anybody have any "boxwood" or know anything about it?

[Paul Hinds]

In doing my "wood ID through anatomy" article, I found that of the 2 "known" species and one unknown species that I have under the common name "boxwood", there is considerable confusion. The specifics are at the very bottom of this page:

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/_anatomy/diffuse%20porous/exotics/_exotics.htm

Since there are at least 88 species from 41 genera that have the word "boxwood" as all or part of one or more of their common names, some confusion is inevitable.

I'm really interested in two things.

1) What species, if you know the botanical name, do YOU call "boxwood"
2) Do you have any "boxwood", whatever species it is, that you could send me a small piece of so that I can compare it to what I already have.

Thanks,

Paul

[Mike Ontko]

Could you possibly be referring to "boxelder" (Acer negundo) as described here (link) on the Wood Magazine website: http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-1/boxelder/?page=3

And fwiw, in another post on this forum ("Boxwood supply (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?162746-Boxwood-supply)") there's also a mention of "Castello Boxwood" that might provide you with a lead.

[Dave Cullen]

Wiki says "Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box (majority of English-speaking countries) or boxwood (North America)."

You might want to post the question in the carving forum, it's one of the favorite woods for that application.

[Justin Ludwig]

I used to sell plants and trees and the only boxwood I became familiar with during those years was Buxus. An overly planted evergreen shrub. Smells like cat pee.

[Paul Hinds]

Could you possibly be referring to "boxelder" (Acer negundo)

No, I'm quite familiar w/ box elder and have never heard it called boxwood

[Paul Hinds]

Wiki says "Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box (majority of English-speaking countries) or boxwood (North America)."

You might want to post the question in the carving forum, it's one of the favorite woods for that application.

Yes, I"m familiar w/ the genus Buxus and the fact that that is USUALLY what people mean when they say boxwood. Problem is, my database shows 80 species that are NOT in the genus Buxus that are also called "boxwood" and if you'll look at the page I linked to, you'll see how this has help cause the problem that caused me to start this thread.

I am accustomed to being on forums where it is a no-no to double-post. Is it OK here?

[Tom M King]

I have a bunch of Boxwood. It's about 2-1/2 times as hard as Hard Maple, and so smooth you would think it didn't have any grain. I have some pieces that are 6" diameter, and a bunch of different sizes smaller. Some dry. Some mostly dry. and some drying. I've replaced molding plane parts with it, and did some tooling for a window sash job last year with it. It's wonderful stuff. You can see some of the pieces on my "windows" page. Click on the "muntin carrier" picture, and a larger version should come up. historichousepreservation.com

find my address on my home page, and email me yours. I'll send you a piece in the next week or so. I'm working away from home right now, and not exactly sure when I'll be back there.

I don't know the scientific name of what I have. What I have is " English Boxwood", probably planted in the 1780s or 90s. Some of it was standing dead, and some of it was broken by storm damage. It had grown almost 20 feet tall inside a Wisteria thicket. Most of the plants are thriving once again, after we dug out a couple of acres of Wisteria several years ago.

[Moses Yoder]

The only boxwood I have is in the form of rules. No, not giving them away. :) I am awaiting your conclusion. I have often wondered about all the stuff made of boxwood when the shrubs I see called boxwood would never grow big enough to be usable.

[Tom M King]

They do, but it takes a couple of hundred years. That's why the grain is so fine, and the wood so dense.

[Paul Hinds]

Interesting. That would explain part of my confusion. I couldn't see any pores even at 10X so I wasn't sure that a couple of my samples were even a hardwood. I sent you a PM.

[Michael Kellough]

I have a bunch of Boxwood. It's about 2-1/2 times as hard as Hard Maple, and so smooth you would think it didn't have any grain. I have some pieces that are 6" diameter, and a bunch of different sizes smaller. Some dry. Some mostly dry. and some drying. I've replaced molding plane parts with it, and did some tooling for a window sash job last year with it. It's wonderful stuff. You can see some of the pieces on my "windows" page. Click on the "muntin carrier" picture, and a larger version should come up. historichousepreservation.com

find my address on my home page, and email me yours. I'll send you a piece in the next week or so. I'm working away from home right now, and not exactly sure when I'll be back there.

