smoke bush wood

[toolmiser]

Have any of you used wood from a "smoke bush"?  Mine had a big section of it die and I kept a piece about 4" diameter.  I painted the ends, and tonight I squared it up a little.  I know there isn't enough to build a house or much of anything, but I thought it might yield something for a lathe project.

It grows fairly fast, so I bet it's pretty soft.  I will hide it away for a couple years and see what happens when it dries.  

Just curious if anyone else has tried using it.

[Bob Vaughan]

Have any of you used wood from a "smoke bush"?  Mine had a big section of it die and I kept a piece about 4" diameter.  I painted the ends, and tonight I squared it up a little.  I know there isn't enough to build a house or much of anything, but I thought it might yield something for a lathe project.

It grows fairly fast, so I bet it's pretty soft.  I will hide it away for a couple years and see what happens when it dries.  

Just curious if anyone else has tried using it.

Its a bit like osage in color except the yellow browns out much more slowly than osage.
Split the log so that the pith is exposed.
Its a great wood for small ornamental turnings as you are thinking.
Its rare to see it in the wood shop because it comes from an ornamental tree (bush) that is either alive and  looking good or cut down and disposed of.
Years back I saw bright yellow ends in a relative's firewood stack and asked for them.  I was told they were from a smoke tree bush they had cut down.  I thought at first the wood was from fresh cut osage limbs.

[toolmiser]

Thanks for the info, looks like I got a couple years to think up a project for it.

[Hank Knight]

Thanks for the info, looks like I got a couple years to think up a project for it.

Making things from ornamentals can produce some really interesting stuff. Here is a box I made from a Redbud (Cercis canadensis) that blew down in a friend's yard.

IMG_1236 by Hank Knight, on Flickr

I suggest you saw it into boards and sticker it to dry rather than trying to dry it in log form. You might want to clamp the sticker stack or put a weight on it to coax it flat while it dries.