Paulownia Tomentosa (Paulownia)

Paulownia lumber and milled strips! The planks are 27mm thick (1 1/16″ thick x 6″ wide  x 96″ long) The 27mm thickness is unique in the commercial paulownia market here in North America and is essential for maximizing yield with minimum waste. We ship material that is 96″ long which is the longest material that can be ship via our shipper (FedEx Ground Home Delivery)

All of our milled strips are ¼” x 1 ¾”  96”. 

Paulownia wood is the best wood we’ve found to build a light weight, strong board. It’s easy to work with,  plantation grown and super consistent. Here are the specifications for those interested in technical data:

Paulownia, Royal Paulownia, Princess Tree, Kiri

Scientific Name: Paulownia tomentosa

Distribution: Native to eastern Asia; also planted in eastern North America

Tree Size: 30-65 ft (10-20 m) tall, 2-4 ft (.6-1.2 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 18 lbs/ft3 (280 kg/m3)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .25, .28

Janka Hardness: 300 lbf (1,330 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 5,480 lbf/in2 (37.8 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 635,000 lbf/in2 (4.38 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 3,010 lbf/in2 (20.7 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 2.4%, Tangential: 3.9%, Volumetric: 6.4%, T/R Ratio: 1.6

I’m fascinated by the range of products made from paulownia wood. In addition to our customers that make hollow paddle and surfboards boards, paipos, alais and hand planes, we have commercial customers that make custom fishing lures called “crank bait lures”. I’d never heard of such a thing but when the fishing lure guys found out about our clear, dry paulownia they thought they had struck gold!

Clearwood Paddleboards has some great customers and many of them have become friends. We love what we do here at Clearwood and look forward to engaging with the process and customers every day.