About Paulownia Wood
Lightest wood in the world (after balsa)
Paulownia originates from China and has been widely used in Asia for more than 2500 years. In China and Japan, this lightweight timber is traditionally used for low strength housing components, aircraft fittings, veneers, furniture, musical instruments, gift boxes, coffins and pattern-making.
In New Zealand, the timber is commonly used to make boats, kayaks, surfboards and furniture. It’s also a good choice for interior sarking, snowboards, picture frames and polo mallets.
Characteristics of paulownia wood
- Lightness – paulownia is the lightest wood in the world other than balsa and 40% the weight of pine
- One of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any wood
- Bonds well with glue and epoxy resins
- Unlike balsa, paulownia does not hold the added weight from soaking up excessive amounts of epoxy
- Provides excellent acoustic and thermal insulation properties – has twice the R factor of pine
- Remains stable with changes in humidity
- Odourless
- Insect resistant
- Resistant to fungal rots (but not to surface moulds)
Technical Properties of NZ Paulownia
| Basic Density | 285-300kg/m3 |
| Air-dry Density (11% moisture content) | 335-340 kg/m3 |
| Tangential shrinkage (green to 12% moisture content) | 1.8-2.0% |
| Radial Shrinkage (green to 12% moisture content) | 0.8-0.9% |
| Hardness (dry) | 1.3-1.4 kN |
| Modulus of Rupture (MPa) | 40 |
| Modulus of Elasticity (GPa) | 4.0 |
| Compression Parallel (MPa) | 23 |
| Shear Parallel (MPa) | 5.3 |
