Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn.

Thanks

Deb

In article ,
"Dr. Deb" wrote:

Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn.

Hi Doc. The Magnolia I've turned has been rather blonde, fine grained
and *easy* to turn (at least while green). The one piece on my desk - a
pencil cup - has turned a light brown (oil/varnish finish) with a
moderate growth ring deliniation. This piece contains the pith in the
1/4" thick bottom and doesn't show any signs of cracking. The wood took
the fillets next to the top and bottom beads very cleanly.

http://users.easystreet.com/onlnlowe/misc/magnol.pencilcup.JPG

My only problem with it was that it seemed to iron stain very easily-
made blue/black smudges - clean the tools and your hands before touching
the bare, damp wood.

I enjoyed shooting the ribbons off the blank with a roughing gouge - had
fun just seeing how far I could make them go - and how long I could get
one unbroken (I bet it was at least 10' but maybe even up to 20' or so).

_____
American Association of Woodturners
Cascade Woodturners Assoc., Portland, Oregon
Northwest Woodturners, Tigard, Oregon
_____

Owen Lowe wrote:

In article ,
"Dr. Deb" wrote:

Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn.

Hi Doc. The Magnolia I've turned has been rather blonde, fine grained
and *easy* to turn (at least while green). The one piece on my desk - a
pencil cup - has turned a light brown (oil/varnish finish) with a
moderate growth ring deliniation. This piece contains the pith in the
1/4" thick bottom and doesn't show any signs of cracking. The wood took
the fillets next to the top and bottom beads very cleanly.

http://users.easystreet.com/onlnlowe/misc/magnol.pencilcup.JPG

My only problem with it was that it seemed to iron stain very easily-
made blue/black smudges - clean the tools and your hands before touching
the bare, damp wood.

I enjoyed shooting the ribbons off the blank with a roughing gouge - had
fun just seeing how far I could make them go - and how long I could get
one unbroken (I bet it was at least 10' but maybe even up to 20' or so).

_____
American Association of Woodturners
Cascade Woodturners Assoc., Portland, Oregon
Northwest Woodturners, Tigard, Oregon
_____


Thanks Owen, can't wait until tomorrow when I can try it for myself.

Deb

Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn. BRBR

I've turned it several times. Turns well, wet or dry. It may seem bland at
first, but it will darken with exposure to UV to a myrtle-like color.
-Jim Gott-
San Jose, CA

Follow this link to a page with some pictures, one of which is a magnolia
vase I turned.
http://www.sawg.org.nz/Galleries/mem...ome%20page.htm

It turns beautifully, has a distinctive smell, thats not offensive (musky),
and has a beautiful contrast between the sap (cream to grey) and the heart
(dark brown to black)

Good luck,

Rex
Auckland
New Zealand


"Dr. Deb" wrote in message
...
Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn.

Thanks

Deb

Hi Doc,
I've turned deciduous magnolia. Don't know how different it is from
evergreen. It is rather soft but turns fairly well the only problem I've
found is that it blue stains very rapidly if it isn't roughed out right
away. The blue stain can lead to some interesting patterns but usually it
just looks bad.
Tony Manella
ndd1"at"prolog.net (remove "at")
http://home.ptd.net/~ndd1/
Lehigh Valley Woodturners
http://www.lehighvalleywoodturners.org/

"Dr. Deb" wrote in message
...
Anyone ever turned magnolia. I have a piece from the root ball and was
wondering how it would turn.

Thanks

Deb

If you can get some big, old magnolia that has black to dark brown streaks in
it you have some nice wood.
Nashville, Georgia

Anyone ever turned magnolia

If it's fresh cut, you might try to induce some spalting: the magnolia I'e had
turned easily but was pretty bland. It does spalt nicely however and will have
more character that way

Kip Powers
Rogers, AR