Question on Laurel suitable for model building

[kidsgalore]

Hi everyone
Asking for your advise. I have a big laurel to cut down approx 25ft high and wondered if the wood is any good for use in model making?
Thanks
Mark

 

[Smithy]

I believe it’s good for magic wands, despite a reputation for fickleness.

 

[AllanKP69]

Hi Mark,
There are about 3000 species of laurel. Looking at photos of the wood it appears some look good with little grain, others have heavy grain and unsuitable. The color varies as well. Do you know which species you have? Hopefully some member has used the one you have and can give feedback on their results.
Allan

 

[Namabiiru]

You might PM Dave Stevens. He's a tree whisperer.

 

[Uwek]

Laurus wood is not often used and I guess you will have some knotholes inside
Often the wood is very light in colour going towards grey - so maybe usefull for deck planking

 

[Bob Cleek]

I have no idea what English laurel looks like. Where I live in coastal Northern California, we have 200-year-old California bay laurel trees (called Oregon myrtle in Oregon) that are over 100 feet tall with massive trunks. They occur in mixed forest land, often in riparian habitats. The bay laurel is not commercially logged, although some windfall is processed and marketed as "Oregon myrtle wood." (https://nwtimber.com/figured-lumber/myrtlewood?msclkid=f77e0227df9d188f5139657eafa104b9#shop) It is marketed as a specialty species and is particularly favored by artisanal furniture makers, luthiers as a tone wood, and bowl turners for its figuring and suitability for such use. Myrtle wood burls are highly prized and together with strongly figured stock, bring premium prices on the specialty hardwood market. It is also an excellent boatbuilding wood, though rarely seen in that role as it isn't widely available milled for that purpose. It is very hard and strong stuff and highly decay resistant stuff. It takes a beautiful finish. It's also known as "pepperwood" due to its peppery aroma which is almost like camphor wood. The leaves of this bay tree are used for seasoning food as well. From what I've seen of it, it would be an excellent modeling wood structurally, although its figuring is inconsistent with some showing very prominent dark grain which precludes its being used for scale wood finished bright.

 

[Namabiiru]

Man, if you can’t get a useable piece of lumber out of a tree that size, something is wrong.

 

[Bob Cleek]

Man, if you can’t get a useable piece of lumber out of a tree that size, something is wrong.

Oh, there's lumber to be had in those large bay laurels, but given where they grow and that they often grow in isolation, logging them is an expensive endeavor. Don't forget that in the relative grand scheme of things here in Northern California, this is a large tree:

 

[AllanKP69]

Man, if you can’t get a useable piece of lumber out of a tree that size, something is wrong

Useable to be sure, but for ship modeling? Giant redwoods are not very good for ship models anymore than balsa or oak. Size of a tree does not matter in our case.
Allan

 

[Namabiiru]

Well, you know. It’s not the size of the lumber that matters, but what you’re able to do with it

 

[kidsgalore]

Thanks everyone found out a little bit more, its an English Cherry Laurel approx 30ft high and 30ft round, Believe it used a lot for forming hedging here, very quick grower thickness of stems is 9"-10". Will save a few bits and see what happens once dried out.

 

[Bob Cleek]

Useable to be sure, but for ship modeling? Giant redwoods are not very good for ship models anymore than balsa or oak. Size of a tree does not matter in our case.
Allan

It wasn't my intention to suggest redwood as a suitable ship modeling species particularly. I was only responding to the previous comment on the size of the California bay laurel picture I'd posted. That said, I've done restoration work on a few antique "folk art" ship models which made use of vertically sawn heart redwood to good effect. It is straight grained and, while somewhat soft, certainly equal to white pine for modeling use. It holds a sharp edge and sands easily without raising "fuzz." There is a fair range of figuring variety and low contrast rings are often seen, particularly in older growth stock. It would seem quite suitable if painted and, considering suitable low contrast figuring, could be used bright with an appearance quite similar to Swiss pear (and may be amenable to staining to conceal the grain.) It's probably not as strong as Swiss pear, but it appears suitably strong for modeling applications. Figured redwood burl is especially nice for model bases, of course.

I wouldn't suggest anybody go trying to buy any at your local "big box" DIY store outside of its growing range. Milled redwood is still available and not listed in the CITES Appendices but is on the IUCN Red List, but the days of ubiquitous long railroad trains full of milled redwood construction timber are a thing of the past. It is listed as endangered due to a population reduction of approximately 50% in the past three generations, caused by a decline in its natural range, and exploitation. The days when we used to order it truckloads of it without hesitation to build home decks are long past, but, as it was the primary local construction framing and finish species for over a hundred years here, there's a fair amount of nice, recycled stuff kicking around the West Coast and it's not difficult to come across enough to use for modeling if you keep your eyes open in local scrap piles here. Of course, hand-selected luthier-quality stock is still available from specialty suppliers at a price.

With respect to modeling, it may be interesting to note that redwood is famously decay resistant and stable. Curiously, it is known to expand parallel to the grain more than across it, but not so much that it would be noticed in a modeling application. It takes glue as well as anything. I don't have any information regarding its suitability for heat bending.

To those who are not particularly familiar with wood species, these comments are offered with the encouragement that modeling wood "is where you find it." So often, the literature and "the experts" will list those species considered suitable for modeling but limit their lists to the "classics" seen in contemporary museum models, such as Swiss pear, ebony, and boxwood. Those are surely great choices, but for a variety of reasons they were the best choices available when the great contemporary museum models were built but are no longer available or too rare and dear to be justified today even if they can be found at all. Meanwhile, many local species we walk past every day, fruit woods and ornamentals such as holly, privets, maples, birches, red gums, and such, are fed into the urban arborists' chippers without a second thought and can be had for the asking or for the scrounging at the town dump recycling pile. This isn't because it isn't great wood for modeling, but simply because it isn't economically suitable for harvesting and milling in commercial quantities.

Unfinished instrument grade redwood stock (http://www.redwoodsalvagesales.com/luthiers.htm):


Finished instrument grade redwood stock:


Finished redwood burl:



Flat sawn Swiss pear wood:

 

[Jim Fortnam]

There are 2 sorts of wood used for modelling (simplifying!)

First is 'anything' dimensionally stable for making inner hulls and so forth
second is 'show wood' - all those surfaces that can be seen by a viewer with his/her hand lens.

Mostly, we're concerned with show wood, and like water, the grain of timber can't be scaled, so where the original may be using something showy, we have to find a wood with 1/48 size grain, or whatever, so tight grain timber like boxwood, many fruitwoods, hardwoods generally, ar the things to go for. Even planking needs to use a tight grain timber to simulate an original that was open grained.

Take a saw, cut yourself some chunks of your tree - over long, because you will get some shakes (splits) - cut them to about 1 inch thickness, then take some ½ inch square dry material and pile up your new wood as a stack, separating each plank with the sticks to allow air to circulate. Put the stack into a place under cover from rain, off the ground, but open to air movement, heap some weight on top to keep the planks flat, and leave it for at least a year, then set about converting to usable ship modelling dimensions, selecting according to colour, grain, etc.

Jim