

[Hu Lowery]

Thanks!

chinaberry is different that chinese tallow (I learned that a few years back, even though we always called the tallow trees "chinaberry")

wood from chinaberry is turnable and can look nice.

Thanks,

I am talking about a completely different tree here. these grow much larger than any tallow trees I have seen. This one is maybe two feet diameter and about twelve feet tall to where it is broken off. Might be some nice bowls hiding in there. The small hard green berries that turn yellow when mature were a favorite to throw at each other when we were kids. I did see a video of someone turning a large bowl from one of these trees. It was beautiful but somewhat open grained wood which had to be dealt width.

The tallow tree inquiry was just looking for an excuse to carry on my long term vendetta against them and maybe get a little use out of the invasive monsters! I have cut and burned dozens of them that were tree sized over the years and no doubt thousands of smaller ones have met their death at my hands. When it comes to tree hugging some I exclude and those things and black locust are near the top of my list, for different reasons!

Hu

 

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

this is chinaberry:

and chinese tallow:

sorry for the giant image. Hope it doesn't give you nightmares.

 

[Hu Lowery]

jes' wait

Shawn,

Just wait till I get out my chainsaw, I'll show you nightmares! I have plenty of tallow to abuse and some pine that needs trimming. Then I still have twenty-five acres or so of woods to scavenge through.

My chinaberry down here has slightly thinner leaves or maybe a little longer stems on the clusters of leaves I believe. Maybe not though, haven't studied them that closely. Definitely the top foliage and nothing like the bottom!

Hu

 

[Breck Whitworth]

Hu, I have turned quite a few Chinese Tallow trees, it is an excellent turning wood if you turn it fresh cut and provided it is an older tree, you can get some incredibly beautiful brown and white colors. If you can find an older larger tree that has struggled to survive it will possibly have the brown and white colors I am talking about. Regardless the wood is fun to turn green turned to finish or twice turned. It was used to make soap hence the name tallow, and it was used to make furniture in China. It came to the US in the 1700's and like you said has been classified as an invasive species because it grows so fast. Here are a few pieces I have made from it. All of these bowls were made from the same tree.

 

[Hu Lowery]

Beautiful pieces!

Hu, I have turned quite a few Chinese Tallow trees, it is an excellent turning wood if you turn it fresh cut and provided it is an older tree, you can get some incredibly beautiful brown and white colors. If you can find an older larger tree that has struggled to survive it will possibly have the brown and white colors I am talking about. Regardless the wood is fun to turn green turned to finish or twice turned. It was used to make soap hence the name tallow, and it was used to make furniture in China. It came to the US in the 1700's and like you said has been classified as an invasive species because it grows so fast. Here are a few pieces I have made from it. All of these bowls were made from the same tree.View attachment 7086View attachment 7087View attachment 7085

Breck,

Those are some beautiful pieces! Thanks for posting the pictures, definitely an encouragement since the tallow is in places it needs to go and as mentioned I'm not a fan of the trees anyway.

This is some older stuff, not the biggest chinese tallow I have seen but some over forty feet tall. I remembered some stuff in the 12-16 inch range having that contrasting dark wood I thought but it has been 12-15 years since I cut down a bunch on an old piece of land I had and my memory sometimes mixes things up a little. This stuff is in rolling hills and river bottom, especially the stuff on the hillside seems likely to have struggled, some is pretty gnarly looking.

Don't know if I have already mentioned it in this thread; one more thing of interest about a tallow tree, tremendous amount of energy in the seeds. Burn one and it goes up like a sulfur match. There was some research and testing trying to find a practical way to harvest the seeds and use the energy decades ago, guess it went nowhere.

Thanks a bunch for the pictures and information!
Hu