Boxwood woes

[steve355]

This thread is mostly about hand tools, but in fact the question I’m asking may relate to machine tools really.

I am making a plane that requires corner boxing. I have made the mortise (?) in the sole to receive the boxing.

My understanding is that the traditional and best way to do boxing is to create a laminated sheet of boxwood slips at 45 degrees, then cut off little sticks so that the end grain is used for the sole of the plane. So I attempted to do this, with rabbit glue, and it seemed to work at first.

However, predictably it didn’t really work. Perhaps because the glue is no good, perhaps because the contact is poor, although I jointed the pieces as carefully as I could. When I’ve seen it done before, the boxwood is consistent and even. My boxwood is gnarly with highly irregular grain. But the sticks easily broke Into their constituent parts.

So, question 1 - does anybody experienced have any tips or comments that might help. I guess one solution is to stop messing with the lamination and just cut some strips with the grain orientated in the right direction and use that. In practice it will be fine.

However… I have now used up my small boxwood log messing around with this. My other boxwood log is much more regular but about 8” round and 3 foot long. How the heck am I going to mill that with a table saw?!

I have felt a bandsaw coming on for a while but I have very limited space and very limited money. I would have many uses for it - I’d love to be able to mill medium sized logs, and even cutting plane blanks accurately is a pain on the table saw (they have to be flipped).

question 2 - is there an affordable and compact bandsaw that might help me?

FWIW I also have a Makita power mitre saw and circular saw. I also have a 6x4 horizontal metal cutting bandsaw if any of those might help.

For today I think I will try the boxing in oak. I need to solve these problems though.

Steve

 

[Cobbs]

Pretty sure that's not Box...

 

[steve355]

Pretty sure that's not Box...

I had a nasty feeling someone was going to say that. It is very, very hard, and there are areas in it that look like youd expect boxwood to look. But this was from a part of a tree where two branches diverged.

 

[Cobbs]

I had a nasty feeling someone was going to say that. It is very, very hard, and there are areas in it that look like youd expect boxwood to look. But this was from a part of a tree where two branches diverged.

The bark is completely wrong and the grain nowhere fine enough, also the wrong colour.

 

[steve355]

The bark is completely wrong and the grain nowhere fine enough, also the wrong colour.

What is it then? See below from the Internet wood database… Not completely different.

 

[Cobbs]

No idea.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

White chess men are often box - think how little grain they show.

These are box -

 

[Cobbs]

I had a nasty feeling someone was going to say that. It is very, very hard, and there are areas in it that look like youd expect boxwood to look. But this was from a part of a tree where two branches diverged.

What made you think it was Box? Please say you didn't buy it...

 

[dannyr]

I can see the point of trying to use end grain for wear - but looks a v diff thing to get right.

Have you examined 'boxed' planes? - looking at one I have it's long grain, not slivers of end grain. Anyone else know more?

(your wood doesn't look anything like box to me)

here's a suggestion - many old straight-edges/rulers were made of box - try one as a near ready-made and dimension your mortice accordingly - I don't have a source for these, but have seen such in junkshops - cheap if has a nick, worn or markings gone. I once did this to replace a missing boxing using a new but cheapo foreign 1 metre ruler made of a light-coloured tropical wood (not box, but right colour and v hard & dense) - now where's the other 700mm?

also - what you're doing is a lot of work, but you may be making it even more as your plane body beech looks not to be v straight grain, or knot free - shouldn't be too difficult to find such - also, I'm not sure more woodworking machines are what you need (after all, what you are making is the epitome of handcraft in use)

don't be discouraged - this is an interesting project - let us know how it goes (if you get it right - give yourself medal - plane-makers were real craftsmen)

 

[steve355]

I can see the point of trying to use end grain for wear - but looks a v diff thing to get right.

Have you examined 'boxed' planes? - looking at one I have it's long grain, not slivers of end grain. Anyone else know more?

