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Boring
Carving
Common Names
Common Uses
Countries of Distribution
Cutting Resistance
Distribution Overview
Drying Defects
Ease of Drying
Environmental Profile
Gluing
Grain
Heartwood Color
Kiln Schedules
Luster
Mortising
Moulding
Movement in Service
Nailing
Natural Durability
Numerical Data
Odor
Planing
Polishing
Product Sources
References
Regions of Distribution
Resistance to Impregnation
Response to Hand Tools
Routing & Recessing
Sanding
Sapwood Color
Scientific Name
Screwing
Staining
Steam Bending
Strength Properties
Texture
Trade Name
Tree Size
Turning
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Common Names
Cucumber magnolia, Cucumbertree, Magnolia, Mountain magnolia, Yellow cucumbertree, Yellow flower magnolia
Regions of Distribution
North America
Countries of Distribution
[VIEW MAP]
Canada, United States
Common Uses
Baskets, Blinds, Boxes and crates, Building materials, Carvings, Casks, Chairs, Chests, Concealed parts (Furniture), Desks, Dining-room furniture, Dowell pins, Dowells, Drawer sides, Fine furniture, Fixtures, Floor lamps, Food containers, Furniture , Furniture components, Furniture squares or stock, Hatracks, Interior construction, Interior trim, Kitchen cabinets, Living-room suites, Millwork, Moldings, Office furniture, Packing cases, Pulp/Paper products, Pulpwood, Radio - stereo - TV cabinets, Rustic furniture, Shutters, Stools, Tables , Trimming, Utility furniture, Wainscotting, Wardrobes
Environmental Profile
| Vulnerable |
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| Abundant/Secure |
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| Widespread |
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| Rather secure globally |
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| Rather rare at the periphery of its range |
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| Rare in parts of its natural range (population is at risk) |
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| Data source is Nature Conservancy |
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| Abundant |
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The species is Endangered within its natural growth range in the state of Indiana, and is Vulnerable, possibly Endangered in Oklahoma
Distribution Overview
In the U.S., in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. It thrives in moist upland oak-hickory forests. In the Ouachitas, it is usually found only on the upper north slopes of the highest mountains.
Heartwood Color
The heartwood is light greenish gray in color, sometimes streaked with brown
Sapwood Color
| Brown |
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| Yellow |
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| White |
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| Grey |
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| Whitish |
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Grain
Texture
Luster
Natural Durability
Magnolia has little or no resistance to attack by decay causing arganisms and wood destroying insects.
Odor
| No specific smell or taste |
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Kiln Schedules
| 10 - D4 (4/4); T8 - D3 (8/4) U |
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Drying Defects
Ease of Drying
| Rapidly |
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| Reconditioning Treatement |
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| Little degrade |
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| Moderate kiln schedules are recommended |
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| Easy |
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Tree Size
| Tree height is 20-30 m |
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| Trunk diameter is 100-150 cm |
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The tree usually develops a straight bole and measures about 60 to 80 feet (18 to 24 m) in height, with a trunk diameter of about 24 inches (60 cm). Magnolia is a very popular ornamental tree because of its beautiful flowers and leaves
Product Sources
Magnolia is not a plentiful species, and bes often marketed in mixed batches with Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) as Yellow poplar. Since the bulk of the mixture be Tuliptree, it is often difficult to know whether the material being used is actually Magnolia. Yellow poplar be readily available and moderately priced, but increasing demand is likely to affect the quality of the material as time goes on.
