Shopsmith Forums

Is it any good to do some turning with lilac wood ?
It is not big stock, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter ... before my neighbour burn it, I was wondering if any of you ever did something with that kind of wood.

Hey, if it's not toxic, you could always test-turn a piece.

I remember a Woodturning Design magazine article where a guy even made a pen out of poison-ivy wood. He just took many precautions on dust-control and sealing the wood. Different is good, many times!

nuhobby wrote:Hey, if it's not toxic, you could always test-turn a piece.

I remember a Woodturning Design magazine article where a guy even made a pen out of poison-ivy wood. He just took many precautions on dust-control and sealing the wood. Different is good, many times!

I think I would stick with the lilac and skip the PI.(Hmmm. I just made a connection between poison ivy and a small island off the coast of SC - not good for the ivy!:rolleyes:).

Lilac is a hard dense wood that should make some nice small lathe turnings or perhaps you could cut it up to make some small boxes. And, 4" diameter is something you don't find often from a shrub. I think I've got some drying around here, but I'm not sure.

Lilac should work on a lathe. Never tried to work any my self, and the only bad thing I can remember from cutting back (several times) some old (40 year old) lilac was a wide pith area that was sometimes very soft or rotted.

Thanks everyone ...
I also went and search on Google and found some interesting answers like boiling the wood because it is prone to split very badly. I will let you know my results if I do something with it.
Again thank you all.

Have several from bushes on the family farm up in the Adirondacks.