Tell me about sycamore wood

"It has another use....

There is a gentleman down here who makes old-time, large chopping blocks. He takes a sycamore log, cuts a length somewhere between a foot and 18", peels the cut and lets it dry for a bit. He then inlets and pegs 3 or 4 cypress legs to the round block, finishes everything with a hand-rubbed oil and seals the top with light coat of parrafin.

The same thing that makes the ax go boing!, makes for a nice chopping block... "

That is a traditional use for sycamore. I knew a man thirty years ago that got $300 for large sycamore blocks he shaped for butchers. Wood cutting boards also have a natural anti-bacterial quality.

Sycamore was also used to build Pullman cars because of the dimensional stability. In those days it wasn't difficult to cut large pieces almost like the plywood of today. Locally sycamore is chipped and used to make OSB by Weyerhauser.

This conversation just came up Thursday at the bus garage and a local man said they make wonderful BUTTER CHURNS! He claims a neighbor man cut a Sycamore down and turned the whole thing into butter churns. It was news to me.

Sycamore Quarter Sawn has a more beautiful grain than Oak. It it absolutely beautiful when made into flooring.

It splits well with a woodsplitter. Dried it burns well enough. It also makes some beautiful lumber though by this point you have probably already sawed it into rounds and don't want to think about what you could have done with it if it was still in one log! It tends to crook and twist like gum or elm when drying but makes some pretty, kind of pinkish wood, unique color. Get some with some figure or a crotch or swirls and that's some nice wood. Sycamores in the wild (usually along a creek) tend to end up either hollow or with a lot of large bumps from where dead branches have pruned themselves and healed over. The bumpy places from previous limbs give the wood sawed from it a swirl effect. If you find an old one, say 3-4 ft diameter, with all those bumps and greenish peeling bark, it's certainly a unique sight. We have one down at the creek that has a hollow in it so big I can crawl in. Something lives there as the base is firmed and there is a dirt trail to it, though I have not been there when it's occupant was present.