cotton wood

its hard to plane it, you have to have sharp blades and really high speeds to avoid the fuzzing. it could be used with a veneer covering if you have enough but most people use it as a carving wood. its a little heavier than basswood but works just as well.

here is a good write up i found :

http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-1/cottonwood/

hope this helps!

Chris

-- Opps....oh well, paint will cover that.

It has been almost a month and the cotton wood trees are still shedding their cotton in my area. Is it worse this year? And if so what makes some years worse then others?
Vierect

The wood is pretty much useless, but the bark is great for carving!

-- Larry "Work like a Captain but Play like a Pirate!"

I’d like nothing more than to see my neighbor’s cottonwood trees in board form. What a messy tree!

I have seen it milled into 1×6 T&G paneling and it is really pretty. It has some nice color variation in it.

I’ve heard people say that the cottonwood in our area is actually tulip poplar. I don’t know if that’s true, but the boards do look sorta alike.

Whatever you do with it, make sure it’s dry. That stuff holds a ton of water.

-- Tony - Anchorage, Alaska

I heated my shop in North Dakota with it. It wasn’t the best firewood either but it was cheap.

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I had a couple boards once. I recall it very well because when i ripped them on the table saw they both violently sprang into the shape of a compound curved banana.

-- "The way to make a small fortune in woodworking- start with a large one"

It makes decent small drawer bottoms and secondary wood…but I agree not really good for much that is going to show. It’s soft and not attractive. I only use it to sticker good lumber coming off the sawmill.

-- http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

The only good use I know of for cottonwood is for decking on a lowboy. I cut some up for a guy one time but I can’t remember how thick it was. I have heard of other people using it for lowboy decking also. (This could be a good thing to do wtih your neighbors trees when they are not looking. My nighbore has one and I would love to saw it down.

Actually it is a pretty strong wood. A lot of buildings have been built with it. A lot of sawmills in my area use it as there are a lot of trees in my area.

Around here we believe that it’s good for shade and firewood, and not much else. Fuzzy grain, soft wood, and it twists when drying.

-- vicrider

I’ve carved several cigar-style indians from cottonwood logs. It carves reasonably well, and takes dyes and stains for color. It takes detail pretty well too. If cut into lumber its really only good for something like fences, boxes that sort of thing.

-- Les, Arkansas, www.woodthatrocks.com

I can’t speak on cottonwood’s properties as a woodworking material, but I can say those trees sure make a mess! Ask me, my yard, and my air conditioner screens how we know. Really good shade, though. :-)

-- "How can I be lost if I've got nowhere to go?"

I have an unlimited supply of cottonwood scraps from a local interior shutter manf. here. I use it to make toys for toddlers. It is a true Poplar. I do not finish nor paint it. This cottonwood is dried already. It is just like poplar to work but with a lousy smell while cutting.

-- In God We Trust

Cottonwood’s used to make wooden shoe soles that are used for walking on hot floors like steel mills, orthopedics, etc.

-- Joe

Here’s another use :)

-- Joe