I turn a lot of green wood, and living here in Northern California, I really enjoy access to species of that are typically not available from local wood suppliers as well as the variety of species that grow here and not in too many other areas of the country: Claro Walnut, Live Oak, California Pepper-tree, to name a few.
We also have quite a few Eucalyptus trees of several species. The picture to the right is Red Ironbark. Most Eucalyptus has that deep orange/red heartwood and a creamy tan sapwood, and you can play and have a lot of fun working with this contrast.
The downside of Eucalyptus, as I was so poignantly reminded of today, is that it is no fun to turn once it is dry. It is brutal on cutting edges, and almost impossible to get a nice clean final pass on the inside of the bowl, even with a razor sharp bowl gouge. And what comes off the tip of the gouge is closer to dust that to shavings. Fortunately, it does sand well, which means...uh...even more dust.
I think I will call it Dustwood from now on.
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