Something Big 2

[etat]

Thanks RavioliKid.  Was looking forward to hearing from you. We've got a pretty warm climate around here and I think next spring I'm going to try a couple of em.  ;D
 

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Tom,

We have a few 5-1/2 year old Paulownias which are 16"-18" in diameter.   What was the sawn surface like?  Did it cut smoothly or fuzz up?

I'll be cutting a couple of 12" runts in a week or two.
Phil L.

[Ron Wenrich]

I've seen pawlonia sold for export.  I've seen logs that had a bee's nest that was bought.  We aren't getting that kind of growth, so I don't know if that's a factor.  

Prices 15 years ago was $500/Mbf on the stump, and that was considered cheap.  I haven't kept up with it, since it doesn't appear that often.  I do know that when it comes in, it never reaches the mill or the pulp truck.

The market is largely Japanese.  They use pawlonia for hope chests as well as other furniture.  Maybe the Chinese have tapped into this market.

[Tom]

My experience with this one log was that the surface was a little fuzzy.  It cut like I imagine Balsa wood would cut. I've cut poplar with the same symptoms.

You will be amazed at the strength of the wood.  We place three green 1x6's across a couple of pallets and stood on them.  They held the weight of a 399 lb man without sagging the 4 inches to the floor.  I was impressed. It is also very light.  I'm told it doesn't cup or warp or bend.  It is very stable.

This I was told by the fellow who was test growing the trees. It was the Oblongata paulownia.

Paulownia has a void in the middle like bamboo.  As the tree ages, the void closes.  He said that it grows to the inside as well as to the outside until this void is closed.  Some of the boards from this 3 year old tree had the void in them.  I cut around it as best as I could.

Dinkins