Replies

1. 
   Jimma | Mar 03, 2003 07:59pm | #1

   Hi, John -- I've made some bowls out of loquat, but never tried to mill out any lumber mostly because the pieces I had weren't very long, maybe 5 - 6 feet, and had a lot of surface holes, etc. Nice figure and color, though, when finished. Kinda orange/brown with lighter specs in it. I live in Central Florida where there's quite a lot of it in residential landscaping, but I rarely see it being cut. They are long lived, I believe. Do you live in the South? Soil types may have a lot to do with the wood's characteritics. Jim

2. 
   jonsherryl | Mar 03, 2003 08:55pm | #2

   John, I've never worked with this wood, but it belongs to the genus Eriobotrya, which is part of the apple-like members of the Rose family. I think the one usually planted here as a cultivar is the Japanese species; E. japonica. This info ought to allow you to track it down on the web.

   If loquat's wood holds true to other species in this corner of the Rose family, it is probably rather fine textured and diffuse-porous.

1. 
   Elcoholic | Mar 03, 2003 11:53pm | #3

   I searched the web by the common and scientific names and only came up with USFS Fact Sheet.  Nothing I found addressed it's use as lumber.  Probably a bad sign.  Any other ideas wher I should be looking?

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

   
1. 
   jonsherryl | Mar 04, 2003 12:39am | #4

   John, loquat is not a commercial timber...so, I doubt if you'll find any of the technical wood data on it, like shrinkage, density, decay resistance, etc. If it's like the apples, it won't have much decay resistance...but a lot of these "fruitwood" species in the Rose family are nice cabinet woods. You just don't hear much about any of them, except for cherry, because they don't usually grow big enough to be a practical source of lumber...Anyway, I think it's worth trying to season a few slabs of this loquat and see what you get. I've salvaged some  really nice apple and peach from orchard cuttings up here in Michigan...You might get lucky.

3. 
   Jimma | Mar 04, 2003 03:40am | #5

   Hey, John, if you'll send me your email address I'll send you a photo of the bowl I turned from loquat, but it's not the bronze loquat. (I'm still not able to figure out how to get a photo file from my scanner into the Knots system.) Jim [email protected]

   Edited 3/3/2003 7:41:24 PM ET by JIMMACMAHON

   
   

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   Edited 3/3/2003 7:47:32 PM ET by JIMMACMAHON

1. 
   Elcoholic | Mar 04, 2003 11:37pm | #6

   [email protected] and thanks.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne