I have the opportunity to acquire some fairly large cottonwood. I know it can be a bit of an allergen for some. What else do I need to know about this particular wood, and is it worth the time?
I had a couple very large pieces of a cottonwood trunk, but I threw it away last month during a city clean-up day after a couple years of letting it sit on the driveway in the weather and split like crazy. It was my fault for leaving it out in the sun and rain, but it was way to stinky to bring into the garage.
There is a bit of a wet dog smell when turning, but nothing unbearable (in my opinion).
Don't get Bill wrong here . The wood is not smelly, must be the rot. It does turn well. ....
It's interesting how we react to smells. I love the smell of freshly cut post oak and some people say that they can't stand it. I haven't turned any box elder that had a bad smell. Several years ago a demonstrator at our club turned a piece of wood that had a really strong barnyard smell. Half of the people left before the program was over and the others just toughed it out. After that we had a new rule -- no stinky wood. I like the smell of cedar wood, but cedar dust gives me a splitting headache. I am pretty certain that not all cottonwood stinks, but the ones that I had were horrible.