Boxwood woes

[TheTiddles]

Your box looks like elm to me. As for a branch 8” in diameter and 3’ long…lucky you that must have cost a fortune, if not another reason it might not be box.

Rabbit glue… there’s a reason people don’t use it anymore

 

[Lons]

As the other said, definitely not box. I have quite a few bits with the bark on and nothing like that, I use box for carving small items because it's close grain and even creamy colour, I've never seen any with grain like that.

 

[stuckinthemud]

Sorry but this is boxwood, grain and bark is a bit different from the timber you have

 

[Max Power]

Your box looks like elm to me. As for a branch 8” in diameter and 3’ long…lucky you that must have cost a fortune, if not another reason it might not be box.

Rabbit glue… there’s a reason people don’t use it anymore

I would also say Elm,
both colour and grain look right

 

[steve355]

I know everyone is desperate to tell me my boxwood isn’t boxwood. And you may all be right. But:

It is unbelievably hard. it makes a very fine white sawdust when cut. I’ve never come across anything else with that texture except boxwood. This is difficult to tell from pics.

Those samples in the pics were taken from a piece that was a fork in the tree, which had split and cracked. Usually with wood we work with long bits, with regular grain. The unusable bits are discarded. This was an unusable piece that would have been discarded. it was contaminated and probably spalted.

Most boxwood people use for turning or carving comes from nice, short, regular logs from branches. Look at an oak trunk bark vs an oak branch - completely different.

I will get the log down later and see if I can find a horticultural expert to identify the species. In fact there is a tree surgeon down the road, I can ask him.

Whatever it is, I may as well cut it up. Any thoughts on my bandsaw question?

 

[Max Power]

Have you considered a second hand one?

 

[steve355]

Have you considered a second hand one?

Pretty much everything I have is second hand or vintage. Quite happy with something that needs fixing or renovating.

Spec: small, cheap bench top bandsaw that can mill large logs or resaw thick stock

 

[paulrbarnard]

Spec: small, cheap bench top bandsaw that can mill large logs or resaw thick stock

I’m guessing a maximum of three out of the five requirements are achievable at the same time. I.e. small and cheap and bench top but not large logs or thick stock. Or possibly if going second hand with a fixer upper then cheap and large logs and thick stock but not small and bench top.

 

[Cobbs]

Pretty much everything I have is second hand or vintage. Quite happy with something that needs fixing or renovating.

Spec: small, cheap bench top bandsaw that can mill large logs or resaw thick stock

You may struggle to find a bench top machine that will handle "large" logs.

 

[Cobbs]

I’m guessing a maximum of three out of the five requirements are achievable at the same time. I.e. small and cheap and bench top but not large logs or thick stock. Or possibly if going second with a hand fixer upper then cheap and large logs and thick stock but not small and bench top.

Beat me to it!

 

[Max Power]

Pretty much everything I have is second hand or vintage. Quite happy with something that needs fixing or renovating.

Spec: small, cheap bench top bandsaw that can mill large logs or resaw thick stock

I'd look for the biggest you can make space for, within your price range. When it comes to bandsaws bigger is better

 

[TheTiddles]

It never ceases to surprise me the number of people that ask for advice but only if it matches what they’ve already decided

 

[mc281]

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.

View attachment 167310

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.

View attachment 167311

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?!

View attachment 167312

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

If it's only 3 feet long why not use the circular saw on opposite sides and then cut the middle section with a hand ripsaw?

 

[alex robinson]

Looks a lilac for me.

I would agree about lilac. Can be very pretty with almost purple flecks.