Magnolia mini haul

[Robert Hayward]

Saw an ad on Facebook Market place for magnolia at a small private mill. Looked pretty good in the posted picture so with nothing important to do on a Saturday afternoon I made the 50 mile trip to check it out. Partially dry as the tree had been dead standing with no rot or spalting and clear both faces. Boards are 1 1/2" and slightly thicker and from 18" wide down to about 14" useable, 7' long. I bought four boards with the two widest of them being either side of the pith for 1/4 sawn. He was selling by the board so the price worked out to $3.00 and a a couple pennies per board foot.

I have turned magnolia before but it was darker and more dense than these boards. Have no idea what I will do with the boards but they looked too nice to pass up. They are currently stickered with the ends sealed. Sawmill guy said magnolia dries quickly so maybe in six months I will have a project in mind.

Anyone else have experience using magnolia?

[Bradley Gray]

I have about 300 bf in my kiln, similar dimensions but 12' long. I get a share for the drying. Rare this far north, along the Ohio River. The owner wants to make live edge tables for a winery.
I googled its traditional use: Venician blinds.

[Howard Pollack]

Magnolia is also used for handles of Japanese kitchen knives. -Howard

[Jim Becker]

Very nice haul and I'm sure that you'll find interesting uses for it, too. Dust it off and maybe abrade or skim the surface to "see what you got"!

BTW, tulip/yellow poplar is a member of the magnolia family. But I suspect what you have will be prettier.

[Robert Hayward]

I googled its traditional use: Venician blinds.

Magnolia is also used for handles of Japanese kitchen knives. -Howard

Interesting uses although I do not forsee a personal need for either new blinds or new Japanese knife handles in the kitchen.

Bradley, do you have any plans for your share of the magnolia? To me it seems as though it is a bit soft for a table top. Not really soft just not table top tough.

Jim, the look and feel of the wood I bought made me think of poplar. In my mind I compared the price to rough poplar and thought if nothing else I could use it in lieu of poplar. Sawmill guy told me he has small time furniture makers that like the magnolia. Said they can stain it any color they want and the growth rings pop with a finish applied. Of course he was acting salesman selling wood so who really knows.

[Alex Zeller]

I'm assuming it's not kiln dried. The only reason I ask is because it sounds like you found a small mill that could have good prices. There's nothing wrong with air dried wood as long as you have the room to store it. Hopefully you now have a new source for other types of wood. If so that's a win win.

[Jim McCue]

I have some saved from a recent storm I have not used yet. Reading about it, it does sound like related to poplar but a little harder. So definitely a good secondary or utility wood, or primary wood if it has a nice appearance.

I've read it's good for turning, which I'm not into. Also supposed to be one of the better woods for steam bending, if you're into making chairs. Which I'm not.

[Robert Hayward]

Alex, no it is not kiln dried and only partially dried at all. The mill does look like a good find. One man and a part time helper operation. He has a mill capable of 36" wide, a really nice looking big 1975 Ford tractor and a log hauler. The hauler was on a log run so I did not see it. Said he buys logs when the price is right for him to make a dollar. Also said he is liable to get most any species depending on the price of the log.

Jim, is your magnolia milled or still a log? I will have to plane a piece of what I have to be sure but it looks like it will be appearance grade. Thing is I do not have a machine big enough to handle even the small end of these boards at 14"~15". 10" jointer and a DW735. Do not want to rip them until I have a project in mind.

[Jim Becker]

Robert, use a hand plane and/or sander to get a look at the figure and color. You can also do a very short off-cut at the end of a board with a circular or jigsaw to get a handle on the end-grain and color, too.

[Jim McCue]

I took some trunk sections from the side of the road and tried to channel my inner Follansbee. So split with wedges and then scrub planed to rough dimensions. They have been drying for months. Fewer knots than I was expecting. My pieces are only large enough for small furniture like end tables. Your boards look clean also. Odd as most of the southern magnolia I see have large branches all the way down.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

It is another that I only get to read about, which is fun. Here is a link to the Slivics page.
Magnolia grandiflora L