Magnolia logs

pineywoods · October 06, 2010, 08:35:51 PM

Anyone have any experience sawing magnolia? Neighbor brought me 2 logs, about 18 inch on the small end. They were obviously cut several months ago, so I assume fairly dry. He wants 4/4 boards, should I cut 5/4?

Magicman · October 06, 2010, 09:23:42 PM

I've sawed Magnolia for several customers. It was sawed 4/4 to be used for paneling so shrinkage was not an issue. If both sides are to be planed, I would go with 5/4. Cupping could be a problem with wide boards. PPB's like it. :-\

Those 18" logs should show some black streaks close to any knots, irregularities, and the heart.

Tom · October 06, 2010, 10:21:58 PM

Magnolia, what a beautiful wood. I've sawed a lot of it for backyard cabinet makers and had one who became rather famous making bedroom suites out of it. I found that magnolia is one of those woods that is better flat-sawed. If you quarter saw it, it is non-descript, but if you flat-saw it, it has the figure of a topographical map in foothills territory. It is yellowish colored and the grain has purple colors when fresh. If the log is old, the heart will be dark. The real old ones are almost black. I've opened some of the really old ones and they looked like you had spilled a paint store in there. All kinds of vivid colors. Enjoy them when they are fresh though, because they disappear shortly upon being put on the wood stack. 4/4 is a plenty thick to saw it, but I would cut a little bit of 5/4 in case the carpenter needs some stability. If you know who it is for, ask him. Some might want some 8/4 for special applications.

scsmith42 · October 07, 2010, 01:13:36 AM

Ditto Tom's comments. Early this year I sawed up the oldest magnolia tree from downtown Raleigh. A lot of the pith was rotted, but I still yielded several hundred board feet of beautiful wood.

5/4, flat sawn, and it is a beautiful wood.

Ron Wenrich · October 07, 2010, 05:29:13 AM

Is there much of a difference between magnolia and tulip poplar? Both are in the same family, and those vivid colors can be present in tulip poplar. But, usually its associated with some sort of injury.

scsmith42 · October 07, 2010, 12:11:35 PM

Both are nice to mill, Magnolia does not seem quite as "fuzzy" as poplar. Also, the wood has more of a "yellowish" hue instead of the "green hue" on the poplar.

IMO the grain patterns in flat sawn magnolia are much more pleasing.

ellmoe · October 07, 2010, 09:44:51 PM

I've made T&G out of Grandiflora and SweetBay Magnolia, both looked great. For one customer we made "his and hers" closets. Hers was ARC, his was Sweet Bay Magnolia. I prefered the Mag. over the ERC and that's saying something. We sawed the lumber 4/4 and dressed to 3/4, no problems.

Mark

Okrafarmer · October 07, 2010, 10:40:11 PM

I'm sure we'll be doing some at some point. Harvested an 8" holly today. . . . hope to make a few cuts on it and see what i can do with it.

Ron Wenrich · October 08, 2010, 06:35:21 AM

Its a pure white wood. It would make a good hobby wood, or a good inlay wood.

WDH · October 08, 2010, 09:35:53 AM

If you can dry it white, holly is very valuable to woodworkers and turners.

Don K · October 08, 2010, 02:17:27 PM

It blues badly.

Don

terrifictimbersllc · October 08, 2010, 05:49:31 PM

agree ready to use holly probably could sell it online very profitably

Okrafarmer · October 09, 2010, 12:10:01 AM

Sorry, I kind of hijacked this magnolia thread into a holly thread. :-[

pineywoods · October 09, 2010, 10:55:03 AM

Quote from: Okrafarmer on October 09, 2010, 12:10:01 AM
Sorry, I kind of hijacked this magnolia thread into a holly thread. :-[

That's OK, got some holly also.. ;D

Okrafarmer · October 09, 2010, 08:22:27 PM

Quote from: pineywoods on October 09, 2010, 10:55:03 AM
Quote from: Okrafarmer on October 09, 2010, 12:10:01 AM
Sorry, I kind of hijacked this magnolia thread into a holly thread. :-[

That's OK, got some holly also.. ;D

I really like holly, walnut, and cherry-- very different colors. I like the contrasts. Anyway, I was hoping to use the sawmill today but had to mow and rake hay. The species are starting to stack up and sooner or later maybe we'll have some magnolia too.

Tom · October 10, 2010, 01:36:55 AM

Don't let some of these species, like Holly, lie around too much, the change color. The white of holly can change to gray in a matter of hours. Holly is best sawed quickly and dried quickly in boards 4/4 or less, if you want to use them for inlay work.

Believe it or not, Eastern Red Cedar should be sawed quickly too, if you want to retain the white sap wood for contrast with the red heart wood. Let it sit too long and it yellows.

Okrafarmer · October 10, 2010, 11:27:11 PM

Quote from: Tom on October 10, 2010, 01:36:55 AM
Don't let some of these species, like Holly, lie around too much, the change color. The white of holly can change to gray in a matter of hours. Holly is best sawed quickly and dried quickly in boards 4/4 or less, if you want to use them for inlay work.

Believe it or not, Eastern Red Cedar should be sawed quickly too, if you want to retain the white sap wood for contrast with the red heart wood. Let it sit too long and it yellows.

Good to know!

pineywoods · October 12, 2010, 11:21:54 AM

Sawed one of the logs yesterday
It's pretty obvious this one had been cut a while ago. Bark all cracked and loose.

Surprise, surprise, the DanG thing was hard as concrete, especially the knots. Had to mount a new blade.

Next surprise, the wood was a dirty dingy gray color, not what had expected. The heart was a littl lighter, but no black specs or streaks.

[img]

Don K · October 12, 2010, 12:30:27 PM

Probably would have looked different when it was fresh.

Don

Magicman · October 12, 2010, 02:11:23 PM

You'll know what to expect next time. ;)

WDH · October 12, 2010, 06:53:39 PM

Yep, the oxidation stain got it.

Magicman · June 05, 2012, 05:59:45 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, knottypine.

Okrafarmer · June 21, 2012, 01:37:09 AM

Well, I now have two magnolia logs on my species pile. I hope to get to them before too long. I have done some tupelo, river birch, pecan, persimmon, and of course, more red maple recently. Update on my holly situation, I did manage to mill some and get it to the dry kiln moderately quickly. It turned out C+ to B- I think. I think, now I have a lot of 4/4 holly, I will mill it thicker and thinner next time.

Anyway one of the mag logs I have sitting there is quite large and I may have to trim it some to get it on the Turner mill. It was cut fresh, so if I get to it soon, it should be fun.

What else is on my pile? tulip poplar, tupelo, white pine, more red maple, lots of red cedar, some persimmon, cherry, and old cherry, black locust, and pecan logs. Lots of fun coming up. Need to sell some lumber.

I picked up two smallish walnut logs today for custom cutting. Couldn't talk the guy into letting me have some of it, though. :-\ I expect to hit nails in them.