# Laurel



## Harrygary (8 Apr 2015)

Hi I've been given some nice pieces of laurel I've only been turning about a year and never turned it what's it like to turn can you turn it still green or should I let it dry Thank you


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## CHJ (8 Apr 2015)

Suggest you Search the Forum for starters.
Not he easiest of woods to try and dry without splitting.

take care when handling as the wood/sap can be toxic, if you smell almonds beware.


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## Random Orbital Bob (8 Apr 2015)

you'll be unlikely to get it dry....it splits like there's no tomorrow and usually within minutes of being cut. It's a very blonde/white wood.


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## Dave Brookes (8 Apr 2015)

If it was mine I would not even think about turning it as it contains hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) albeit mainly concentrated in the leaves and seeds. My brother has been a landscape gardener for many years and will never shred laurel for this very reason. Also, a dust mask would not prevent harm, as CHJ said, "if you smell almonds beware" but by then the damage may already be done.
Take great care if you do decide to turn it.

Dave


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## Castanea (8 Apr 2015)

I've been turning fresh cherry recently and the smell of almonds from the shavings is fantastic. I suspect you'd need a lot of them in a very confined space to suffer from cyanide poisoning. I'm afraid I just propped the door open, thought of marzipan and enjoyed the smell  As the wood has dried a bit the smell is much less pronounced so I guess the cyanide compounds are either being lost to the air or breaking down into carbon and nitrogen. 

A entymologist friend uses laurel leaves for his beetle killing jar - there's enough cyanide in the leaves to do in small insects in a confined space so I guess a degree of care is probably wise.


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## KimG (9 Apr 2015)

It turns nice enough, I seriously doubt that there is anywhere near sufficient concentration in the wood to pose any danger from the cyanide, I too used to use the young leaves (chopped fine, the old leaves though have virtually no cyanide that you can smell) in a killing jar when I had a moth collection, I sniffed the jar regularly to check the potency, adding new leaves if it was a bit stale, real marzipan smell of course, but still far too weak to pose any threat, certainly I never read any warnings in the entomology books I used as references at the time, their warnings were directed more toward the very serious collectors who would make a jar with plaster of Paris in the base and under license, put a few drops of cyanide in it, this was much more potent and required careful handling at first. The advantage was that it lasted for years, killed very quickly and was very convenient.

When I turned the wood though there was no hint of almonds. It did split, it also had a very attractive red heartwood.


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## Harrygary (9 Apr 2015)

I just done some research on turning laurel and it does say if I turn lots of it I should have good ventilation and wash hands after use I give it a go but will proceed with caution Thanks for your help and and advice


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## Tazmaniandevil (9 Apr 2015)

Dave Brookes":rftpzwf4 said:


> If it was mine I would not even think about turning it as it contains hydrogen cyanide


Eeeek! :shock: Does this include camphor? I was under the impression camphor is a laurel. I've just not long turned a bowl from camphor, and handled it a huge amount when turning. My shed smelled fantastic while turning it too.


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## Woodmonkey (9 Apr 2015)

Working as a tree surgeon I've chipped truckloads of laurel with no ill effects, never heard of anyone having problems with it. I've also turned a few bits green which moved quite a bit when drying, some cracked and some didn't. It can be a quite pale uninteresting timber but quite often seems to have a dark stain running through it adding a bit of interest.


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