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Spalted curly magnolia

Mike Stafford

Mike Stafford

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2,357
Location
Coastal plain of North Carolina
Around here whenever there is a hurricane you can always count on some downed trees. Those most likely to hit the ground are pines (because we have so many of them(, Bradford pears (because Bradford pears fall apart during almost any kind of bad weather) and magnolias (because of the heavy foliage I am guessing)'

This chunk of wood was given to me after a hurricane and to my dismay it started spalting before I could do anything to preserve. it. I went ahead and roughed it out. After roughing I could really see the spalting but I had no idea there was any curly until I started sanding and finishing. I don't believe I have ever seen curl in magnolia before this bowl.

About 9" X 4 1/2" and light as a feather.

IMG_4401 mod.jpg IMG_4398 mod.jpg
 
I have turned plenty of spalted magnolia over the years but I have never seen any like this. The curl would have been magnificent if I had caught it before the fungus got into the wood.

Vaughn McMillan said:
You're cranking out some pretty pieces lately, Mike!
Click to expand...
Thank you.
Vaughn, I have to turn during warm weather. Chemo treatments damaged my nervous system and made me very sensitive to cold. So I have to make hay while the sun shines. I have slowed down quite a bit and I am turning about 3 hours every morning. You can get a lot done in that time. I am trying to clean some of the wood out of my shop so my wife doesn't have to deal with it. I sold half of a one car garage full of boards Saturday that I have been accumulating for 30 or more years. There was so much he had to make two trips with his pickup.

That stash included cherry (curly and quilted), walnut (there were 5 planks of quartersawn walnut 12 feet long and 14 inches wide with nary a knot), oak, maples(including some gorgeous birdseye and curly boards), cocobolo, padauk, quilted imbuya, mahogany, lacewood, wenge, panga panga, granadillo, East Indian Rosewood (12" wide and 4 feet long), purpleheeart (curly and quilted) and much, much more. There were two 8 foot long 1 1/8" thick planks of bubinga 16 1/2" wide. That was half of the original board I had it cut into four pieces so I could get it home in my van. I made dozens of boxes from that board. It was gorgeous wood.

Here is one of those bubinga boxes.
Bubinga Burl Swivel Split Lid 1A (Custom).jpg Bubinga Burl Swivel Split Lid 1B (Custom).jpg

Some of that wood I bought just because I wanted to have it to look at. I used some but I definitely saved some because as Andy Rooney said, "I get as much pleasure out of seeing those boards in my shop as I do from any project I might make from them."

Let me tell you....that was a heart breaking experience to see all that gorgeous wood leave my shop. I sold it cheap by today's standards but I probably made 4 to 5 times what I paid for it.
 
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