>Greetings Mike
>
>Nice post about Paulownia. Accurate and brief.
>I would like to add some facts that I have researched and learned from
>experience about these trees.
>Wood workers tell me fast grown "works and mills" as good as slow grown
>The wood is easily air dried.
>Can be kiln dried extremely fast with out damage.
>Does not wrap, crack, or split.
>Is extremely dimensionally stable with changes in humidity.
>Is fire resistant and is a very good insulator of heat and electricity
>Is rot resistant. ( I have run no test on this but by observation it looks
>equal to above ground cca treatment.)
>While being extremely light it does have an excellent strength to weight
>ratio.
>The market for this wood will rapidly develop in the US once a supply is
>available. The market to the orient is a myth. China has 5 million acre
now
>and can ship to the orient a lot cheaper than from the US. By some
estimates
>there are 50 to 100,000 acres growing in US plantations now. Most under 5
>years of age. I have no doubt that "when the wood is available they will
>come." This is different than exotics of past particular in the
processing.
>The lumber industry and mills already exist. Besides a small bandsaw
operator
>can saw and dry this lumber. Of course a large mill could devour the whole
>100,000 acres in a winter.
>Look again at the above qualities and the uses are many.
>Moldings, Picture frames, boat framing (already being done), veneers,
>furniture making, outdoor decks without chemicals!!! Hey the Chinese even
>make shoes of them.
>I am a grower and consultant and will be offering the trees for sale next
>spring. Hope the group doesn't mind a little plug.
>
>
>
>Thanks
>David D.
>
>
>mike richardson wrote:
>
>> After having been introduced in this country many years ago as an
>> ornamental, it was found that Japan represented a great market for
>> paulownia. They use the wood for many items including small boxes and
>> traditional wedding gifts and furniture. In the early 80's there was a
>> boom in demand and the trees started being cut by the hundreds of
>> thousands, even to the point that old ornamentals were being harvested
>> by homeowners, or stolen from them. The boom market eventually crashed
>> for awhile and the "paulownia fever" abated some. However, there is
>> still a strong market for the trees and they actually exceed $$ value
>> for veneer grade red oak, white oak, and walnut per mbf. I am a little
>> concerned about the desire to rush the growth of these trees. I seem to
>> remember hearing that the faster the tree grew the lower the value.
>> Just FYI.
>>
>> Son of Richard
>>
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