google it....there are sites in NZ with people who have plantations of it,milled and kiln dried....doesnt say cost however.
Printable View
google it....there are sites in NZ with people who have plantations of it,milled and kiln dried....doesnt say cost however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
I planted Paulownia about 28 years ago, the trees are modreately attractive but that's about the end of their value here. It's just the same old story, NZ climate is so different to their habitat that it was never really likely to work. Paulownia grow naturally in China where there are very distinct seasons (winter and summer average temperatures can be over 30C different!), and in a climate where almost all the rain is during the summer growing season. Bring them to NZ where the average temperatures in summer and winter are usually about 8-10C different, then plant them on the East Coast of the NI where summers can be very dry, and get surprised they do not thrive.
The wood is very light, but the tree form is so horrible it woul dbe a lot of work to prune them to timber form. IN China this is not a problem as they traditionally used them in agroforestry as interplant with row crops, and all the foliage is pruned off for use as fertiliser around the crops. They have a high input pruning system to provide mulch/fertility that incidentally produces a straight timber log. Over here, the natural tree form is allowed to develop, somewhat similar to a broccoli in shape. I heard about a forest experiment of Paulownia in NE NSW some years back, I got the chance to go see them feeling a bit enthusiastic about how they would perform in the subtropical climate with most of the rain in summer, but they were almost as bad as the ones I've seen in NZ.
You do see the occaisonal nice one but they are rare. The fallen limbs seem to rot away easily on the ground so would need good protection if you were using it as a gunstock. Certainly light though, paulownia is only a little bit heavier than balsa. I'm not aware of anyone still thinking they are a serious timber proposition here, but no doubt there is some eccentric out there somewhere still working with them.
Yep, did that. The website itself not that helpful.
Yip I buy mine from Graham. Lovely bloke, dairy farmer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
His timber is perfect, well the clears I buy are. Zero knots
It's amazing people like that, small number of trees but making a commercial go of it. Well done. I wonder how many others there are still persevering with paulownia? It's no surprise it's on a dairy farm, this is a tree best suited to the best sites.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
I could be wrong but think he was on country calendar once. Bit of a side line I think but still pretty interestingQuote:
Originally Posted by Ben Waimata
I think in some parts of the world (USA, Oz), and also NZ (BoP, Waikato?), it officially has pest status and you're not allowed to plant it?
Anyway, the stock looks awesome. Great skills
Hi Ben. not sure where you are getting your info from, maybe its out dated. Ill post some pics of a great plantation in Nuhaka once I get hold of them. A surfboard maker buys it into Gisborne. Its amazing to work with... except with a chisel lol. but sands and rasps brilliantly. the next stock I make from it will only have a carbon wrist... or may a laminated core and a coat of resin painted on the outer. it doesnt need full carbon but I thought itd be a cool project.
Scott check out the blade @hotbarrels on here made me. Its the shiznit for carving paulowniaQuote:
Originally Posted by Scott Cowan
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-making-55651/
That's great to know, all the Paulownia I've seen have been as I described, a picture of a good plantation would be good to see. My trees are so totally outclassed by the good quality Eucalyptus spp I grow nearby that perhaps I'm just biased in views. I would imagine there would be some prime paulownia growing sites in Nuhaka, the trees really like horticultural quality sites with high summer moisture and no wind. Good fertility helps a lot too. Most of the trees planted around this way back in the day ended up on dry windy hillsides where (in hindsight) they had no chance of performing. We had the same problems with Robinia, that were sold to farmers as hardy trees which is true to a point, but actually only do any good in horticultural quality sites. Usually those best hort quality sites get used for something like kiwifruit with much higher returns than timber.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Cowan
so are these the fast growing tree that has pink blossums not unlike wattle that fall all over the show making heck of a mess???
No, they have large purple inverted trumpet flowers in large clusters, smell good too. look up paulownia foliage. I think you might be thinking about Albizia julibrissian?Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
interesting,the seeds,roots and foilage suseptable to rot but not the timber...so maybe it is just the ticket for stock making.....now who was it that had that duplicater???
