Showing Off Sycamore
Sawing and drying pros show photos of sycamore (quartersawn, spalted, and clean-shaven). February 14, 2006
Question
Does anyone have any nice pictures of sawn sycamore? I'm trying to decide if I should try to get a few logs that recently died from the drought here and pay to have them sawn. Is sycamore easy to air dry?
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor A:
I love sycamore; it is great to work with, especially with hand tools. It is stunning when quarter sawn.
From contributor B:
Quarter sawn sycamore:
From contributor C:
Quarter sawn sycamore:
From contributor C:
Spalted sycamore:
From contributor C:
Quarter sawn and spalted sycamore:
From the original questioner:
How easy is it to dry? My sawyer has a vacuum kiln. Should I have him run it through the kiln, or just air dry it? I can easily get it to 12 percent or maybe lower where I live by air drying in my barn.
From contributor D:
Sycamore goes nuts when drying it - you need to weight it down or clamp it.
From contributor C:
Sycamore finishes out pretty well. When sawn green it does move quite a bit. When spalted, it just lays there and takes the sawing just fine. Quarter sawing aids in making it lay flatter and adds to the looks quite a lot.
From contributor E:
I saw Doug Stowe, a nationally known Eureka Springs Arkansas wood artisan last Saturday. I took a picture of a few of his little boxes that sell for mega bucks and this one happens to be QS sycamore. The picture does not do the box justice.
From contributor F:
Here is a sycamore domino box I made with Mesquite accents. The reddish swirls are heartwood. This was from an 8" limb I sawed on my Delta bandsaw before I got my mill.
From contributor F:
Here is a better one -
From contributor G:
Here's a little box I made from sycamore.
From contributor G:
Here is the inside.
