Buying Boxwood...From the branches...?

[Dan Barr]

All,

I was wondering the pros and cons of buying boxwood from the branches. Any significant problems here?

I've found some boxwood, but the only available wood is from the branches. I'm inclined to snatch up as much as I can afford right now.

any info is appreciated.

Cheers,

dan

[george wilson]

Those must be big branches. Usually modern boxwood is hardly large enough to use in the main trunk.

Nothing wrong with using the branches,though. I suppose you will not be making much more than handles,finials,and the like from them. Reaction wood won't be a problem for such use. You will have to dry the wood for a long time,though,and even then it will still shrink when you turn it. Ferrules will loosen and fall off of chisel handles,etc. . And,things like chisel handles can even take a curve to them.

There things happened to me when making handles of the London pattern for chisels. The boxwood was cut in 1994,and must have been 12 years old when I used it for the purpose. The box I refer to was about 2 1/2" in diameter.

[Jim Koepke]

The boxwood was cut in 1994,and must have been 12 years old when I used it for the purpose.

You must have aged rather fast in the last 15 years.

jim

[george wilson]

I think I made the handles about 2005. I didn't get back to them for a few years. One finished one had the ferrule get loose. A couple of others decided to become bananas.

[Joel Moskowitz]

if it's big enough for your purpose I don't see why not.
cut it to length + some before drying and if you are using it for handles drill the tang hole right away - saves lots of drying time. You will have a fairly high reject rate but such is life with boxwood.

[george wilson]

Drilling the hole is a good idea,but we painted the ends of our boxwood to keep it from splitting to pieces. the wheelwright's shop had a big bunch of elm blanks for wheel hubs,and they were drilled.