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Royal Paulownia

Started by catalina, October 26, 2016, 03:19:52 PM

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catalina

Hey folks help me out here. I am looking for an experienced answer and I know it may not exist but if so I think you all would be the ones who would know.  I asked this question on the "What ya sawin" topic within my post there and really didn't get much relating to the actual question. Do you think Paulownia would be ok as upstairs hayloft floorboards? I have googled till I am blue and pretty much all I get is "strong but light, like Balsa" and "fairly rot resistant and used to make water sport items and used to be expensive", lol.   I was planning on cutting them 4/4, 6 to 10 inch widths with true 2x10 pine floor joists 16 inch on center. Would this be a poor use of these trees? I still have plenty of available pine at our place that I could log and cut if I am convinced to not use the Paulownia for floor boards but the Paulownia is freshly felled and available. What say you??? Thanks!!

ChugiakTinkerer

No experience to offer, but I'd go ahead and mill and sticker it as you need for flooring.  If down the road you decide it would be better in a decorative application then use the pine that you will have already cut to the same dimensions.  Don't overthink it, just make sawdust!   8)
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Sparty

I have no experience with the stuff, but a brief search showed this:

Hardness-The Janka hardness rating for paulownia is low at 1.3Kn. Western Red Cedar is rated at 1.5 and Meranti 2.6. While modern treatments can substantially harden up a finished surface, paulownia is not suitable for flooring or areas where physical damage is likely.

Apparently it is popular with boat builders. It may have the strength you are looking for, but may be too soft for heavy use.  I have foam insulation under my cement slabs in my basement. Plenty strong enough to hold up the cement, but way too soft to ever use as flooring.  Perhaps paulownia is strong...but soft?

Sixacresand

I have milled some. It is pretty when first flat sawn.  If you have doubts to it's strength, you might consider cutting it thicker or put down a sub floor first.  Or maybe quarter sawing it.  The wood is soft, but there may be products to harden it for flooring.  If I had lots of it, I certainly would use it. The kayak paddle makers love it.
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

WLC

This is one link I found.  http://www.wood-database.com/paulownia/  Hope that helps. Never sawed any of it, but everything I've read tends to make me think it may be too soft for flooring.  I would suggest using it in an application like paneling, trim or possibly furniture.  I did plant a few trees many years ago when I lived in GA.  Planted them on the edge of my pasture and they grew an honest 15 feet the first year.  Never seen anything like it.  6 inch dbh by the second fall.  I wound up cutting them down after a couple of years due to freeze damage one winter.  Took several years of bush hogging to get the roots to completely die out.  They just kept sprouting back up.

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tmbrcruiser

I have several paulownia logs to saw and will saw them for the guys carving decoys. Living near the Chesapeake Bay there is a market for carving blocks. Paulownia, white cedar and white pine are favorites but not in that order. It would not be one of my picks for flooring.
Once you get sap in your veins, you will always have sawdust in your pockets.

drobertson

To my knowledge its great for anything interior, just not structural.  Its very light weight! Nice for handling but the strength is not there unless its tension loads are figured into the sub scructrure as well.
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

scsmith42

In my hayloft we have pallets down on the floor to allow for air circulation under the hay.  Seems to me that Paulownia would be a great candidate for a hayloft, especially if milled at 6/4 or 8/4.
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and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

catalina

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It certainly isn't my pick for flooring either but I'm kinda stuck with the logs and with my schedule currently I either cut them for this use or they are probably gonna lay until at least next summer before I cut them for some other use. ChugiakTinkerer, that's my problem I always overthink stuff, lol. Scsmith42, I have always used pallets too so I'm thinking I might do them 6/4 and use pine in the proposed area of higher traffic (entry/landing and middle 4 feet)?

JRWoodchuck

If you could Tongue and Groove it, it would definitely help structurally. 6/4 t&g would be more that sufficient I would imagine. Never sawed it. But it is used the ski/snowboard industry  for cores because it's light but resilient.
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Magicman

Quote from: catalina on October 26, 2016, 03:19:52 PM
Hey folks help me out here. I am looking for an experienced answer and I know it may not exist but if so I think you all would be the ones who would know.  I asked this question on the "What ya sawin" topic within my post there and really didn't get much relating to the actual question.

I'm sorry that asking the same question again did not produce the answers that you wanted.  Sometimes the answers are the answers and the facts are the facts.
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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Jeff

If I was building a building, and had some doubt in the suitability of the materials, and in your situation, I sure would, I'd find something else known to be suitable. To much work to build your house on the sand.
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terrifictimbersllc

I've milled red oak floor boards twice, for a guy who built 2 timber frame houses and was laying these directly over the joists (no subfloor) on the 2nd floor of the house.  He used 1-3/4".  I forget what his joist spacing was.  I wouldn't use 4/4 anything over 16" spaced joists with no sub floor.


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catalina

Jeff, Magic and others, thank you! I know I often go to the what ya sawin thread to simply look at the pics and see what treasures someone found. Honestly, sometimes I don't read everything there and I thought others might do that too so I thought maybe a separate post might catch someone who by chance might have some actual experience with it in this scenario. Lack of answers is an answer to me and I get it. There is probably a reason why no one has much experience with it -no ones has been stupid enough to try it or don't want to admit to it, lol. Heck, I asked the same question of the folks at the Appalachian Hardwood Center at WVU and got pretty much the same responses as  the ones here so I think I have covered the gamut of available resources. You all have swayed me enough to be very leery of the stuff for sure especially at the thickness I was thinking and like the verse "why chance it". Thanks again and I appreciate your all's responses!

Magicman

And I was desperately trying not to sound "catty".  I avoided responding for a while choosing to follow along and read the responses. 

An exotic species is often just that; an oddity that may be an eye catcher to a particular woodworker.  You probably could saw it into 2½" live edge slabs and sell every stick of it on some of the web sites.  "Fresh sawn live edge" is hard to resist by some folks.  I recently sawed a Cypress log as such for a customer and he sold all 5 of the slabs for $100 each in less than 3 minutes.  Then buyers were calling and being upset because he had no more.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

catalina

Magic, all's good. I might have to try that. If and when I cut Ill post pics of the treasures within, lol. Gene

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