Madrone is comparatively easy to work with both machine and hand powered tools. For those familiar with working with Hard Maple (Acer saccharum), Madrone is very similar in terms of working characteristics and both woods are of about the same hardness, which is quite hard for domestic hardwood.
However, Madrone be difficult to dry. Pieces of Madrone that have been worked while less than bone dry have a marked tendency to warp or twist in the drying process, so use caution with wet timber and rough turn bowls or other turnings to allow room to reshape once final drying has occurred.
Madrone is an excellent turning wood, in part due to its relative hardness.
Madrone takes stains and other finishes quite well.
Take care to ensure that any water-based glue joints are thoroughly dry before further machining to avoid subsequent sunken glue lines.
Madrone displays no characteristic odor when freshly cut or otherwise machined.
Madrone Burl Table Top
Pricing and Availability
The pricing and availability of Madrone will depend in large part of where you are located and on what form of Madrone you are interested in.
Supplies of Madrone outside of its native range will be inherently limited and more expensive than material sourced from the west coast directly. However, Internet based wood suppliers make this less of a challenge than once would have been the case.
That said, most Madrone is sold in the burl form, either as small turning blanks or as a veneer, both of which will be quite expensive as is so often the case with any burl wood since it is in much more limited supply than timber material.
However, Madrone lumber, when and if available, is also expensive compared to other domestic hardwoods and will easily cost more than other premium domestic materials such as Cherry (Prunus serotina) or Walnut (Juglans nigra).
The best price comparison for Madrone would be Myrtle (Umbellularia californica) which is another hardwood native to the Pacific coastal region. Myrtle tends to be a bit more widely available than Madrone in general, especially in larger lumber formats and large turning blanks.
In this blog, I always recommend several vendors with whom I have done considerable business and in whom I have great confidence. These vendors are: West Penn Hardwoods, Bell Forest Products, NC Wood, Got Wood?, and WoodTurningz.
Of these fine vendors only WoodTurningz currently stocks any form of Madrone Burl, although Bell Forest Products has sold spindle sizes of Madrone Burl in the past and may do so again at some point in the future.
WoodTurningz sells only pen blanks sizes of Madrone Burl at this time and that is typical for this material. Prices range from $3.00 to $5.50 depending on the grade of the material desired.
Exotic Woods USA, a vendor with whom I have done limited business, does offer some larger sizes of Madrone Burl slab ranging in price from $19.80 for a small turning square up to $139.50 for a very large almost 10” square over 2” thick blank. Caution that I have not always found this suppliers blanks to be well waxed or stored with care, often some mold is present, so beware of this when ordering unless you plan to use the stock quite quickly indeed.
As to which vendor would be best I can’t say, but I would suggest that an interested buyer look at all the options, consider shipping distances and prices, as well as other items that might be of interest from any one seller before selecting a vendor. I’ve had mostly good experiences will these vendors and would feel confident purchasing Madrone Burl from any of them.