"dirty" wood turning?

WOODENLEG

Hi-
After I awoke from a 3 Month Coma to find my leg gone and that I had had a Stroke-I went looking for a "Classy" Cane. I found very few and taught myself how to use a Lathe. I am now a Master Walking Stick Maker.....

I have a question-Why is it that when I turn certain woods(Chechen, Leadwood and Pheasant Wood)-they EXUDE CLOUDS OF DUST? Have they assimilated the soil during their growth? Any ideas?(I have Latin names for the species...)

Woodenleg

treeshaveneeds

I am not familiar with any of those species, but I expect it would relate to the structure of the wood, the amount of lignification, the rate of decay of the wood, and if any of the wood contains fungal threads.

LeifR

I don't know any of these species, but some trees are supposed to assimilate sand, for example ashwood. But I have never heard of or experieced heavier dust problems with ash than with other species.
There are of course great differences in structure and strength between different types of wood. Broadly spoken we may say that soft wood makes more dust than hard wood, but no rule witout exception.
Turning walking sticks is rather complicated, so you must be a clever guy. Do you have any photos?

Leif.

__________________

My place - Bjørndalen.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MultiVoff

WOODENLEG

I am on EBAY as: TheCaneGent. Both "Chechen & Leadwood" are dense trees with Leadwood being 79 LBS/Cu Ft!. It Blunts steel quickly. One post stated that it could be a pocket of dirt. Not so. I am suprised no one has ever noticed the dirt cloud coming out of the stock while turning or even cutting with table saw.
I have recently been honored to make a "BOSTON POST CANE"-a New England tradition whereby a small town like mine creates a Cane/Walking Stick for the oldest resident and it is passed on after they pass. I asked to use a Sycamore Tree that is near my house. The tree was here in in 1740 when the "Samuel Dutton" house was built. It was huge then. I would guess it is 8-10" in diameter. The current property owners were nice enough to allow an arborist to remove a large branch I had selected. Now I have to find a Kiln to dry it. I know nothing about drying wood-BUT I have read that Sycamore is a bad actor when drying-twisting and warping if not held at bay.
Take a look at my Walking Sticks-I make a trademark "Nantucket" shaped handle.
I have a sailboat and my crew is a bunch of cazy NORGE brothers !!!
Best,
Jim Fay
TheCaneGent
JAMESLFAY@verizon.net