Box Alder/Manitoba Maple. Good for anything?

[IndyIan]

One of my neighbors has had a good size Manitoba Maple tree down for a couple months and I am thinking of offering to take it away for the wood.  
How does the grain look flat or quarter sawn?  I'm imagining that the weight and strength is similar to white pine which would make it easy to saw with my alaskan mill.  I can use the wood for rough carpentry as I'm going to build an outhouse and shed on my land.
Also does it dry reasonalby straight?
Thanks for any info!
Ian

[Greg]

Ian,

Here's a coupla links on box elder. Doesn't appear to be a very commonly sawn lumber, being typically described as "soft" & "weak"

http://www.lehighvalleywoodturners.org/page46.html

http://www.agoodturn.com/wood/

It does have some interesting spalting characteristics - some nice red coloration, which can present alot of potential for wood turners to create unique, beautiful pieces.

Any turners around here?
Greg

[IndyIan]

Greg,
Thanks for the links, the wood looks pretty neat with the red spalting.  I was hesitant about milling it since the tree is in the city but I'm more willing to risk my regular saw chain to buck up the tree.
Going to go knock on the door tonight and see what the owner says.

[Jeff]

As a kid I remember dumping syrup pails that were attached to the maples in front of My Grandma's house for the Shephard Maple Syrup festival. As an adult I stopped in front of her old house a couple years ago to reminisce.

Those Maples had turned into Box Elders. They were still tapping them.

[CHARLIE]

Check to see if there is a woodturning club in your area or some local woodturners. Box elder is a wonderful turning wood and the red mineral colors make for some interesting projects. You could either cut them bowl blanks or let them take the crotches or limbs that you don't want.

[whitepe]

Charlie,
Speaking of wood turning,  I'm thinking about getting a lathe.
All of the reviews in woodworking magazines on lathes seem to confuse me more than help.  I would like to turn bowls,  make table lamps, and similar types of projects.   I am not really very interested in turning pens although I have seen some really nice pens that Rick Schmalzried has turned. What do you think is the most important criteria to look for in a lathe?  What brands would you recommend?  
Any advice would be appreciated.  I have only used a lathe once in my life and that was back in 1964 in 7th grade shop class.  That project was a bowl that I made for my mother
of alternate 3/4" thick pieces of hard maple / walnut.

Thanks,
PU-PEW

[beenthere]

In regard to Whitpe's question about what to look for in a lathe for turning lamp bases, and bowls:

In my limited experience, weight is important (so it doesn't shake all over the room when you have something big in the lathe), ability to change the speed (rpm) to slow when turning something big, and distance between the head and tail stock (to fit the lamp base or whatever). I would add good bearings in the tailstock center too, along with a usable head stock for outboard turning (put a big block on to turn a bowl on just the head stock).  

For some, a good used machine lathe with the tool rest is preferred, but usually more expensive. But if you are in to making wood rollers, etc., this can be a good way to go.

[Bro. Noble]

Perry,

You probably will want to consider size------ease of hiding from Becky!!! ;)

Noble

[CHARLIE]

Perry, it depends on how much money you want to spend.

Oneway (Canadian) is an excellent lathe but will run you $3,000 to $5,000. Plenty of weight and quality made.

Powermatic also makes several fine lathes. The one I would like to have is over $2000 and has a movable head that slides down the ways. They are good quality machines. This is the one I would get if I cold afford it.

I like Jet lathes too. DanG good quality for the price. I've turned for many years on a Jet 1236 that cost me about $560 and it's done well for me. I fixed the weight problem with sandbags. Jet has come out with a couple other models that I'd give my eyeteeth to have.

If you have the money to spend, try and get a lathe with at least a 2 HP motor because you can then use those attachements to cut several bowls from one chunk of wood. Less than 2 HP you'll tend to stall.

How much money are you wanting to spend? Check out the Jet lathes and the Powermatic lathes. You can't go wrong with any of them and they have a good price range. While weight is important, you can always add sandbags like I did.

For lathe tools, be sure to buy High Speed Steel. When you get ready to purchase some of these, let me know. Don't buy a set. You can start off with just 3 or 4 and add as you go. The real key to turning wood is keeping the tools very sharp.
 
Charlie    

[Eggsander]

Check out the latest Fine Woodworking magazine (Taunton Press) They just happen to have a very good article on Box Elder. It looks like beautiful wood but they also caution that the red tones and variations will fade with exposure to light.
After reading the article, I can just see all of 'em that we've pushed up in burn piles.  :