IS HICKORY GOOD WOOD TO WORK WITH?

I managed to butcher a couple of bf of hickory trying to fix up an old
bookcase .. and cussed the whole time. The stuff I had was not really
cutter friendly ... AAMOF, if you relish climb cutting with a router,
hickory is for you. It is indeed beautiful wood once you get it finished ...
but in my case, I think I'll stick to cooking steaks with it in the future.

If you enjoy the challenge of working with a wood that requires the sharpest
of sharp, I'd say go for it.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/13/03



> I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

[email protected] wrote:

> Sure. Good hard wood for building stuff and you can smoke what you
> kill with the scraps.

I wouldn't advise hunting bear with hickory scraps though. ;-)

Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Andy Dingley wrote:

> So what does it look like ? I can see some mechanical cases for using
> hickory, but not yet an aesthetic one.
>
> Anyone got any nice pics of hickory looking like "beautiful hickory" ?

These don't look too bad:

http://www.custombuilderssupply.com/hickory_cabinets.htm

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

I say that Hickory isn't as bad as I originally thought. Yes it is tough. I
cut it with only a B&D carbide blade and a 1 hp contractors saw which got
bogged down only if I pushed too fast. Looks like White oak but works more
like ash. Very stringy in the nature of shavings. I wouldn't breath the
dust either (because I did and suffered). Very rough chips. It has large
shrinkage while drying and almost always checks a few inches on either end.
But it is quite stable after drying.
The stuff I have has gone from a white color to a nice reddish color. It is
one of those woods that has to be worked with to totally appreciate.


--
Young Carpenter

"Violin playing and Woodworking are similar, it takes plenty of money,
plenty of practice, and you usually make way more noise than intended"

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?




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I am using it for shelves on the inside of a cabinet.

--
Young Carpenter

"Violin playing and Woodworking are similar, it takes plenty of money,
plenty of practice, and you usually make way more noise than intended"

"Renata" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I seem to recall recently reading an article that that nice reddish
> color in hickory will fade in light. Point being that if one had any
> nice figure/colored hickory to use it on the inside of cabinets.
>
> Renata
>
> On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 13:42:12 -0400, "Young Carpenter"
> <Fiddleronroof*@*juno.com> wrote:
>
> >I say that Hickory isn't as bad as I originally thought. Yes it is
tough. I
> >cut it with only a B&D carbide blade and a 1 hp contractors saw which got
> >bogged down only if I pushed too fast. Looks like White oak but works
more
> >like ash. Very stringy in the nature of shavings. I wouldn't breath the
> >dust either (because I did and suffered). Very rough chips. It has
large
> >shrinkage while drying and almost always checks a few inches on either
end.
> >But it is quite stable after drying.
> >The stuff I have has gone from a white color to a nice reddish color. It
is
> >one of those woods that has to be worked with to totally appreciate.
>
> (no stain for email)




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On Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:33:42 GMT, dean b <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] wrote:
<snip>

>pattern as Oak or Ash. IME It is harder than Red Oak, but softer than
>Birch, it tools and finishes well. That being said, I don't know how
>many species of Hickory there are. So it may well be that your log
>isn't the same as the Hickory/Pecan I buy at the lumber yard.
>Dean

Well, you seem to have worked very soft hickory and hard birch!

Hickory is hard as hell, I believe it's rated as the second hardest
domestic US wood, after hard/sugar maple.

I've been working with birch from NH for a while now, and it is not
that hard at all. Nothing like hickory!

I made a smallish cabinet from hickory. It was OK to work with, you
have to keep in mind it's just plain a hard wood.

I guess there's variation in every tree.

James
[email protected]
http:[email protected]

I seem to recall recently reading an article that that nice reddish
color in hickory will fade in light. Point being that if one had any
nice figure/colored hickory to use it on the inside of cabinets.

Renata

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 13:42:12 -0400, "Young Carpenter"
<Fiddleronroof*@*juno.com> wrote:

>I say that Hickory isn't as bad as I originally thought. Yes it is tough. I
>cut it with only a B&D carbide blade and a 1 hp contractors saw which got
>bogged down only if I pushed too fast. Looks like White oak but works more
>like ash. Very stringy in the nature of shavings. I wouldn't breath the
>dust either (because I did and suffered). Very rough chips. It has large
>shrinkage while drying and almost always checks a few inches on either end.
>But it is quite stable after drying.
>The stuff I have has gone from a white color to a nice reddish color. It is
>one of those woods that has to be worked with to totally appreciate.

(no stain for email)

On 20 Sep 2003 09:19:03 -0700, [email protected] (Mike at American
Sycamore) wrote:

>yes Hickory is hard and it does indeed require sharp tools to work,
>but well worth the trouble.

So what does it look like ? I can see some mechanical cases for using
hickory, but not yet an aesthetic one.

Anyone got any nice pics of hickory looking like "beautiful hickory" ?

--
Blind drunk - Please ignore all postings I make,
until I sober up enough to notice the .sig file
that has been attached to them.
Thank you.

