Today in a small inland town in China, we interviewed Mr. Guangxue Li, owner of China's biggest paulownia board manufacturer--Lankowood Group,, who has devoted all his life career to paulownia wood board industry.
Mr Li said ," I inherited this business from my great grandfather. It is richly endowed by nature that our town has hundreds of years of wood processing experience. Everybody in my village knows paulownia wood since he is a kid.'' "Paulownia board manufacturering and exporting is the key income of our local town."
Unlike other types of wood, paulownia is extremely super fast growing. Paulownia is a quick-drying wood that resists the growth of bacteria. In China, it is popular for roadside planting and as an ornamental tree.
" We mainly produce two types of Paulownia boards'', said Li, ''Paulownia Edge Glued Board and Paulownia Finger Jointed Board.''
" Edge Glued Panels are more widely used between the two. Paulownia wood is cheaper than other types of wood, so the demand quantity both domestically and overseas are quite large. Our factory produces over 80% of the paulownia boards in the world's paulownia market.'' said Mr Li with a smile on his face.
" We normally have three different quanlity grades for the two types of paulownia board. AA grade, AB grade, CC grade. Many Japanese customers prefer to call AA, AB, ABC( which is CC grade)."
According to Mr Li, it takes 7 steps to make a paulownia board.( How to make paulownia board?)
1. Harvesting the Paulownia timber: The timber must be harvested from sustainably managed forests where the trees have fully matured but are still relatively young.
2. Cutting the Paulownia logs: The Paulownia logs are then cut into smaller sections for transportation and processing.
3. Drying: The Paulownia timber is then carefully dried in a climate-controlled environment to remove any excess moisture.
4. Planing and Sizing: Once the drying process is completed, the Paulownia timber is cleaned and planed to remove any bark or rough areas.
The boards are then cut and shaped to the desired size.
5. Sanding: The boards are then sanded to create a smooth, flat surface before they are glued together.
6. Gluing: Once the boards are sanded, they are glued together and clamped in place while the glue dries.
7. Fitting: After the glue has dried, the boards are fitted and sanded to create a finished product. Additional sanding and finishing may be necessary depending on the desired results.
8. Finishing: Finally, the paulownia board is treated with a finish to protect it from everyday use and give it a desired look. The most common finish applied to paulownia boards is a natural wax or oil-based finish that enhances the natural color and grain of the wood.
Why is paulownia board so widely used? What are paulownia board used for?
Paulownia board is softer than pine board, or poplar board. The density is from 310-350. It is cheaper and quite light and is widely used in many home decor areas.
1. Paulownia board is commonly used as door cores, blockboard cores.
2. Paulownia board is widely used as training boards, such as taekwondo breaking boards, rebreakable training boards.
3. Paulownia board is widely used in making drawers, cabinets, boxes.
4. Paulownia board is widely used in making table tops, countertops.
5. Paulownia board is widely used in making surfboards, skiing boards.
6. Paulownia board is widely used in making hives, heehives and other hives.
7. Paulownia board is widely used in making coffins, Italian coffins, etc.
8. Paulownia board is widely used in making floating shelves, wall mounted storage shelves, etc.
9. Paulownia board is widely used in making cutting boards, etc.
10. Paulownia board is widely used in making crafts, DIY projects.
11. Paulownia board is widely used in making sauna panels.
