Castello Boxwood Price?

[mtaylor]

I have found a place fairly close to me that sells boxwood.  I'm planning on calling them next week, though I might just do a quick road trip.  

https://www.cookwoods.com/collections/boxwood-castello

[Jaager]

Mark,

 

Placing myself in your shoes for moment, but with my bias, what I see at Cook Woods:

 

Castello   from what I seek, their stock looks sort of the opposite - too busy - and the price!!!  My back of the envelope calculations tell me that I would need 8" x 2" x 60"  to frame a hull the size of La Belle Poule.

Pear   too busy and too expensive.

 

Holly   the cutoffs box looks promising.   @ 1/64 a 6" piece is 32' long --  if there is enough of the longer to make it worth getting,  excellent for hull planking and can be dyed - black = a safe and user friendly Ebony substitute - icky yellow - the bottom treated planking -- blue - topside    the deck if toned down from white.

 

Ceylon Satinwood    take a look at the grain and cost,  but  think spars  -   Probably good for planking but the cost?

 

Yellowheart    the same -  I have some really yellow stock,  but their photos have theirs a bit more toned down  it should work for most any part of a ship.  again cost?

 

Madrone    When they say "a better Swiss Pear than Swiss Pear", my ears perk up.  It is locally sourced for you.  You can actually massage each board,  look for color and straight grain,  see if it is straight, tight, hard, no pores.  If their advertising is actually correct,  you have the potential for a golden ticket.

 

[RichardG]

I have purchased from Cooks Wood a couple of times. It's not cheap but the quality was very good.  Unfortunately they mostly have highly figured woods because they're selling for decorative woodwork. The only item I got for modeling was for a base. I would love to be able to visit just to enjoy the wood.

 

Richard

[mtaylor]

Jaager,

It's not my intention to use boxwood for framing but for stock used for decking and assorted bits and pieces.  For framing, I'm a fan of cherry.  Madrone is a wonderful wood if you can get it.  Most of it ends up in fireplaces as it's really a tricky wood to cure out.    If not done right and slowly, it splits.  As I understand it, Mardrone is a hard hardwood.

 

Actually, from my point of view... it's a nice drive across the mountains so no loss if they don't have what I want.  I might stop in and see some old co-workers while I'm over there.   If they have some nice wood... that's a plus.   As Richard said, they mostly sell to the decorative and guitar makers.

[Jaager]

Mark,

A thought that came up when I read what Richard said about the inventory focus at Cooks:   what they sell is a minor fraction, and a premium one at that,  of their supplier sawmills' product.

If they have to buy the lot to get their premium stock, perhaps they have a backroom with the boring stuff we want.  Or maybe they can tell you who they buy from and you can learn for us, where all the boring stuff goes?  Who sells it?  

As I read it,  Madrone at Cooks is a species where they have to buy the lot.  It is most likely from that mill that I contacted and their stock has experienced the special session in a kiln.  They (the main mill) make a point of saying that if Madrone is not special kiln dried,  and air dried instead, the result is mostly twisted toothpicks i.e. cupped, twisted, warped, and severely checked.   If I have this correct,  when you look,  think of it as red colored boxwood.

[mtaylor]

Thanks Jaager.   You raise a good point about Cook and boxwood and what do they do with the non-figured wood.   I'm watching the weather and the lockdown stuff.  I plan on calling them this week to check hours.