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:59:50 GMT, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >is it worth the effort and expense towork with?
>
> What are you asking ? "Is it good to work with ?" or "Is it worth
> working with ?"
>
> IM (limited) E, hickory is unpleasant to work with. But it's strong
> and not unattractive, so it has its uses. Tool handles, beams for
> model siege engines (I'm sure I'm not the only one who makes these).
> For furniture making, it's extremely useful for making thin spindles
> for chair backs, as you can make a usably strong spinlde that's
> thinner than one in ash.
>
> So yes, I'd save it and dry it.




yes Hickory is hard and it does indeed require sharp tools to work,
but well worth the trouble. The cabinet shop I worked in doing my
apprenticeship built many a hickory set of kitchen cabinets. We
charged 20% more than an oak kitchen to offset the extra sharpening
and the wear and tear on the tools.
The stair case here at the school is made with hickory treads, hard
and beautiful.
Mike from American Sycamore

Would agree here..... I tend to use Hickory for martial arts weapons that I
get talked into making every now and again. Takes abuse well and runs
through my TS pretty well. In my opinion it is easier to sand smooth than
oak is as the grain is not as open (by hand anyway). This is a very hard
wood and you will need to watch for splits/cracks in the grain. Make sure
you use sharp blades. Beautiful when you only use tung oil.

If I had the opportunity for the wood I would certainly take it......

Just my 2cents worth,
Bill

--

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt


"M2S3" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have made a couple thresholds for my kitchen/front hall and
kitchen/dining
> room from Hickory.
>
> It is better working than hard maple. It seemed to work (rip cut, cross
> cut, bevel rip cut, and plane) pretty well in my opinion - as opposed to
the
> other person.
>
> It is very hard so it is good for wear application; and it has a great
grain
> pattern - it has lots of character.
>
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> > said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> > for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?
>
>

--
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

"Nova" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy Dingley wrote:
>
> > So what does it look like ? I can see some mechanical cases for using
> > hickory, but not yet an aesthetic one.
> >
> > Anyone got any nice pics of hickory looking like "beautiful hickory" ?
>


My family room floor is hickory with a cherry spice stain. I don't have
picture of it at the moment though. Nice grain to it and can vary enough to
make it interesting.

The kitchen floor in Dan's house is hickory.
http://www.velvitoil.com/House.HTML

Not hickory, but if you want to se other floors they have done, look at
these:
http://www.velvitoil.com/Floors.htm

A couple are of customer's floors, but some are also in Dan's house. He
does the design, his wife Barbara runs the sawmill and does the flooring.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

The American Hardwood Association has Hickory and Pecan listed as the
same wood and for all woodworking purposes they are the same. Hickory
is open pored like Oak but doesn't have as pronounced a cathedral grain
pattern as Oak or Ash. IME It is harder than Red Oak, but softer than
Birch, it tools and finishes well. That being said, I don't know how
many species of Hickory there are. So it may well be that your log
isn't the same as the Hickory/Pecan I buy at the lumber yard.
Dean

On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:59:50 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

>is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

What are you asking ? "Is it good to work with ?" or "Is it worth
working with ?"

IM (limited) E, hickory is unpleasant to work with. But it's strong
and not unattractive, so it has its uses. Tool handles, beams for
model siege engines (I'm sure I'm not the only one who makes these).
For furniture making, it's extremely useful for making thin spindles
for chair backs, as you can make a usably strong spinlde that's
thinner than one in ash.

So yes, I'd save it and dry it.

I think it's worth the effort. It's a nice looking wood and seems
plenty tough.

On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:59:50 GMT, [email protected] wrote:

>I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
>said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
>for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

I have made a couple thresholds for my kitchen/front hall and kitchen/dining
room from Hickory.

It is better working than hard maple. It seemed to work (rip cut, cross
cut, bevel rip cut, and plane) pretty well in my opinion - as opposed to the
other person.

It is very hard so it is good for wear application; and it has a great grain
pattern - it has lots of character.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

[email protected] wrote:

>I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
>said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
>for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

Sure. Good hard wood for building stuff and you can smoke what you
kill with the scraps. It is a bit hard on tools though.

Wes

--
Reply to:
Whiskey Echo Sierra Sierra AT Gee Tee EYE EYE dot COM
Lycos address is a spam trap.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a friend who had a hickory tree fall from the hurricane and he
> said I could have all of it I want. I have someone who can kiln dry it
> for me, question is..is it worth the effort and expense towork with?

I have been working on a desk made entirely of hickory and have had no real
problems. I had not worked with it before. It looks good and does have
some "character" spots that you have to like or work around. It seems very
stable. Sometimes the grain is nice and straight, and other times it gets a
bit squirrelly. I would have to agree with others when they say it is a bit
stringy.

While we are on the subject... Are there any suggestions for good ways to
finish hickory? I saw the one about tung oil. I have very dark wood trim
and furniture in my house. The desk I am making is for my own use and I'd
like it to match the dark wood of the house. But I don't want to hide the
natural beauty of the hickory. Any suggestions?

Brian