Gum wood

[TreeWizard]

On another site I frequent one member is looking at cutting down several acres of Gum trees and wanted to know what they are good for.

I don't have any of these trees in my area but if I'm not mistaken they are also referred to as Tupelo trees. Are these the same as the Tupelo used by a lot of bird carvers?

[Thomp]

tree wizard,

i live in louisiana where we have several species of gum,

sweet gum has a leave that slightly resembes maple leaf, it has a golf ball sized seed ball that looks like a cucle burr, mostly they grow on dry land..
this wood i would compare as to carving popular

tupelo gum is a swamp / lake area tree much like bald cypress, they grow in wet or flooded areas,
tupelo gum has a leaf that is spear point shaped, and the butt of the tree is enlarged or swollen, in this bottom end nearest water the wood is more corky than in the log, the butt of the tree is the best wood for carving it has no hard spots in the grain. it holds detail better than cypress knees and is a bit harder,

the bad thing is lots of the tuper or tupelo gum /? think its called black gum in some parts..trees are hollow and rotten...

heres a link to standing tupelo gum trees
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_myXxhsCjAzY/Rv...man+SP+080.jpg

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Thomp

...
sweet gum has a leave that slightly resembes maple leaf, it has a golf ball sized seed ball that looks like a cucle burr, mostly they grow on dry land..
this wood i would compare as to carving popular...

That one is also called liquidamber. Haven't tried to carve, but had three growing in my lawn in California - my sons hated the things, because the seed balls would get jammed in the lawn mower. Beautiful trees, though.

Claude

[Paul_Guraedy]

Thomp, the black gum is another type of gum tree there in CenLa. I believe the tree here in the ozarks called black gum is different to that one.

In some places the eucalyptus is referred to as "gum".

My wife spray paints sweetgum balls with gold/silver paint and uses them on the Christmas tree....nice!