Materials

[DUD]

I have Black Walnut, Red Oak, White Oak, Pine, Poplar, Spruce, Cedar, and Cypress that I know of on hand. Are any of these not good for turning, at least pratice turning? Thanks, Bill

[Glenmore]

Hi Dud I'm new here. I turned some stuff out of walnut, red oak, and some pine. Pine I used for praticing the red oak and walnut I used for projects both dull the tools pretty quick on tools just have to keep them good and sharp.

[Tom Hintz]

All of them are good but I like pine for practice because it is cheap but it also shows you in no uncertain terms when you are or are not riding the bevel. Ride the bevel as you should and the surface is nice and clean. Don't ride the bevel and pine lets you know with a clearly rough surface.

[kwgeorge]

I personally like turning Walnut and have used it a lot. Oak is not near as much fun as it is a really chippy wood when turning dry and I am not a big fan of the open grain woods like Oak and Ash anyway. Poplar will turn very well and is a good practice wood as it is very strait grained with little figure so it cuts very easy. Cedar is fun and very pretty but for a new turner could be very frustrating as it is so soft it is a bit hard to keep the grain for tearing out. As far as cypress, pine and other conifers they tend to be a bit catchy for the new turner and lead to frustration.