• July 2025 Turning Challenge: Turn a Multi-axis Weed Pot! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to James Seyfried for "NE Red Oak II" being selected as Turning of the Week for July 21, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Trumpet Vine

Well, I discovered Trumpet Vine is also called Cow Itch. That would explain why my arms started itching when I cut it up with a chainsaw. It would also explain why the itching continued when I rounded a piece on the lathe. I think I will toss the pieces I have in the shop.
 
My friend John Styer turns pens from poison ivy vine. John says once it is dry it no longer causes the allergic reaction most of us have to it.
I've sen him turn it a few time with. O problems to himself or onlookers.

Perhaps dry cow itch might be more tuner friendly.

My vine turning has been limited to grape vine. No problems there,
Have fun,
Al
 
Ray, I never found out why it is called that. I still have a rosy red rash today but thankfully no itch today. Yesterday it was quite uncomfortable. The itch was not like poison ivy but more like insulation was rubbed against my skin. I read yesterday of so terrible cases that went systemic.
 
Last edited:
hockenbery said:
My friend John Styer turns pens from poison ivy vine. John says once it is dry it no longer causes the allergic reaction most of us have to it.
I've sen him turn it a few time with. O problems to himself or onlookers.

Perhaps dry cow itch might be more tuner friendly.

My vine turning has been limited to grape vine. No problems there,
Have fun,
Al
Click to expand...

I have heard that before. One of the worst cases of poison ivy I ever had was when I planted bulbs on the hill behind our old house. The dried stubble that scratched my arms and hands was old dried poison ivy that had been mowed down.
 
I don't profess to be a botanist (plant guy for the sake of this discussion) but I found an interesting item here
http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=2169
Trumpet Vine or creeper is Campsis radicans, one of the poison ivy's is Toxicodendron radicans so I suspect there is some relationship and the itching.
A google search of Cow3 Itch is fairly interesting. We have a few of the trumpets, and I suspect if you have one, soon you have many. They are pretty invasive once established.
 
Hello everyone!

Well, I do profess (....quite literally, on weekdays, to many students!) to be a botanist, and can provide some information on this discussion.

Trumpet creeper, Campsis radicans, is a vine in the family Bignoniaceae (the Catalpa Family) that does accumulate wood in the long-lived vines. There are chemicals (various quinones) that can cause contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals. From what Barbara describes, I would not be surprised to find that there are calcium oxalate raphide crystals present in the wood, bark, etc. which, when liberated by your gouge, etc., could contact the skin and give similar tactile irritation response as fiberglass particles would. This sounds like a physical irritation response rather than a chemical sensitivity response, given the limited information available. Not sure about the concern for the reaction to surface irritants "going systemic".

In contrast, Poison Ivy, Toxicodendron radicans [formerly Rhus radicans] is a vine in the family Anacardiaceae (the Cashew or Sumac Family) which has a specific chemical, urushiol, that causes the familiar itchy, blistering/pustulating dermatitis reaction and sweat duct irritation in sensitized individuals. Al, you can tell your friend that even though the wood of poison ivy dries, the toxic urushiol is still present in the wood; it is just a bit more difficult to transfer to skin, etc. than when fresh. Shavings and sanding dust still have the compound in them, and reactions to urushiol will likely be similar (or worse?) if taken into the lungs on sanding dust as it would be on hands and arms, etc. ( BTW - I thought it very irresponsible of Woodturning Design magazine to publish their article a while back on turning poison ivy wood, even though they had a disclaimer in the article. )

The shared species epithet "radicans' in Latin means "producing roots or becoming rooted" (="taking root") and describes the growth habit of the plants. These two different vines are by no means related to one another taxonomically, biochemically, or evolutionarily - they just share the same vining growth habit. No other similarity can be drawn between them.

I hope this adds some additional information and clarification about Campsis versus Toxicodendron in this discussion.

