Turning Fla. cypress? Live oak ?

[Richard Patrick]

So I ran into a local ( southeast Florida) tree service owner today and asked if I could acquire some logs for turning. He told me that he has some recently cut cypress and oak. I have never turned cypress before and my only experience with oak was with live oak and it cracked badly. Full disclosure; when I tried the live oak I was still very new to turning and probably didn’t take proper precautions in storing the wood and likely left it too thick after finish turning ( once turned). Meeting him at his yard day after tomorrow and was just looking here for advice from more seasoned turners on these two species of wood. Any advice appreciated.

 

[hockenbery]

In most cases I would prefer oak over cypress.
You should try some of each.

Cypress is too soft for functional bowls. It is usually pretty bland.
Makes great full size birdhouses

I turn quite a bit of laurel oak and some live oak.

This was a shot of oak bowls in progress all from Florida
Going clock wise the one with bark was a picked up from a pile of roadside yard trash species unknown
Live oak, two at the top laurel oak. For scale to two larger ones are 15-16” on the long axis.


Laurel oak 9” x 5” Florida



Red oak with spalting sapwood - Maryland

 

[Richard Patrick]

In most cases I would prefer oak over cypress.
You should try some of each.

Cypress is too soft for functional bowls. It is usually pretty bland.
Makes great full size birdhouses

I turn quite a bit of laurel oak and some live oak.

This was a shot of oak bowls in progress all from Florida
Going clock wise the one with bark was a picked up from a pile of roadside yard trash species unknown
Live oak, two at the top laurel oak. For scale to two larger ones are 15-16” on the long axis.
View attachment 61237

Laurel oak 9” x 5” Florida
View attachment 61238


Red oak with spalting sapwood - Maryland
View attachment 61239

Hockenbery, thanks for the response. Guess I’ll go on Thursday and grab a little of each. Maybe establish a relationship for future opportunities. There’s lots of other woods that I’m sure he runs across.

 

[Wally Crawford]

I have only turned a couple cypress bowls from dried wood. They turned well without any problems. The wood was a very light color of yellow and I thought quite attractive. Both sold quickly.

 

[William Rogers]

I am going to turn some cypress for fishing gaffs. The cypress I have is very wet, 33% MC. I rough turned it and it is now in my kiln. Soft wood turns easily. Looks a like pine to me with a tighter grain pattern. For a bowl a negative would be it dents easily. It is very light weight.

 

[hockenbery]

Hockenbery, thanks for the response. Guess I’ll go on Thursday and grab a little of each. Maybe establish a relationship for future opportunities. There’s lots of other woods that I’m sure he runs across.

If he’s providing the wood free,
A turned gift is always appreciated. If you have a turned pen that might work.
A nice bowl in the future

 

[Richard Patrick]

Hockenbery, my thoughts exactly. I’ve been playing around with small boxes lately. I’m bringing this one, camphor with maple insert in lid.

 

[Lou Currier]

I turn a lot of live oak and love the figure. drying is important otherwise you need to turn thin if wet and it will warp. It is also great for birdhouse ornaments, and I like to leave as much bark on it as possible. When dried though, it can be pretty hard.

Like someone else said, Cypress can be pretty bland and it is in the conifer family meaning that it is soft.

 

[Richard Coers]

You might not want to turn the cypress wet, but I think it would look very nice. The cypress I have worked has a distinct late grain, not unlike Douglas Fir. Just bigger growth rings. And as I always say on posts like this; ALL WOOD IS NICE TO TURN.

 

[Tim Otto]

I have only turned a couple cypress bowls from dried wood. They turned well without any problems. The wood was a very light color of yellow and I thought quite attractive. Both sold quickly.

Here is some Altamaha river sinker cypress from the tidal zone....45,000 years old. The photos do not do the wood justice

 

[Tim Otto]

Here is some commercial grade modern cypress. It has it's own beauty. My photo studio needs work.

 

[Chuck Kubin]

The general rules for drying and storing wood apply -- coat the cut ends, remove the pith, be patient. You can cut blanks and rough turn to speed the drying process; wood being wood, don't expect all of it to turn out as you want.