working notes: Tupelo (black gum)

We sawed our first Tupelo log a year or so back. I tend to forget about these things as they air dry, but since it was our first attempt at a species we had not sawn before, I was anxious to run it through the kiln. We quartersawed the log since we figured it was like sweetgum or sycamore: one of those species that moves so much when drying that quartering is the best way to get usable lumber.

I will jump straight to the bottom line: This log has yielded a higher percentage of wood that screams "Keep me!" than any log we've sawn since that curly AND burly soft maple in 2005. I believe the log was lightly spalted - no black line or soft areas, but tons of colors waving in soft flames vertically up the board. Tans, yellows, purples, darker browns, cream, all in undulating striations that really popped with one coat of oil. See for yourself:

Each and every board has these colors throughout the entire board!

I am rearranging my shop schedule to make something out of this wood as soon as possible. Gorgeous wood does that to me. I found a table design I had set aside a while ago; this is the wood for it. I can't wait. The wood is lighter weight than the sweetgum, but it has the same diffuse porous structure that makes the kind of surface that begs to be touched.

Oh, pricing. To be honest I began by pricing this wood like our sweetgum - around $4. (We also just pulled some sweetgum from the kiln, and one of those boards migrated to Tom's Private Stash, along with four for Joe's Stash), but the more I look at it, that is not right. This wood is unique. Other pictures of Tupelo online do not look this spectacular, so the best pieces of this wood will be $8/bf, about what you would pay for normal wood from other places. And this is far from normal. 

First come, first serve.

As far as working characteristics, I may have more to say on this later, but for now it does not appear to be particularly difficult. Naturally it seems much like sweet gum (which may not help you much), although as mentioned these boards are lighter in weight. The sample above shows some tear out from the planer, but it saws, planes, glues and screws just fine. Perhaps soft maple is a comparison that is helpful. When wood looks this good I am willing to tackle some difficulties but I honestly do not foresee any.

*****

October 2015 NOTE: It is possible that the species shown above is sweetgum, not black gum. Sweetgum heartwood, aka "red gum", can have the look shown above. The "tupelo" (black gum) identification is not guaranteed.