victoria wrote:
> Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
> characteristics?
It's unworkable and the grain is anything but straight? You can find
_much_ better timber than this, even in the UK. Try douglas fir ("red
deal") at least it's as commonly available as hemlock.
At least it's not poisonous though - that's a different hemlock and no
relation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium
"victoria" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]...
>=20
> Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
> characteristics? I want to use hemlock because of its workability and
> straight grain, for children's toys, boxes, etc. But I remember that
> Socrates (?) was poisoned with hemlock.
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> victoria
Peter Huebner <[email protected]> writes:
>In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
>says...
>>
>> Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
>> characteristics? I want to use hemlock because of its workability and
>> straight grain, for children's toys, boxes, etc. But I remember that
>> Socrates (?) was poisoned with hemlock.
>>
>
>This is the poisonous hemlock:
>http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefleckter_Schierling
>
>Nothing to do with the tree. Sorry, didn't find a link in English, but you get
The link to the english version (Conium) is on the left side of the german page.
scott
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
>
> Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
> characteristics? I want to use hemlock because of its workability and
> straight grain, for children's toys, boxes, etc. But I remember that
> Socrates (?) was poisoned with hemlock.
>
This is the poisonous hemlock:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefleckter_Schierling
Nothing to do with the tree. Sorry, didn't find a link in English, but you get
a nice picture here with flowers, seeds etc ...
.... never knew it was that poisonous when I was a kid: we used to whittle
flutes out of it since the stems are hollow. Anyway, the poison seems to reside
mostly in unripe seeds, or so the article says.
-P.
--
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victoria <[email protected]> wrote:
: Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
: characteristics? I want to use hemlock because of its workability and
: straight grain, for children's toys, boxes, etc. But I remember that
: Socrates (?) was poisoned with hemlock.
Different plant. Water hemlock (the poisonous stuff) is a
herbacious plant. It's not the same as hemlock the tree,
although some sources say the tree was named for the plant due
to the tree's needles smelling like water hemlock.
-- Andy Barss
Seasoned and dried, as in from your yard tree or firewood pile, you will
find it to be very light in both color and weight, that it sands easily
but also can splinter badly, and knots can be very tough. For this
reason you may therefore not want to make items that very young children
will be likely to chew on. There's no poison in it at all, though. I
have some nice boxes and frames made of it, and a handful of turned
items too. If you can find sections that are clear, then yes you can get
some attractive straight grained wood. Most lumberyard hemlock is
construction grade, however. If you can find a softwood mill in your
area you'll be more likely to get nicer stuff.
J.
victoria wrote:
> Does anyone know if seasoned and dried hemlock has any undesirable
> characteristics? I want to use hemlock because of its workability and
> straight grain, for children's toys, boxes, etc. But I remember that
> Socrates (?) was poisoned with hemlock.