Anyone have experience woodworking crepe myrtle?

Never heard of anyone using crepe myrtle wood for anything, but definitely interested in your results

Please keep this thread updated

You need to coat the end grain with at least a couple of coats of latex paint. I assume you will be wanting to cut the wood into usable pieces as you did not suggest woodturning. If thats the case, expect wood to split somewhat even with proper care. This wood is not the most useful but you may get some neat crotch pieces. Wood turning could lead to something special. Expect 4 plus months of air drying if in a covered area.

I use it for perches for my parrots. But I know nothing about working it. I would be interested in the results of your experiment. That wood would have been burned or gone to the landfill -- so have fun experimenting with it.

Might want to stand them up. I cut down two decent sized crepe myrtles last year and stacked it for fire wood. Six to Seven months later it still wouldn't burn and had water coming out of the ends.

The wood is still sitting in OP’s garage

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my neighbors were cutting down their enormous crepe myrtle.

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They are members here.

Seems like the “woodworking” is already done with a crepe Myrtle by nature, really.



And by that I mean:

The allure of the crepe Myrtle is the exterior or bark created by nature. One poster has an idea that maybe you just let it be a table base and let the exterior speak for itself.


If internal checking is a problem and nature’s exterior is the superior part of it. Let everyone see the bark or exterior.

Try to locate LewDawg on here. He is very good at woodworking and may have some helpful info.

Turn it upside down and make a table. Bottom. ( saw it on Facebook marketplace)

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I noticed a couple days ago my neighbors were cutting down their enormous crepe myrtle. I walked over and was struck by the beauty and density of the wood. They were so kind to let me have all the best branches and the trunk.



This is one of the biggest crepe myrtles I’ve ever seen. I want to make useful, beautiful things with this wood but have no experience with recently living, unique wood. My only experience is with engraving and sculpting red oak. I’d hate to goof up such great pieces of lumber. We have the big chunks in an area they can dry.



I’ve searched for more information on preparing and preserving my myrte loot as it drys, but couldn’t find much. I’ll likely call a miller, but do y’all have any experience with this?

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Very common for wood turnings. Supposedly machines well and has significant curly grain which means it may be hard to plane sufficiently...curly grain tends to tear. Has been used for years in boatbuilding in native range and is moderately resistant to rot. It is less commonly used to make furniture but it can be gorgeous depending on the grain.

The trunk of any tree makes better lumber than limbs. Limbs inherently have funky grains and tensions...it is hard to dry limbs to a workable moisture content without significant twisting and cupping and if it is accomplished machining lumber milled from limbs will increase the risk of kickback etc because of the tension that never goes away...a tree trunk will have consistent tension and grain patterns unless it is leaning hard for years. Limb grain grows in a way that supports the limbs weight, inducing tensions into the grain that never dissipates. It can be mitigated but the trunk will alway be better all else being equal.

Laytex exterior house paint will reduce checking and splitting. A couple of heavy coats on the ends after milling it will do the trick. Do not try to dry it without milling it...it won't work. It will dry out on the outer rings and be as green as a gourd for the remainder until it rots beyond use.

Mill it one inch thickness, sticker and stack it, cover with a piece of tin and it will dry to workability surprisingly quick. The old rule of thumb of a year per inch is WAY over stated even in very humid climates. SYP is workable in most of the south in 90 days after milling. Depending on how much you have it can be dried in an oven or an attack space. Its best to do it outdoors where it can heat up and cool down...but most lumber is eventually dried in what amounts to an oven. If you can keep air moving around it drying time is significantly reduced.

Should make some gorgeous boxes and that sort of thing, and depending on how much you have and how much curly grain there is it could be used in heirloom pieces.