don't know the actual name of this tree but in the south this is the name most people know them by. i got some in the edge of the woods that are fairly straight as far as popcorn trees go. i need 40" long boards for my walkway but didn't know the strength of this species i was thinking 1.5" thick. does it dry o.k. or curl like a pretzel?
Tallowtree, Sapium sebifera.
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=410
Never cut the stuff, so I can't help you with your question.
Not much strength to the wood, kinda brashy, doesn't even make good fire wood, and we burn DanG near everything in Texas.
I saw some bowls turned from it a while back. They were pretty. I think it would make really nice panelling or wainscoting, too. I have one big ol' Tallow log that I haven't sawed yet. The powder post beetles love the stuff. :-\
if it be the same ting as china berry, i think brashy is t he right word, assuming that means brittle. dries pretty good, but tends to split along the growth rings as do a lot of afast growing trees. Pretty wood, in the same family as mahogony. LeeB
All that is true about Chinaberry, Lee, but they ain't the same tree. ;)