Boxwood

Griffin Exotic Wood

Boxwood
(Buxus sempervirens and other Buxus species)

Boxwood has been known as a great turning and carving wood for hundreds of years. It has an incredibly fine grain and is an excellent wood for woodturning and even ornamental turning, as it accepts fine details like few woods are capable of. It is expensive owing to scarcity of good material, and the very long time it takes to grow to a usuable size (at least 90 years minimum and even then under unusual conditions). There are many types of boxwood but sempervirens is the type most often sold on the world market. We have found other boxwood types like buxus macowannii are equal in quality to the best of the sempervirens. The speed the wood grows has an effect on its quality, so the wood from Turkey which grows the fastest and largest usually has grain lines further apart and is therefore not always equal to the slower grown wood. Musical instruments have been made from this wood for hundreds of years, and many survive to this day. Note that the wood is often uniform in color but can have many lines (such as the dark line seen above) which some people find quite decorative. Most pieces or logs will have at least some lines in them, and some of them have densely packed lines. All logs have some cracks, which always form in all but tiny logs during the drying process. Call us with questions if the pictures do not make clear the piece you are considering. Specific gravity is around .90 or more , with some variance among logs.

Note that when we say "air dried" or "kiln-dried" we mean that the wood has been properly tested with a corrected moisture meter and is known to have less than 12% moisture. 12% moisture is what used to qualify as a kiln-dried piece of wood in the past. Unfortunately, many vendors have started using up to 18% moisture (which is very unstable) to count as kiln-dried and completely wet wood to count as air dried. We don't make claims of "air dried" or "kiln-dried" unless we know the actual moisture and it is genuinely under 12%. Pen blanks are always air dried.

Grading system:
IQ: Instrument quality. Almost perfect. Only necessary for certain projects. Very hard to acquire.
IQ2: 2nd instrument quality: Has a very tiny imperfection here or there that would not matter for most projects.
Turning Grade: A basically good piece that has a small knot or two. Knots may have a tiny check in them.
Note that any of the pieces may have an edge or two that is rounded so long as the size when turned on the lathe is not affected.

SIZES ARE IN INCHES
unless specified otherwise.


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Actual pieces for sale shown, click photo for side 2
All are IQ grade unless a different grade is marked under the piece. Note: there is no #25

What is that white paper in the corner of some photos?---You'll notice some of our photos now have a piece of white paper in the corner.
This is to assure accurate color. Sometimes the paper is cropped out. But we use this as a way to assure you that the color is not being altered as some vendors have done in the past. If the color is altered, the white paper will also have a tint of the color that is being digitally changed. While almost every digital picture must be corrected for accurate color, this is a way to make sure the color is at least very close to what it should be. Note that it is possible to use more advanced photo shop techniques to change the color of some things in a photo but not others, but we don't do that (or know how!).

Pieces not shown below or that give an out of stock notice in the shopping cart are sold.
No surprises: ALL four sides visible in photos: Click here for a THIRD side view. Click here for FOURTH side view.




		Boxwood piece 26 11/16 x 1 7/8 x 3.25 inches Price: $15.00

Actual pieces for sale shown, click photo for side 2.
Dried completely

RARE: this wood is so hard to get it is almost unknown in quality pieces like this for sale, anywhere (search on the net to find out what I'm talking about).
Pieces not shown below or that give an out of stock notice in the shopping cart are sold.
No surprises: ALL four sides visible in photos: Click here for a THIRD side view. Click here for FOURTH side view.

		Boxwood piece 31 1 3/8 x 1 13/16 x 5 3/8 inches Price: $48.00
Boxwood piece 32 1 5/16 x 1 13/16 x 4 7/8 inches Price: $38.50	Boxwood piece 33 1 1/8 x 1 3/8 x 4.75 inches Price: $26.50

Boxwood piece 38 1.25 x 2.25 x 3 1/8 inches Price: $32.00

Actual pieces for sale shown, click photo for side 2.
Dried completely and the grades are Piece S: IQ, and Piece T IQ/IQ2.
French boxwood that can produce this size is not something we can find. This was from a one time rare log harvested over 40 years ago.

RARE: this wood is so hard to get it is almost unknown in quality pieces like this for sale, anywhere (search on the net to find out what I'm talking about).
Pieces not shown below or that give an out of stock notice in the shopping cart are sold.

Order online, or call us Monday through Friday: 970-241-2827
International callers and All Questions: Email us

Note that everything on this page (photos too!) are copyrighted and may not be used
without written permission. Copyright 2006, 2023 by James Griffin. If you are a customer
and desire to use some of our photos on your website, call us with your request.