Boring
| Fairly easy to very easy |
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| Fair to good results |
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| Easy |
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Number of pieces out of one hundred yielding good to excellent boring results = 71
Carving
Carving characteristics are rated as good and the wood of Magnolia is very popular as a craftwood
Cutting Resistance
Gluing
| Fairly good gluing properties |
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Mortising
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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| Responds poorly to mortising |
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Number out of one hundred yielding fair to excellent results in mortising = 32
Moulding
| Fair to Good Results |
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| Moulding properties are poor |
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Percent of moulded pieces with good to excellent results = 27
Movement in Service
| Excellent Stability - Small Movement |
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| Fair to Good Stability - Medium Movement |
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The wood has moderate dimensional stability adfter seasoning, but it is slightly less stable than Tuliptree
Nailing
Percent of nailed pieces free from complete splits = 73
Planing
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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Magnolia is about 10 percent heavier than Tuliptree, and the two species are reported to respond very well and similarly to most woodworking operations. (Percent of planed Magnolia pieces without any machining defects = 65)
Resistance to Impregnation
| Permeable heartwood |
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| Permeable sapwood |
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Response to Hand Tools
Routing & Recessing
Sanding
| Fairly Easy to Very Easy |
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| Difficult to sand (expect < 50 out of 100 good to excellent results) |
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Percent of sanded pieces yielding good to excellent results = 37
Screwing
Pre-Boring is recommended. (Number of screwed pieces out of one hundred free from complete splits = 76)
Turning
The wood is slightly superior in strength and finer in texture than Tuliptree, which makes it a better turnery wood. Large volumetric shrinkage is reported to discourage its use in larger projects such as, tables and case goods. (Number of pieces out of one hundred yielding fair to excellent results in turning = 79)
Steam Bending
Percent of unbroken pieces = 85
Polishing
| Surface Preparation |
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| Very Good to Excellent Results |
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| Fair to Good Results |
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Staining
Magnolia and Tuliptree are reported to respond very well to finishes, even light bodied finishes, to yield glass-smooth surfaces
Strength Properties
| Hardness (side grain) = soft |
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| Dented and marred easily |
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| Compression strength (parallel to grain) = medium |
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Bending strength in the air-dry condition (about 12 percent moisture content) is high - comparable to Teak
Numerical Data
| Item | Green | Dry | English |
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| Bending Strength | 7252 | 12054 | psi |
| Crushing Strength | 323 | 559 | psi |
| Hardness | | 686 | lbs |
| Impact Strength | 29 | 34 | inches |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 3077 | 6184 | psi |
| Shearing Strength | | 1313 | psi |
| Stiffness | 1529 | 1784 | 1000 psi |
| Work to Maximum Load | 10 | 12 | inch-lbs/in3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.34 | 0.39 | |
| Radial Shrinkage | 5 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 9 | | % |
| Volumetric Shrinkage | 13 | | % |
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| Item | Green | Dry | Metric |
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| Bending Strength | 509 | 847 | kg/cm2 |
| Crushing Strength | 22 | 39 | kg/cm2 |
| Hardness | | 311 | kg |
| Impact Strength | 73 | 86 | cm |
| Maximum Crushing Strength | 216 | 434 | kg/cm2 |
| Shearing Strength | | 92 | kg/cm2 |
| Stiffness | 107 | 125 | 1000 kg/cm2 |
| Work to Maximum Load | 0.70 | 0.84 | cm-kg/cm3 |
| Specific Gravity | 0.34 | 0.39 | |
| Radial Shrinkage | 5 | | % |
| Tangential Shrinkage | 9 | | % |
References
Arno, J. 1991. Magnolia acuminata - Cucumbertree. In A Guide to Useful Woods of the World. Flynn Jr., J.H., Editor. King Philip Publishing Co., Portland, Maine. 1994. Page 216-217.
Boone, R.S., C.J. Kozlik, P.J. Bois and E.M. Wengert. 1988. Dry Kiln Schedules for Commercial Woods: Temperate and Tropical. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, General Technical Report FPL-GTR-57, Madison, Wisconsin.
Kaiser, J. Wood of the Month: Magnolia - Lovely Magnolias are Older than Man. Wood & Wood Products, July 1987, Page 68.
Little, E.L. 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees - Eastern Region. Published by Arthur A. Knopf.
Panshin, A.J. and C. deZeeuw. 1980. Textbook of Wood Technology, 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Series in Forest Resources. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
USDA. 1987. Wood Handbook : Wood as an Engineering Material. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 72. Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
USDA. 1988. Dry Kiln Operators Manual, Preliminary Copy. Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin.
WCMC. 1992. Conservation Status Listing - Trees and Timbers of the World. World Conservation Monitoring Center-Plants Programme, Cambridge, CB3 ODL, United Kingdom.
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