A guy at work is planning to cut down 2 very large trees in his yard. A Mulberry and a Magnolia. A quick google search suggests that Mulberry isn't worth the effort/cost to resaw. Didn't find much about Magnolia. Could be a truck load of lumber. Worth my effort? O.
Oregon asks:
Both. Mulberry is a lot better than it is given credit for being, seasons well, and is decay resistant. Works well, glues nicely, finishes well, is useful in most woodworking areas, including boatbuilding. It's not found in large stands, so is seldom seen as a woodworking tree. The figure isn't much, grain is coarse, straight, color is a sort of tannish orange.
Magnolia, whether southern or cucumbertree type, is similar to yellow poplar, often sold in the same batch without further ID. Southern magnolia is a species especially suited to venetian blind slats because it remains flat. Other than that, carving, turnery, furniture, cabinetry.
Charlie Self "Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen." Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
Mulberry is prized by instrument makers. Don't waste that wood.
I'll post a picture of a chair I made from mullberry on ABPW
Also the Mulberry is, was, used by the Chinese to grow Silk Worms.
My dad was a bit of a woodworker and I got that in my genes as well. When I was 17, about 25 years ago, we built a crossbow out of black walnut and used mulberry for the butt plate and around the trigger. If I could find my (*&^% digital camera, I'd post a pic of it on abpw. Anyway, the mulberry was almost white when we made the crossbow. Within a few years, it had darkened to a rich dark honey gold. It's absolutely gorgeous. My dad had also used mulberry a lot in coffee tables and cedar chests alongside the walnut. It's a nice wood. Were it I, I'd be on that like flies on horse poo. Good luck with it.
Will
Magnolia is used a lot in Japan as "Ho". Traditional timber for saya (sword scabbards) because of its behaviour when dried and tendency to stay nicely dry, no matter what you do to it afterwards. Good for kitchen knives too.
There may be species differences - you don't state which magnolia you have, and (being a Brit) I don't know much about the genus anyway.
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