ginkgo

[TWiG]

I will be felling a Ginkgo biloba next week ( a first for me )  and was wondering if any one has ever turned with it and is it any good / nice / desirable ?  will probably try a few bits anyway just for novelty sake !

[Graham]

No idea, but with a name like that it has to sound good inn the description. 

[bodrighywood]

Ginko is the oldest known tree to mankind, a living fossil. I believe the Chinese use it a lot for carving s it has quite a soft wood. Only ever had a very small branch of it so cn't sat wjhat larger more mature wood is like

Pete

[Bryan Milham]

Never turned it but there is one in a garden about 80m from where I'm sat - covered in Burrs, I keep hoping!

[Les Symonds]

Hi TWiG....I just lifted this text out of a posting on the Lumberjocks forum...
I was recently given a 1” thick x 5” wide x 8’ long rough sawn piece of this lumber. I’d never heard of it before. My lumber brokerer said is was the ultimate in carving woods – much better than basswood or the others. This is because it chips out less, easier to cut, better more uniform grain. The wood smells citrus-ie, kind of like lemon or lime with a touch of menthol or camphor. I cut some tonight and hit my pocket knife on it. It carves like a dream. I would absolutely recommend it for a special project if someone wanted to carve a piece. Not sure what I’m going to do with my slab that is remaining. Take care.
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/17124

Hope it's useful...Les