Rob Wallace
(Iowa State University)
 
Great information Rob. I had read the systemic thing on one of the plant sites I visited but have no idea which one.
After starting to itch when I cut the vine with a chainsaw I was a little suspicious and decided to wear my respirator when I roughed out that piece. I don't usually wear one with green wood.
The wood was interesting but not enough for me to turn any more.:D
 
cow lick, poison ivy, fiberglass--- if cow lick react like poison ivy then I would not turn it on a lathe, I been told that some people can catch poison ivy from a distance if the poison ivy are burning and the smoke contact your skin
 
Capitalizing names

Common plant names are handled the same way as common object names: they are not capitalized unless the word is also a proper noun (e.g. American elm, African blackwood, etc.)

For scientific names, the first word (genus) is capped and the following words (species, subspecies, etc.) aren't. They are also italicized or underlined.

Acer negundo = boxelder. Acer platanoides = Norway maple. When in doubt whether a common name is one word or two, I look to the USDA Forest Service for guidance.
 
Last edited:
Tib Shaw said:
Common plant names are handled the same way as common object names: they are not capitalized unless the word is also a proper noun (e.g. American elm, African blackwood, etc.)

For scientific names, the first word (genus) is capped and the following words (species, subspecies, etc.) aren't. They are also italicized or underlined.

Acer negundo = boxelder. Acer platanoides = Norway maple. When in doubt whether a common name is one word or two, I look to the USDA Forest Service for guidance.
Click to expand...

Whew! Who knew turning could be so complicated.
 
If I say that I were hit with a green briar, it could be any brier , when I say Green briar then it may not be very green
 
Last edited:
davidwalser said:
Whew! Who knew turning could be so complicated.
Click to expand...

David:

Welcome to my world!

Yes - details matter, and Tib is correct. I am still one of those professors who follow the principle that spelling counts and you have to write and speak accurately if you are to be taken seriously and treated professionally.

Say YES to old-school learning values!

Rob
 
Lest people should think me a cranky grammar stickler, I posted the information only because the capitalization question came up in the thread :)

So...a Texas Tech professor and an Oxford professor are chilling at a conference bar. The Texan professor looks to the Oxonian professor and strikes up a conversation. "So there partner, where y'all from?" The Oxford prof replies, pushing his glasses to his nose: "Well, in reply to your query, I hail from Oxford. In addition, where I come from, we never end our sentences in a preposition." The Texan blinks once, shrugs his shoulders and drawls, "My apologies! What I mean to say is 'where y'all from, a*****e?'"

Manners trump grammar every time.
 
Following the rules is the true path to equality. Henry Higgins (and GBS) had it right.

Thus, it is proper to note that foreign words of any sort, including binomials in biology, unless in common English usage, should also be italicized (or italicised, if you're a Bloke).
 
Tib Shaw said:
Lest people should think me a cranky grammar stickler, I posted the information only because the capitalization question came up in the thread :)

So...a Texas Tech professor and an Oxford professor are chilling at a conference bar. The Texan professor looks to the Oxonian professor and strikes up a conversation. "So there partner, where y'all from?" The Oxford prof replies, pushing his glasses to his nose: "Well, in reply to your query, I hail from Oxford. In addition, where I come from, we never end our sentences in a preposition." The Texan blinks once, shrugs his shoulders and drawls, "My apologies! What I mean to say is 'where y'all from, a*****e?'"

Manners trump grammar every time.
Click to expand...

Tib, I appreciate the information and the humor.:D

I just figured out that Ray took exception to my post saying it was "Cow Itch". I wasn't correcting your grammar Ray. You called it cow lick and I just wanted to let you know the correct common name.
 
Last edited:
Barbara Gill said:
Tib, I appreciate the information and the humor.:D

I just figured out that Ray took exception to my post saying it was "Cow Itch". I wasn't correcting your grammar Ray. You called it cow lick and I just wanted to let you know the correct common name.
Click to expand...

Barbara, EXCUSE my mistake but consider how slow my brain works , you got my permission to correct me , [cow-itch NOT cow lick]
this would been a good time for the moderators to correct my mistake
 
Last edited:
Contrary to popular belief, the Mods don't correct spelling (although I have been mightily tempted, I've limited it to an occasional correction of a woodturner's name). So everyone be warned: what you type is what you get, unless you use spell check or a proofreader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)
 
using the wrong name [cow lick] is not a big deal but not being able to see the mistake do hurt, I usual catch my spelling mistakes when I type but if I use the wrong word when I am talking[ NO RECALLS, NO RECALLS
many thanks to all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top