I recently came into a neighborhood hickory tree being cut down, and was able to get about ten bowl blanks out of it. Aside from the fact that wood was killer on my gouge edge, I learned after the fact that shavings and dust from it is toxic to garden plants, containing a natural herbicide, so I have to bag it up and throw it away, rather than using it in the compost bin. I’ve cut back on turning walnut as I seem to be allergic to the dust, and I also just looked into black locust as a tree came down in the neighborhood, but just read that locust has toxic properties, though I’ve turned it in the past and not suffered any ill effects (I avoid eating the leaves and bark!).
I wonder if there are woods you avoid from a health or safety perspective? I use a PAPR when sanding most woods, and have pretty effective dust collection, but I’m at a point where I want to mitigate any risk when possible.
I wonder if there are woods you avoid from a health or safety perspective? I use a PAPR when sanding most woods, and have pretty effective dust collection, but I’m at a point where I want to mitigate any risk when possible.