So you haven't thrown it away in disgust then @Gibo ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibo
Mate its the gift that keeps on giving! Sneaky lick every 3 months on the 600grit and its razor edge again :DQuote:
Originally Posted by hotbarrels
Awesome work Gibo, and yeah a slicing blade is a great idea on this stuff. you must keep it sharp. my chisels are all too blunt to use on this timber...
Attachment 177275
all set for the wrap... just waiting till the resin gets tacky... nervous... no turning back now... should I have done a test?
Have you had a play with teasing the dry carbon cloth around corners and such?Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Cowan
Na, just decided to go for it... and go for it I did. was a stressful evening to say the least... when my blood pressure returns to civility Ill post some more. its currently curing inside with the fire warmth. biggest issue was that the resin didnt tack up at the same rate. some was perfect, some too far dry with no stick and the odd patch still wet.
Attachment 177291
So I as said.. that didn't go smoothly. due to the forend not sticking I employed some superglue, and also at the odd patch that fibers wouldn't go down in joints. the tutorial used spray glue but I didnt have that... and given right down at the but under the bottom it was still wet I decided to gladwrap the whole thing and then insulation tape from top to bottom to try help the bond. then put it in a warm room to cure
Attachment 177293
I certainly needed to have some pressure under the butt to get it to hold down
Attachment 177294
the suspense! this was the scene in my lounge after a prayer and coffee time. priorities. a decaf coffee at that, the adrenaline last night was not flash with chest pains to boot. Me and adrenaline have a love/freakout relationship..., anyways I finished to wrapping at 10pm and by 1am I was calm enough to go to sleep lol. Now I have to head off to work.
Can't wait to see how it turned out.
Be like unwrapping a Christmas present
The white look is very russian snow camo. :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Cowan
Possibly not much call for that up north though.
Attachment 177356Attachment 177357Attachment 177358 So its not terrible, the experience was tho lol. id not bed till after this next time... I'm not sure about the quality of this carbon but its what I had. Must have sharp scissors and tweezers and loads of gloves lol
Have you weighed it?
I weighed it, sitting at just over 500g. then I trimmed a bit and started the next process
Attachment 177367Attachment 177368
So it trimmed up ready to coat with epoxy again. id definitely not bed it first when doing another... if I ever do another lol. Attachment 177369
Great stuff. When you say you would bed it later, would you cut the inletting oversized and wrap the carbon over the edges?
Attachment 177370Attachment 177371Attachment 177372 So this is the little Grendel. so light to carry. A bare Tikka t3 weighs 2.7KG aprox. so this has scope, rings and suppressor and still comes in under the weight of the bare Tikka rifle. I bought it as a 222 without a mag follower so its a single shot at present. I originally planned to carbon wrap the wrist but haven't got there yet. I am playing with the idea of fitting a tikka mag and bottom to this one also... would be even more tricky than the one I've just done as Id have to trim the back off a 223 mag as it wouldn't fit due to the trigger position. Maybe better to just find a mag follower lol... any thoughts guys?
yes id over cut the channel and wrap it, then bed after finishing the carbon process... at least that's what I think I'd do lol
See if the Howa mini magazine and trigger guard would work.
Attachment 177416Attachment 177417Attachment 177418Attachment 177419
curing well. bit of lifting and nibs that will need to be sanded off.
I’ve been following this with interest, as I was thinking about doing a similar thing myself. I’d planned to use XPS insulation board, possibly laminated over a balsa-ply central stringer. What would be the pros & cons of using paulownia instead? And does anyone know if anyone stocks it in Christchurch, or would I need to get some sent down from the growers in Hamilton?
Attachment 177425 So I did this before the resin set.... was it a good idea? of course I buffed the action with nugget. there was too much fiber sitting off the top edge so I figured the action would squash it down and ill be re bedding it anyway. will i have issued breaking it free I wonder...lol
Attachment 177495 So this is what it started out looking like
out of interest...as Im plurry positive others want to ask...how much did that stick cost you????
the off cut you can post to Gibo...he will get at least 1 maybe 2 lures from it LOL.
Attachment 177497Attachment 177499Attachment 177500
Man I was relieved it popped out clean. time for sanding the nibs off then sanding the whole surface ready for next coat. I may let each coat harden and sand back between coats to keep it as light as possible.
Attachment 177502 would love to keep it sub 600g if possibleAttachment 177502... I might be dreaming lol
