Tell me a little about Sycamore wood

[Blue Duck]

Goodmorning fellas, 

A friend of mine here in the office was asking me why more people around here didn't cut and saw sycamore wood for saw logs.  I've cut some but it doesn't bring much at the sawmill compared to other hardwoods.  I really don't know much about sycamores other than they're a very heavy, wet wood to saw into.  What kind of characteristics does the wood have as far as grain, strength, asthetics, uses?  Thanks guys.

[Jeff]

Hey guys, Its out of my range so there are some good answers out there yet. I know a lot of you guys saw it. What I do know is I think its beautimus stuff when its quartersawn. Outstanding rays. 8)

[Tom]

Sycamore is one of the most talked about woods that get custom sawed, here on the forum

Put sycamore in the Search window and you will find at least 10 pages of posts.

It isn't commercially available because it isn't harvested in a quantity that interests the big mills.

It seems to be favored in quarter-sawed boards of 5/4.  It can be difficult to dry.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/ch01.pdf

[Bro. Noble]

Sycamore is prone to shake,  so you would want to look the logs over pretty carefully. 

The trees are a joy to log,  because they are strait,  smooth,  and usually with few limbs.  The wood is soft and easy to cut with a chainsaw and to mill.

The wood is not as heavy as oak and is light  after it dries out,  but as previously mentioned,  it can be a problem drying.  It is bad to twist and bend and cup and curl etc.  I wish I had taken a picture of some that I had on stickers onetime.  It sat for a long time and there was one board that crawled about a foot out of the side of the stack.  It looked like a snake :D :D

It is good construction lumber for farm buildings.  If you nail it up soon after sawing and keep it in the dry,  it holds up very well.  A great uncle of mine built a large barn out of sycamore in the 1930's.  It's a couple of miles down the river from us and is still in good shape.  Whenever that barn is mentioned,  it never fails that the person talking about it adds "and it's made entirely of sycamore,  you know" :D :D

Sycamore has entertwining grain,  so it's almost impossible to split.  They used to make butcher blocks out of it because of it's resistance to splitting.

We sell it in RR ties and pallet stock. 

Oh,  yes,  you can also dip the sycamore seed balls in paint and make nice Christmas decorations 8) 8)  But you need a honeylocust sprout to make a gumdrop tree :D :D

[Larry]

A little box made by wood artesian Doug Stowe out of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  Front shows the ray fleck of quarter sawn sycamore quite nicely.
                     



I sent a shipment of rotten (spalted) sycamore to California bout a month ago.  This little piece made it's way up north while back.




I'm in the heart of the nations best black walnut country...sometimes called black gold.  Truth be know quarter sawn sycamore can yield more money.  Never have found any demand for flat sawn...might as well burn it.

Poke around in my gallery and ya can find more pics of delicious rotten sycamore.

[Ron Wenrich]

Sycamore used to be called buttonwood because that's what they made buttons from. 

When I first started in the business, I worked with a lumber buyer from Buffalo, NY.  He said that Buffalo used to be quite the center for well made furniture.  He used to talk to a lot of those old furniture makers.

He was told that the better furniture used to have sycamore used as drawer sides.  Seems that sycamore has a natural oil and by using it for drawer sides meant they wouldn't squeak.  They also slid better.

I have turned a few pens out of sycamore.  It gives a much different look than other woods. 

[Jeff]

Now there were some answers!  Larry, I get to show that block to everyone that comes to my house.

[Modat22]

I've only sawn 400 bdft of sycamore. Most QS some rift, its all stacked in a barn and I can't wait to start making furniture with it  ;D Its a fantastic looking wood when quartersawn. I fell in love with it on the first cut.

[Quartlow]

I've usd some for drawers. We actually have a place up by cleveland that stocks quarter sawn.
I still have some in the shop. I've been told that once quarter sawn is dry its pretty stable which is another reason it was used for drawers.

[WDH]

I too have used it as secondary wood for drawers in a chest-of-drawers.  Did fine.  However, I glued some wide panels for kitchen pantry shelves, and it gave me fits!@!!!!!!!!  They panels were not all quartersawn.  They ended up very wavy.  I cut them apart and re-glued them twice, but they would stand for it!  Not the best thing for a wide panel or table-top in my opinion.

[jrdwyer]

Plain sawn sycamore used to be pretty standard for drawer sides in the furniture manufacturing industry. Plywood, plus the loss of the domestic furniture industry, has eliminated most furniture demand for flat sawn sycamore.

There are still a few companies using it. Mobel Furniture out of Ferdinand, IN was using it when we bought our bedroom furniture in 1999. Here is a picture:

http://dwyerforestry.com/Pictures/Mobel%20Furniture2.JPG

[Blue Duck]

 :P  Thaks for the education fellows.  I'll pass the information along.

[thurlow]

I've usd some for drawers.

Interesting!! ;D  I'd be concerned about splinters.  8)  My mother used to make my sister's drawers...........back in hard times;  she usually used flour sacks.

[jrdwyer]

I found another use of sycamore in our home. It is turned chair legs on a Flexsteel upholstered chair. I believe this chair was made in Pennsylvania, so some sawmill up north is selling 7/4 or 8/4 sycamore lumber. Here is a picture:

http://dwyerforestry.com/Pictures/Turned_Sycamore_Chair_Leg.JPG

One of these day I am going to stop buying furniture and buy some tools to make furniture. Just not enough money or time yet.