Working with magnolia

[Gregory Lyons]

Does anyone have any experience working with (southern) magnolia? I'm in northeast Florida where it grows abundantly, but I haven't seen much discussion of its use in woodworking.

~g

[Greg Stanford]

Magnolia is protected here (Southern Mississippi) & I thought it was there. Still I usually manage to get a few good pieces after a hurricane blows through -- turns real pretty.

g

[Gregory Lyons]

Interesting, I didn't realize that it was protected. Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) didn't appear on the list that I found for protected (and endangered) species in Florida although my search was not exhaustive. They seem to be quite plentiful in my area.

Either way, I wasn't thinking of commercially harvested wood. I have several large ones in my yard, along with a gargantuan sycamore, that may need to come down in the next few years and had daydreamed about having a sawyer out to mill them. I was curious if it would be worth turning the mags into lumber when the time comes.

~g