Anyone know a good source(s) for Boxwood, quality and good price rolled into one… and in stock? Needed for pipemaking, obviously.
Thanks
Note: no, it’s not for me.
You might try www.cookwoods.com … it seems to me that they had some listed a while back, but you may need to e-mail or call. Let me know if you have any luck.
–kb
Hey Bogues…if you are into reading up on the wood a little, [u]here’s[/u] a link I posted on the flute forum last year, it’s a good site about working with boxwood, size, curing time, etc.
The old English Boxwood (buxus sempervirens) used for instruments, etc., is a huge evergreen shrub-tree 12-25’ high that grows in southern Europe and the middle east. It can have a lifespan of up to 600 yrs. in the right conditions (it doesn’t like damp soil).
Boxwood dries very slowly (about 1 cm per year.) Some used to make recorders and flutes have dried for up to 15 years. The wood has been highly prized by sculptors and woodworkers since it can be worked with great precision (its fine grain could be compared to ivory.)
‘Fastagiata’ is a narrow conical form of English boxwood which will eventually grow to 12’ tall and 5’ wide. Sempervirens in Latin means “always green”. Fastigiate means “upward branching”.
There are also logs with curly grain to them, El, that are REALLY nice. I’ve not heard the actual timber called anything but “curly boxwood,” but wow, the grain is very nice.
It’s easy to see why boxwood, in addition to being a nice tonewood, has been used as an alternative to ivory for mounts. (Based on your comment on the fine grain, Lorenzo.)
Stuart
Thanks for the info on Cook Woods, kb, I passed it along.
Lorenzo, very interesting, thanks.