Small pieces of Boxwood

[Moab]

I found small (appropriately 1.5” x 1.5 x 6”)  pieces of boxwood online at Esty. I ordered one and the piece is beautiful...Moab

[allanyed]

Moab, do they say what kind of boxwood it is?   Thanks!!!!

[Moab]

Allan; Castillo was the name I saw. When I get home this evening I can take a picture if that would help...Moab (aka Allan)

[druxey]

Castello (sp) is a South American hardwood that is a good substitute for true boxwood (buxus). Also sometimes called Bermuda boxwood, Castello is a paler yellow than true boxwood when cut, but mellows in color with age.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

Somewhere in the past I saw a VERY hard tree nut (something like golf ball size, or a little larger) that was touted as a substitute for ivory for small carvings and turnings.  Maybe that could 'ring a bell' for some, and perhaps there are modern compounds that are 'ivory substitutes' that could also be cut, carved and turned.

[Bob Cleek]

2 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

Somewhere in the past I saw a VERY hard tree nut (something like golf ball size, or a little larger) that was touted as a substitute for ivory for small carvings and turnings.  Maybe that could 'ring a bell' for some, and perhaps there are modern compounds that are 'ivory substitutes' that could also be cut, carved and turned.

Tagua nuts.  https://www.amazon.com/10-Eco-friendly-easy-carve-tagua-nuts/dp/B0002IXM3C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Solid surface" material, originally patented by DuPont as "Corian" and used for countertops and other work surfaces, and now manufactured by others as well, comes in a huge selection of colors including ivory and is easily machined and glued with epoxy adhesive.  It was originally only sold wholesale to installers and was only available to licensed fabricators and installers, but now may be more obtainable by the general public. It's quite expensive in large sheets, but one may be able to secure relatively small offcuts from fabricators. I got an offcut sheet large enough to serve as the top of an extension table for my cabinet saw for $100 "under the table and out the back door" of a fabricator. They had no use for it because it was left over from a job and was a nauseating puke green color.  The stuff is cut and machined with woodworking tools. I've never tried to carve it with carving knives and chisels, but it can be carved with burs and sands easily.

[RichardG]

If making ship models required this level of carving

 

I'd have to give it up.

 

Amazing.

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by RichardG

[RichardG]

Tagua nuts can fairly big (50mm) however they apparently always have a void somewhere inside, so I don't think they'd work for large figure heads. For smaller decorative carvings they could be really good - no grain and they can be dyed. You can even buy slices. My carving abilities are zero at the moment but a couple of my planned builds have some carving needed. 

 

Has anyone here used them?

[dvm27]

The carving reminds me of the amazing boxwood carvings in the Art Gallery of Ontario. Check out this fabulous article by the museum and click on chapters to see some amazing carvings (especially the Prayer nuts in chapters 4-6)!

http://boxwood.ago.ca/publication/small-wonders-late-gothic-boxwood-micro-carvings-low-countries

Edited April 20, 2021 by dvm27

[druxey]

Another good reason to visit the AGO once it re-opens! Of course, readers here will head down to the ship model collection first!

[Justin P.]

You can find smaller pieces (pen blanks) of the Castello and the like more easily than the larger stuff that's for sure.   Very interested in those tagua nuts, thanks for sharing!

[Chazz]

Just an interesting possibility:

 

Before I moved to Asheville (where Holly bushes/trees grow wild in many places) I lived in Stamford Ct northeast of New York city.  My neighbors had LARGE boxwood bushes in their backyard..8 - 12 ft, high.  The trunks were only 6" - 8" ion diameter but there were branches 2" - 3" thick.=, some of which were pruned off now and then.  I got one piece from them of about 2 1/2" inches in diameter and about 3 feet long which seems to me to contain  great wood for modelling, though my building has pretty much stopped and I haven't used much of it.

 

My point is that there may be sources in your area which can provide resources often overlooked.

 

 I don't know whether or not this is true boxwood.The wood is yellowish not white, but the hardness and grain is great.

[Jaager]

1 hour ago, Chazz said:

 I don't know whether or not this is true boxwood.The wood is yellowish not white, but the hardness and grain is great

Buxus is yellow and the there is not much difference in Spring and Summer wood and the  rings are narrow and close together - slow growing - very hard.  A look on line will display a variety of cultivars - tall and slender to low growing and wide spreading - with a range in between.  It is probable that there will be minor differences the nature of the wood.

 

Holly - I have wood from a cultivar with a yellowish color.  The wood is almost grain free in appearance - white or yellow - it bends easily.  If snow white in color is not of interest (and no wood ever used to plank a deck was close to being as white as Holly), even the Blue mold infected pieces will work for most everything.  It is said that it takes up dye well enough to be an excellent substitute for Ebony.  If there is a local company that harvests Holly, they may give you their infected wood for free.  Their customers want the white color only. They do not care that the wood is still just as sound.

 

You should check the Pisgah region for Dogwood.  Cornus florida is also about as hard as Boxwood.  It does not have a trunk large enough to supply practical framing  or planking stock for a model above miniature scales, but for carving and deck furniture, yards and other small delicate components, it is worth the effort to harvest it.