PAULOWNIA for use in furniture

**mangoaqua** · 10th August 2019, 10:26 AM

Hi,

Been doing some reading up on PAULOWNIA and I'm keen to use it as part of a bed construction.
It won't be used for the base, but for a lip around the top of the frame, extending out from the frame around 180mm.

I've read that it's strong, but light. But I'm wondering if it's strong enough for this application.

I've seen it used for surfboard making and some small furniture items, but curious if anyone here has worked with it and what it was like to work with in terms of routering and screwing, as I'd need to make a rebate down the length to scrrew off from inside the frame (which will be a simple painted dressed pine).

I want to use it because I love the look/grain and it has no knots. My second choice was Tassie Oak, but that can be a bit ordinary in comparison.

Thanks for the help

**whitewood** · 11th August 2019, 09:07 AM

Hi Manqoaqua

I grew, milled and sold paulownia for a number of years in my retirement. Many of my sales were for strips for planked kayaks and surfboards. I found it easy to work with. I didn't have a need to use a router but it worked well using a biscuit jointer. It's not good with nails but screws work well. The main cons are that it needs to be worked with very sharp tools otherwise it tends to 'tear' the timber also it is soft and can 'dent' if bumped. On the pro side it glues very well so for your purpose it might be possible to just glue it place.

Whitewood

**GraemeCook** · 12th August 2019, 03:23 PM

Hi Manqoaqua

As Whitewood says, paulownia is very soft and dents easily - its midway between balsa and radiata.

Nevertheless it is a favoured timber in Japan, especially for laquerwork such as bowls, lunch boxes, trays, dining tables (short-legged). I watched bowls being turned to a thickness of around 2 mm, and it turned very cleanly and smoothly, albeit by an extremely skilled professional turner. He said that the preferred cores for laquerware was:

top 5% - (Japanese) red oak,
mid-range - paulownia,
cheap stuff - papier mache.

There might be more on Japanese sites in English.

Cheers

Graeme

**whitewood** · 12th August 2019, 05:53 PM

Hi Manqoaqua,

I agree with Graeme Cook but my memory is that the density of paulownia is between Balsa and Western red cedar and closer to the cedar. I used to dress strips dowm to 4 mm for kayaks and surfboards on a 15" thicknesser. I did some strips down to 2 mm but only for the heck of it with out a problem.

Whitewood

**mangoaqua** · 13th August 2019, 10:05 PM

Thanks, everyone, all great advice.

**GraemeCook** · 14th August 2019, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by whitewood

Hi Manqoaqua,

I agree with Graeme Cook but my memory is that the density of paulownia is between Balsa and Western red cedar and closer to the cedar. I used to dress strips dowm to 4 mm for kayaks and surfboards on a 15" thicknesser. I did some strips down to 2 mm but only for the heck of it with out a problem.

Whitewood

Absolutely correct, Whitewood. And your experiences on milling are very consistent with my observations with the Japanese turner late last year.

Probably the best measure of "dent resistance" is janka hardness here is the list for the timbers discussed:

Paulownia.jpg

Cheers

Graeme

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