Paulownia

[terrifictimbersllc]

Got an e-mail forward from PNyberg ,  our CT Logs to Lumber, LLC  forum sponsor, concerning a customer about 10 miles from me, asking to have two short paulownia logs sawn.  Job was about 1 hour plus setup.  The logs were about 5 and 6 feet long, and oval in shape, about 28" x 18.  Settled on a face to open then pretty much sawed them through and through, either 1-3/8 or 2" thick.  There were some very interesting aspects in that the tree was felled and logs end-painted, about 10 years ago, but there was almost no end-checking.   The growth rings were as much as an inch apart.  The logs had been stored off the ground yet he wood was wet through and through just as if the tree had been recently felled.   The aroma during sawing was distinctly familiar and spicy. When loading the logs with a cant hook, the point went in with a crunchy feeling.  The most amazing thing can be seen in the last photo, that there was almost no end-checking in the boards.   Thanks very much Peter for the referral.

[Ron Wenrich]

There used to be a market in Japan for paulownia.  But, I don't hear too much of a buzz about it anymore.  The Japanese used it for making a dowry chest, or so I was told.  I've never sawn any.

They do look similar to ailanthus.  I have sawn them and they have a spicy aroma.  Not nearly the value. 

[thecfarm]

That's not a native wood is it?  Glad it worked out good for the customer. Ten years is a long time to hold on to a few logs.Still wet inside surprises me from what little I know.

[pnyberg]

You're very welcome Dennis.  That customer would have been about a 40 mile drive for me, so it made sense to me to let the closer sawyer handle it, especially for a job this size.

I've never heard of paulownia, but from your pictures it seems to have an interesting color and grain.  

Did the customer say what he intended to use the lumber for?

--Peter

[Magicman]

That is a very interesting wood and I'll bet something pretty gets made from those slabs.  

It sounds like you and Peter have good teamwork going.  

[RavioliKid]

Thanks for the pictures! I tried growing paulownia from seeds - oh, about ten years ago. (at least!) The didn't make it, unfortunately. It's good to see what the wood looks like. It sure is pretty! I wish I could smell it.

[Ianab]

Apparently it makes good surfboards  ???

http://www.empresssurfboards.com/

The timber used is commonly referred to as Kiri, Empress, or Paulownia, a hardwood native to Asia and grown in Australia for commercial use. Its botanical name is Royal Paulownia Tomentosa. The weight to strength ratio is far superior to Balsa wood and larger chambers can be created as a result thereof. The absorption of the epoxy during the glueing of joints is greatly reduced creating further weight saving. Paulownia will not draw in water, unlike Balsa. Additionally it is twist, shrink and warp resistant and virtually rot free making it an ideal marine timber

Ian

[weisyboy]

how big was the hole up the guts?

[Old Hilly]

How interesting, no hole in the centre. All the ones I have felled have had a hole up the centre and the wood is very wet when you fall the tree. Basically the sap runs out like someone turned on a tap! Perhaps with the ends painted the water couldn't escape?
How did the wood saw? It seems quite fiberous when you rip it with a chain saw and I was wondering how it cuts with a bandsaw.
Dennis.

[SwampDonkey]

One of those things looks like the guy used an axe to cut out the top. :D

Looking at some of those boards reminds me of butternut grain. Some boards look like the log laid for awhile with all that surface fuzz on them, maybe it's just sawdust.

Nice you could help the guy out.

I could never get anyone interested in sawing as much as 500 bf so I hauled to a circular and picked up at the end of the day. The guy decked the wood as he unloaded. ;)

[SAWMILL BUDDY]

Paulownia is a wonderfull wood. I love it. It dries fast and is lite as balsa wood . Machines well. I have made small cabinets and other stuff out of it. I keep all I can get my hands on. ;D

[bandmiller2]

From the name it sounds like a Phillipine wood,Ill ask mommy when she gets up. Frank C.

[Dodgy Loner]

There used to be a market in Japan for paulownia.  But, I don't hear too much of a buzz about it anymore.  The Japanese used it for making a dowry chest, or so I was told.

There is still very much a market in Japan for paulownia, and there has been for hundreds of years. It is the traditional wood for cabinetmakers to use as a secondary wood (e.g., for drawer sides), much like American cabinetmakers use poplar or pine and English cabinetmakers use oak. However, paulownia is much softer and lighter and shows almost no seasonal movement, so a good craftsman can make a drawer box that is so tightly fit it creates a vacuum as it is pulled out. Try that with pine or poplar, and the drawer will either bind or become loose for part of the year. The reason you no longer hear any buzz about selling our paulownia to the Japanese is because the quality of the wood that we grow here is not sufficient for them. They prefer slow-grown stock, but our paulownias grow very quickly, as terrifictimbers noted.

[Larry]

15-20 years ago some of the state forestry departments were promoting the tree as an alternative source of income due to the high lumber prices in Japan.  I was planting trees at the time and gave it consideration but seed stock was quite high priced.  The idea also smacked of a scam.

Think it is also known as the Empress Tree.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Try to answer some questions.  Not sure what native means anymore.  The customer knows the wood is unusual and thought he might try to sell it.  He told me of a $500K surfboard made out of it in Hawaii. Wood sawed very nice,  like anything else with sharp blades.  Nothing unusual except the fragrance.  There was no  hole in the center.  Picture of the butt log sawn open on the mill.  A little defect going on in the second picture but it didn't go anywhere. The Y shape is apparently beginning of a crotch at top of the 2nd log.  Customer said the extreme oval shape was because it grew between two buildings and the roots could only go out at 180 degrees on either side.

[Dodgy Loner]

Try to answer some questions.  Not sure what native means anymore.  The customer knows the wood is unusual and thought he might try to sell it.  He told me of a $500K surfboard made out of it in Hawaii.

Native, for all intents and purposes, means that it was found here at the time that Europeans first came to the Americas. Paulownia is a native of southeast Asia, with several species native to Japan and China. I doubt if your customer will be able to make a $500,000 surfboard out of it. I know of no significant domestic markets at all. He could try to advertise the lumber on craigslist and might find a cabinetmaker who would be interested.

[sigidi]

15-20 years ago some of the state forestry departments were promoting the tree as an alternative source of income due to the high lumber prices in Japan.  I was planting trees at the time and gave it consideration but seed stock was quite high priced.

Isn't that funny, down here there was also a lot of Paulownia plantations happenening around the same time, everyday people invested in it as superannuation at one time. We get some guys still growing it on our Aussie forum but like many other things it has levelled out now and is just another timber so to speak.

[SwampDonkey]

Up here I see it rarely, but the winter kills it back to ground level and after awhile it looks like lilac with big leaves and a lot of dead sticks that some people give up on pruning out.

[brdmkr]

I have seen plantations of it.  I have been told that trimming the limbs off as it grows, making it look like a pole with leaves, will keep it from getting hollow.