I don't know the scientific name of what I have. What I have is " English Boxwood", probably planted in the 1780s or 90s. Some of it was standing dead, and some of it was broken by storm damage. It had grown almost 20 feet tall inside a Wisteria thicket. Most of the plants are thriving once again, after we dug out a couple of acres of Wisteria several years ago.

The picture is two pics up from the radial arm saw pic.

Tom that stuff looks a lot like the "privet" I cut back from time to time.
The stuff I have is also extremely fine grain but it's prone to splitting.

[William Adams]

ISTR that it's so prone to checking / splitting when it dries that traditionally it was buried under horse manure for several decades (~50 years) to dry it. Ah, here we are, one of George Wilson's fabulous posts:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?111491-A-batch-of-18th-C-folding-rules-we-made

[Tom M King]

A lot of what I have is from standing dead trunks. It of course has some radial checking, but there are large parts of it that don't. I'd had sample pieces of it sitting in the house, and checked it for measurable movement over a couple of years, and the stuff that was standing dead is very stable.

We have horses that produce several tons of manure a year, but I'm skipping the step of burying the Boxwood under it. I made a relief cut in some of the trunks of the pieces that still had live branches on it when it was blown down, and so far it's looking pretty good. It was Summer of 2011 when we collected it.

[Tom M King]

The picture is two pics up from the radial arm saw pic.

Tom that stuff looks a lot like the "privet" I cut back from time to time.
The stuff I have is also extremely fine grain but it's prone to splitting.

Some of it has that greenish, marled look, but some of it is a smooth light cream color like you see in old molding planes.

[Michael Kellough]

I made a mistake with a 3+" diameter piece and removed the bark.
Even though it had been cut and drying for a few years as soon as the bark came off it started splitting.

[Roy Harding]

Here's a reference I use frequently - they have two entries for "Boxwood"

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/boxwood/ and http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/castelo-boxwood/

[Paul Hinds]

Here's a reference I use frequently - they have two entries for "Boxwood"

http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/boxwood/ and http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/castelo-boxwood/

Yeah, I use Eric's site too. It's not as extensive as mine but it's very good and I've always found Eric's facts to be solid, unlike a lot of what you find on the internet. Eric and I help each other out w/ wood info from time to time. He's got some very good articles on his site.

[Tom M King]

Paul, What size piece do you need?

[Doug Hobkirk]

It's a popular species for Bonsai in England!

How's that for a change of tact?

[Vince Shriver]

I believe Robert Sorby bench chisel handles are make of "boxwood".

[Paul Hinds]

Two pieces of wood showed up recently with only a last name (King) on the return address and as I had completely forgotten about this thread, I had no idea who had sent them. I get pieces from folks from time to time so I figured I had had a senior moment and forgotten who said they would be sending me stuff.

Not knowing what they were, I was very convinced, right off the bat and completely swamped by ignorance, that they were olive and Douglas fir. Turns out this was the piece of boxwood that Tom sent and he put in a piece of old growth long leaf heart pine.
The pine I knew to be pine as soon as I did the fine sanding on the end grain because it has a huge number of resin canals, very indicative of pine and indicative of NOT being Doug fir.

The "olivewood" call wasn't quite as dumb since it really does look a lot like olive even in the end grain, but the comparison with boxwood was excellent and olive not so much.

Here are a few pics. The full set for each is up on my site. Thanks Tom.

I can't figure out how to manipulate image attachments on this site so all I can get here is thumbnails and I can't figure out how to put labels on them.

[Anthony Albano]

I have some beautiful billets. They came from shrubs at an arboretum in Pennsylvania that were damaged by hail. I will send a chunk, let me know where. Anth

[Chris Padilla]

I have many boxes of wood laying around my shop. Whatcha wanna know 'bout 'em? :D :D

[Paul Hinds]

Anthony,

Missed this when you posted it. I'll PM my address. Thanks.

Paul