Hemlock
 

Hi all. Got a question. Has anyone tried hemlock and if so how'd it work out for you. AYC is just about impossible to get up here in Maine unless I travel south of Boston for anything cheaper than an arm or a leg. I have a good supply of basswood,mahogany,pine ,andpoplar but you all know some of the boyancy issues with them for certain types of plugs. I've turned a couple pencils and spooks to try it. Stuff turns good and sanding works out ok. Drilling also works out good to include 12 in centers as I'm gonna try some big needles. I'm wondering what problems I should look out for. The stuff I'm trying is a mix of yard scraps and grade 1. Not a lot of knots and seems to dry good. Does soak up quick though. Any ideas or thought would be welcome. Thanks Ron

Hi Ron. You said it soaks up quick. H2o or sealer? My guess is it would have pitch issues therefore a sealer with mineral spirits would cause it to "soak up". Never used it, I think it would be on the buoyant side. Let us know

hemlock
 

Hi Chris,I've tried Minwax and boiled linseed. Both cut with mineral spirits.Coated with bin primer. I'm gonna try a long soak and do a few for different times an check the weight diff. Ron

I may have used hemlock before, I sometimes use the douglas fir ballusters, and the shorter sized ballusters are made from hemlock. The one thing I don't like about the fir is that there can be huge weight differences between two pieces. for example, I made a 5" pencil popper that weighed 2.3oz unweighted, and a 6.5" one that weighed like 1.5oz !

other than that, no complaints really, seems to hold up well in the water. I usually just "seal" with a oil primer bath, cut with spirits.

I've noticed a bit of weight diff between the yard stock and the good stuff.But both seem to float the same waygonna try a vouple striper bombs tonight an see how they feel