Milled dogwood

Re: Milled dogwood

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Gonna be tough, Patty. It's generally a small tree (up to 6") so not usually worth going through the processing of milling, drying, etm. You can try a woodfinder search (go to the woodcentral home page) and click on the link.

If you have the tools (chain saw + band saw) available, you're probably going to have to harvest and make your own lumber. It's a lovely wood, much loved by woodturners, as the shavings come off the lathe like angle hair. I've made several keepsake urns as turned ginger jars on the lathe.

Good luck

PS

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Where are you located?

Re: Milled dogwood

John K Jordan

Check WoodFinder.com - I typed in "dogwood" and it came up with five supplier names. They are from all over but shipping wouldn't be too much for a few boards. (I once had slabs of wood shipped UPS from Wisconsin to Tennessee.)

How much Dogwood and what are the minimum sizes you need? I assume you need dry wood, right?

Dogwood can be hard to find. From the Wood Database: "Pricing/Availability: Not generally available commercially. Small quantities of Dogwood are occasionally harvested and utilized locally throughout its natural range, with prices high for a domestic hardwood." Or free, if you cut it yourself.

I have some dogwood I cut myself from our farm. Nearly all of mine is in blocks for woodturning but I think I have a couple of boards left. What I have I sliced up on my sawmill in 2006, air dried, and a number of smaller pieces cut in the last year or so.

I don't remember exactly what I have and whether I have what you need may depend on the sizes. If you have decided on the box sizes and have the design done perhaps provide a cut list. Any I have would be rough sawn but could easily be planed. Perhaps someone else will chime in with a stash.

Another option is to find a suitable tree and cut boards. They take a while to dry but quicker if thin. Note that dogwood can warp like crazy when drying. It's pretty stable once dry.

I'm headed out of town but I'll check back. Where do you live?

JKJ

Re: Milled dogwood

John K Jordan

>>>Gonna be tough, Patty. It's generally a small tree (up to 6") so not usually worth going through the processing of milling, drying, etm. You can try a woodfinder search (go to the woodcentral home page) and click on the link.

You are right, most is pretty small. However, I have had a few larger trees. I have at least two trees here that are well over 10" in diameter. I had one big enough to cut clear 1x12s out of the middle! I did cut a few boards but mostly made turning blanks and blocks. Dogwood is probably my favorite wood for turning.

Oh, Patty, if you can only find a little another option which might still honor your mother is to incorporate some dogwood highlights into boxes made from other local woods. Dogwood looks good with walnut, for example. You didn't mention the level of your woodworking skill but a simple thing to do might be to make a the lid and base from dogwood and the rest from a contrasting wood. Inlays? Do you do any woodturning? If so, you might turn vessels from one species and turned lids from another. Or with segmented techniques you can make any size vessel from pieces too small to use directly.

JKJ

Re: Milled dogwood

Howard Pollack

While I don't have any dogwood to offer, I want to express my sorrow at Patty's upcoming loss as well as congratulate and express admiration for John K. Jordon's generous spirit.

Howard

Re: Milled dogwood

Patty

Thanks for the reply. I live in Washington state and am interested in the pieces you have. The boxes will be small, perhaps 4x4x3 inches.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Patty

Dogwood boxes

John K Jordan

>>>Thanks for the reply. I live in Washington state and am interested in the pieces you have. The boxes will be small, perhaps 4x4x3 inches.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

So let me guess, three boxes 4x4x3 with 3" tall and 4"x4" when viewed from the top? If so, that would be twelve pieces 4"x3" for the sides and three pieces 4"x4" for the tops. The bottoms could be nearly anything.

You didn't mention the thickness of the wood you need.

Are this box size firm, approximate, or negotiable? For your application the volume is sometimes the defining factor.

Will the box construction be rabbeted, butt joints, mitered, or finger/dovetail joints?

I'll have to look when I get back down to the shop later today. I don't think I have enough for that in the shop but I have another storage place I can look too.

I do have a dogwood tree that needs to come down and could probably cut the pieces you need. However, they would be wet, green wood and would have to dry before use. Air drying can take months or years depending on the thickness. Also, dogwood is VERY prone to warping even when tightly stickered.

A couple of options:

One, as mentioned, use smaller pieces of dogwood as a highlight as part of a box made of something else. For example, I can imagine a box made of cherry or walnut with a rectangle of dogwood, say 3x3, in the lid. The lid could be glued up from solid pieces or a thinner piece could be inlaid, depending on your woodworking skill/experience.

Another possibility is to make a box out of another wood, even plywood (common), and laminate a thin slice of dogwood on parts or all of the box. If you are not familiar with this, it's called veneering and is extremely common in much furniture and boxes today. For example, people will use a thin piece of beautiful and very expensive birdseye maple or burl glued onto surfaces made from another wood. This seems like a good way to make something from hard-to-find dogwood as well! If done carefully, the box can look like it was made from solid dogwood.

Note that veneer is usually very thin (usually .023 or .024") but it doesn't have to be. One big advantage to using veneer is it can be cut from wet wood and the thin pieces can be dried very quickly. (Every time I process wet wood I cut thin slices with the bandsaw and save them for various projects.) I know you asked for milled wood - I don't "mill" thin pieces like this but after they are dry I make them smooth and consistent thickness with a 22-44 drum sander.

I didn't see if you mentioned your skill and experience level but if you are not familiar with veneering and other techniques (or box-making in general) you might find someone in your area who is.

Also, did you try calling the suppliers on WoodFinder? Maybe one will have exactly what you need!

If you want to discuss this further, it is probably better to go to email - that's a bit easier for me.

JKJ

Re: Dogwood boxes

John K Jordan

Patty, I haven't heard back from you. I did round up what dogwood boards I have but I need to know the thickness you would need for the boxes. As mentioned, it might be most practical to make a box from some other wood and use thin pieces of dogwood to cover the sides and top. You can send me an email about this if you want.

JKJ

Re: Dogwood boxes

Keith Newton

JK, You might ought to email her, since her name isn't blue, I don't think she gets notifications to any post on her thread.

Nice of you to follow up on this. I thought I had a couple of boards I might offer, but couldn't find them. sorry

Re: Dogwood boxes

John K Jordan

Thanks, I'll do that.