(your wood doesn't look anything like box to me)

here's a suggestion - many old straight-edges/rulers were made of box - try one as a near ready-made and dimension your mortice accordingly - I don't have a source for these, but have seen such in junkshops - cheap if has a nick, worn or markings gone. I once did this using a new but cheapo foreign 1 metre ruler made of a light-coloured tropical wood (not box, but v hard & dense) - now where's the other 700mm?

>>Have you examined 'boxed' planes? - looking at one I have it's long grain, not slivers of end grain. Anyone else know more?

Yes and if you look very carefully on good quality planes you can see the grain running at 45 deg in the boxing.

See Stavros Gakos boxing.

Also W J Armour “The box is cut from a log about 8 in. in diameter; it is cut on the cross at an angle of about 45 degrees, in cakes of an inch thick, and then slipped in thin pieces and let into the planes so that the working edge is half on the end way of the wood; it is afterwards glued in and allowed to dry for a day or two.”

I have done my homework on this.

Here’s another pic of my “boxwood”

 

[steve355]

also - what you're doing is a lot of work, but you may be making it even more as your plane body beech looks not to be v straight grain, or knot free - shouldn't be too difficult to find such - also, I'm not sure more woodworking machines are what you need (after all, what you are making is the epitome of handcraft in use)

don't be discouraged - this is an interesting project - let us know how it goes (if you get it right - give yourself medal - plane-makers were real craftsmen)

The beech isn’t too bad actually. I’ve had a lot worse and suffered because of it.

Re machines etc, the plane making I’m doing is entirely by hand with the exception of cutting the rough blank by table saw, and drilling a guide hole for the mortise which I do using a pillar drill and a jig. I messed up too many trying to do it with a brace. The reason for wanting a bandsaw is for milling logs I can’t realistically do by hand.

I’ve made quite a lot of planes before but never tried boxing. And this isn’t the usual quirk boxing, which is easy, but corner boxing such as you’d find on a dovetail or snipes bill. Let’s start with the difficult one, then the easy ones will seem easy

 

[akirk]

Boxwood is a creamy pale wood with very little obvious grain - here are some shots of boxwood in my workshop the last one is next to oak for comparison

 

[steve355]

I have lots of bits and pieces made of boxwood so I am pretty familiar with what it looks like. The lump of wood I have is way harder, denser and heavier than anything else I’ve used - beech oak etc. plus it gives a very fine white dust when turned or cut. It’s either boxwood or a species very closely related to Boxwood. I think that that first piece I had was either spalted or contaminated in some way, which has made the grain stand out and caused various colours to run in it.

 

[akirk]

yes that would make sense - boxwood does change in that way... could that also explain why it was not quite doing what you expected?

 

[Cobbs]

I have lots of bits and pieces made of boxwood so I am pretty familiar with what it looks like. The lump of wood I have is way harder, denser and heavier than anything else I’ve used - beech oak etc. plus it gives a very fine white dust when turned or cut. It’s either boxwood or a species very closely related to Boxwood. I think that that first piece I had was either spalted or contaminated in some way, which has made the grain stand out and caused various colours to run in it.

The bark on Box is completely different to the piece of wood you have. Might it be Hawthorn? The colour of the wood doesn't look like it in your pics, but lighting can have a big effect...

 

[dannyr]

The bark on Box is completely different to the piece of wood you have. Might it be Hawthorn? The colour of the wood doesn't look like it in your pics, but lighting can have a big effect...

yes - I thought hawthorn - nice hard, dense wood, but difficult

 

[pgrbff]

The bark on the piece in the rafters looks nothing like box which is smooth.

 

[steve355]

oh well, whatever it is, it’ll make lovely chisel handles n stuff, if I can mill it down.

 

[Keith 66]

I too thought it doesnt look like boxwood, However what it does look like is Buddleia, we cut a large one down recently & the bark is very very similar to what you have, timber is similar colour too.

 

[bushwhaker]

Looks a lilac for me.