Boxing Substitute

Re: Boxing Substitute

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>Hard maple, beech. Maybe you can find an old boxwood ruler on the bay.

Re: Boxing Substitute

Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret

>Woodcraft Supply usually carries boxwood, easy to get boxwood pen blanks. While the pieces may not be too long most old boxing is put in in smaller pieces end grain to the wear, that is why some old planes have missing pieces.

Not all planes are boxed in that manner but many older ones are.

Good luck

Stephen

man, wish my local woodcraft carried it....

John in New Mexico

>not even sure I've seen the real thing for sale anywhere, but the South American stuff is easy enough to find. Just about any hard wood will do, especially if the grain is oriented parallel to the iron so that the end grain takes the wear, as Stephen described. Cocobolo might be a good one, oily as it is.

John

Re: Boxing Substitute

Larry Williams

>Some early planes use lignum vitae, rosewood, ivory or probably some others I've forgotten. Most boxing is set in with the grain on the bias so you need some relatively wide wood for boxing, about 5 1/2" or more depending on the length of the plane and the bed angle. Quarter sawn boxwood that size is rare and very hard to find.

While we do have a small amount of boxwood we can use for boxing, we don't do it very often. We substitute persimmon. We've found persimmon to be a good substitute and we have a few customers who use planes in daily production situations. I'm confident those who've been heavily using our planes with persimmon boxing are satisfied with the persimmon choice. After looking at some of those heavily used planes, I'm sure persimmon is as good a substitute as we're likely to find.

Re: Boxing Substitute

Todd Hughes

>I've used old boxwood rules on more then a couple planes....works well, easy to do and a good use for all those rough rules that you get in box lots......Todd

Persimmon

Frank D. in Montreal

>Anyone know where someone can buy persimmon? I've never seen any for sale, and a pretty extensive search on google gave no results, other than people saying it's hard to find.

'Cuz you are the source

jim reed @ tallahassee

>of that bit of wisdom. I remembered your post from a few months back.

Re: Persimmon

jim reed @ tallahassee

>I found some at a wood supplier in Tennessee. It is hard as nails and stinks when cut.

Re: Persimmon

Frank D. in Montreal

>Hey Jim,

I Googled "wood supplier in Tennessee" amd all I get is Kellysearch.com (no persimmon there)...

Re: Persimmon

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi Frank,

I found *a* piece on eBay a while back. It's not common there - but does come up from time to time.

Skip

Re: Persimmon

Larry Williams

>We have a local mill that occasionally has some but I wouldn't buy it sight unseen. Persimmon is a weed tree in much of the US and a tree removal service might be a good source.

Next time I decide to get involved in producing something, I think I'll look for something made with easy to find and affordable ingredients. Working with something cheap and common like gold or diamonds would be a pleasant change.

Thanks guys

Frank D. in Montreal

>Looks like it'll be easier to stick with my local African blackwood...it's plentiful and not too expensive in such little quantities. Persimmon sounds like an interesting wood though, I'll keep an eye out.

Yeah, Larry

Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret

>Priced pernambuco or snakewood lately? What is the board foot price of bristlecone pine? Bog cypress or kauri? How about those sinkers in the rivers and lakes?

Stephen - always looking for red pine

Re: Persimmon

Jim Reed @ Tallahassee

>Sorry. I should have finished my post. I found the only persimmon board in the whole place and bought it. In all my years of ww, it is the only one I have seen for sale. I don't think it is a big commercial product. Since persimmon was used back in the day for driver heads, maybe a golf supplier would have a line on some.

Re: Persimmon

Wiley Horne--So. Calif.

>WoodFinder turns up a few folks carrying it. BTW, it's the only American ebony--Diospyros virginiana.

Wiley

Doh !!

Frank D. in Montreal

>Thanks Wiley,

right in front of my nose so I didn't see it. I found at least three or four places that carry it.

Yes, the only American ebony and a very interesting alternative, it seems, to the tough tropical woods which are often over-exploited.

Re: Louisville Golf, IIRC

Glenn Madsen near San Francisco

>There was a write up on them in a PopWood not too many issues back. Don Weber, chair bodger and hand tools user par excellance, has also become a golfer of sorts. And ran into the family that runs Louisville Golf, a longtime builder of wooden clubs. If anyone knows where to find some persimmon, it would be those folks.

Re: Boxing Substitute

Mike G in SC

>What about Holly? Just curious as I have some at hand.

Mike G.

I've got some

Bill Tindal, E.TN

>If you happen to be passing by E. TN anytime soon. got it by mistake in a load of lumber. Damn near stalled the planer. It IS hard.

Holly is pretty

jim reed @ tallahassee

>and the whitest of white. But the holly I have seen is pretty soft.

It is a softwood, a broadleaf evergreen

Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret

>

Hardwood

Warren in Lancaster, PA

>Holly is not only hard, it is a hardwood. It is a hardwood because it has vessels (pores), small though they are, and other structures typical of hardwoods. Live oak would be another example of a hardwood tree which is evergreen. Some other members of the Holly genus (Ilex) are deciduous.

I stand corrected, thank you Warren

Stephen Shepherd in the State of Deseret

>

Re: Hardwood

Mike G. in SC

>I can vouch for the hardness of Holly. It works good for carving in my experience and holds detail well.

Mike G.