Ok, call me crazy, but I think boxwood smells like cookie dough.
You may have been influenced by the season
I know I’ve smelled (and eaten) more cookies than usual lately…
Boxwood also can have some really nice grain patterns, almost tiger striped.
I also really like how it sounds in flutes, whistles and those other thingies we’re not supposed to like or mention. 
[edited typo]
[ This Message was edited by: MandoPaul on 2003-01-01 23:41 ]
Dunno about the smell, but one of the reasons why I never opted for a boxwood instrument is that its color always reminds me of dried dog’s droppings. Am I crazy, too?
Christian
I love boxwood, too. I have a Bleazey whistle and two Swaynes on order. I dunno about the smell, but it sounds really woody.
I read once that flutes were almost exclusively made out of box until keys came into fashion. Evidently it’s not tough enough (or the grain’s wrong) to make blocks from or to tap in order to mount posts. And when flute makers began using cocus and now blackwood for their keyed flutes, it seems that those became the standard for keyless flutes, too.
Jessie, do you treat your boxwood instruments any differently from rosewood or cocus? I’ve heard it’s a little more temperamental.
When properly cooked, boxwood tastes great with strawberry jam and butter.
It is a bit more temperamental than blackwood. I have a Bb boxwood flute by Chris Wilkes, and it is very sensitive to changes in humidity. When exposed to dry conditions for a few days, it starts to warp out of round – so much so that it’s hard to put the flute together because the tenons have become slightly oval. Not enough to notice visually, but I can definitely feel the difference. A few days in a sealed tupperware container with a moist sponge brings everything back to the correct shape (at least close enough so I can put the flute together without fear of making it crack). I now keep that flute in the tupperware container all winter.
I have certainly heard tales about boxwood warping but I have not had it happen, and I have the flute with no metal and the Swayne whistles with brass. I don’t treat it any differently.
Dried dog droppings?!? Eeeew!!
On 2003-01-02 13:00, JessieK wrote:
I have certainly heard tales about boxwood warping but I have not had it happen…
It’s probably more pronounced with big flutes, like my Bb. I’ve heard reports of other boxwood flutes that warped, usually along the length of the flute, but there are plenty of older boxwood instruments around that are in fine shape and have never warped.
A friend of mine had a boxwood d whistle that warped very seriously.
Edit: I see he has outed himself below.
[ This Message was edited by: JessieK on 2003-01-03 10:46 ]
Hi Jessie,
The boxwood flute I have, was made circa 1830. It has lost it’s cookie dough scent though, smells a little musky! It has a very mellow tone, especially with the unlined head.
The headjoint is slightly warped, but that could of happened a while back… jon
Yes, I have a Fred Rose boxwood whistle that was basically rendered unplayable due to warpage 
Loren
Boxwood is notorious for warping because much of it is cut “slab”, rather that being “quartersawn”. I don’t want to go into the technicalities of that - you can find them easily on Google. However, the main problem is storage under conditions that promote warpage. Keeping the instrument in it’s case when not in use helps, as does making sure it’s properly swabbed.
There is another thing you can get at some lumberyard supplies, called a “wood hydrometer”, that measures the water content of the wood. The kind with pins, instead of spikes, can be used on an inconspicuous place on the instrument to keep track of the percentage of water content. I’d suggest measuring it when you first receive it, then checking periodically, maybe quarterly, to ensure that it hasn’t changed. If it becomes higher or lower, appropriate storage options can get it back to nominal.
(edit) If you can get the maker to send you a scrap of the original wood, you can use that as a reference for later comparison, but will still need to check the actual instrument once in a while.
They may also have the instrument at either Harbor Freight or Cummins Tools.
It’s very frustrating to have a beautiful instrument ruined. The hydrometer can help prevent that.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year,
Bill Whedon
\
“Know yourself. If you need help, ask the FBI. Consider that two wrongs don’t make a right, but that three do.”
.. Deteriorata ..
[ This Message was edited by: serpent on 2003-01-03 09:43 ]
On 2003-01-03 09:40, serpent wrote:
Boxwood is notorious for warping because much of it is cut “slab”, rather that being “quartersawn”.
This would be a factor in a flat or mildly carved piece of wood, but with a flute, you have a continuous curve, so end grain is exposed no matter what. How does grain orientation matter for a flute?
On 2003-01-03 12:14, MandoPaul wrote:
On 2003-01-03 09:40, serpent wrote:
Boxwood is notorious for warping because much of it is cut “slab”, rather that being “quartersawn”.This would be a factor in a flat or mildly carved piece of wood, but with a flute, you have a continuous curve, so end grain is exposed no matter what. How does grain orientation matter for a flute?
It’s not so much the exposure of grain, as the relief of internal stresses. quartersawn wood is generally under less stress than slab-sawn. For a graphic example, drop in on your local lumberyard and look at the difference in grain orientation between perfectly straight and flat fir or pine 2X4’s, and warped (either flat or twisty) of the same material and age.
What you’ll find is that, in general, the endgrain of the straight ones runs at about a 45-degree angle across, while the warped ones have the endgrain parallel to a pair of faces, or have been cut from near the center of the log, where the growth rings are getting progressively smaller/larger from one face to the opposite.
You can’t really tell by looking, which way the lumber was cut, when you look at the endgrain on a flute or whistle. If it was cut from a piece of slabsawn wood that was seasoned in that condition, you have a flute or whistle that will be more susceptible to warpage, than one turned from quartersawn wood seasoned in that state.
I am not, by any means, a total expert or scientist on wood, but I’ve been building, turning, and making cabinetry for a number of years. What I’ve written is taken from my own experience of that work, and what I’ve gleaned from woodworker’s books and magazines such as “Fine Woodworking”, and applied to the warpage situation in flutes, which are turned instruments.
I know that Paul Busman (BrewerPaul) has much more experience than I at actually making wooden musical instruments, and if you doubt that I’ve got the whole story, please do ask him. I don’t want to mislead anyone. This is just stuff from my experience of woodworking, in general.
Best to ya, and Happy New Year,
Bill Whedon
Cute picture!
L
Hi Bill the serpent,
That makes sense about the cut of the wood.
On my flute and on many old boxwood flutes you see the wood cut and turned, where the grain is running at a 45 Deg. angle on the flute. It gives it a nice zebra stripes. My flute was stained so they are not as noticable. However, it still didn’t prevent the warpage in the head… Is there any supplier that sells boxwood that was 1/4 sawed? I still want to turn a new head peice for my flute, and the french boxwood that I am curing is straight cut, from Woodcraft Co. (The new wood does smell like cookie dough!)
Happy three days after New Year! jon
Sorry, no cats but some further info on wood grain and “cuts”…
Stan: thanks for the link. This makes more
sense to me. I could see why heartwood would
be more stable. I’d still contend that slab
or quarter sawn doesn’t make a difference once
you’re making a completely round tube, since
you will have all possible angles exposed
somewhere on the length.