I got my hands on some cottonwood this past week!

[cityslicker]

I found a cotton wood tree that had been removed to install a parking lot about ten blocks from my house. Of course I could not pass up such a perfect log and scenario. Spent about two hours removing the very thick bark and was very glad I did. This is the first tree I have milled that did not have bullets, nails, bolts, screws, bicycles, or parked cars in it! The actually cutting went very well. I ended up with seven 3.5" thick slabs 8' long and up to 46" wide. My Dad and I unloaded it at his house with his tractor which I was grateful for because these are very heavy! If I did not have a day job I would be back at the pile milling everyday.




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[WidowMaker1]

heres your Pictures Cityslicker, Looks great mate ...nice work there!

 

[john taliaferro]

Yes it looks heavy , tractors are a good thing . what are you gonna do with it ,sure is nice looking wood ?

 

[cityslicker]

Thanks for the picture help. I am hoping that a few of the slabs will dry well and not split open so that we can make dining tables with them. Does anyone have any experience with the drying characteristics of cottonwood? Does it tend to dry well or split often? This is my first time working with cottonwood.

 

[BlueRider]

whenever I get something new I look for a 6-8" branch and cut a 2" long chunk. I take it back to my shop and slice it into 1/2" thick boards and then dry a few in the microwave. I dry them one at a time and I place a couple of 1/2 x 1/2 green stickers under it. It takes a bit of playing and seat of the pants guessing to come up with a dryng schedule but I usually start at 80% power and let it run till it is really steaming out the ends. then I pull it out and let it cool for a couple of minutes then repete until it no longer steams. if it turns brown back off a bit.

By microwaving several slices you shoud get an idea of how the quarter sawn vs the plane sawn move and warp during drying as well as if it will crack.

You can also pull one of the hot sabs out with a pair of oven mits and bend it to get an idea of hw suitable that type of wood is for steam bending.