Finding a needle in a woodpile

[SamV]

I'm a beginning toolmaker. I'm having a hard time finding the species of wood that was used historicly. Specificly Beech and Boxwood for wooden plane making. Beech I've seen 4/4 plain sawn, but for wooden planes the grain should be 90 degrees to the face not parralel. Boxwood is a mystery I've only seen it online once and they were out. I'm not against using alternative woods Birch, Maple, Cherry, Apple, Pear, Persimmon just having trouble finding the quartersawn perpendicular grain I need.

[duckkisser]

if its not a cut that sells regular you might want to go to a lumber mill and talk the guy that next time he cuts a log to cut you a section the way you want it. might cost a little extra and a case of beer but if thats what you what then thats what you pay.

[Dave H]

If you laminate several flat sawn pieces of wood together than turn that piece 90% would'nt that give you quarter sawn that you would need for your plane's.

[Time Warp Tool Works]

Those woods are indeed difficult to find. You can quartersawn beech from Horizon Wood Products.

The best source I've found for boxwood is small shrubs that homeowners prune or remove. You are also in the Pacific Northwest so you may have luck with that. By the way, boxing is installed with the end-grain towards the sole so you will likely have to use multiple pieces, rather than one long strip.

Good luck with the search. Please let us know if you find a better source of boxwood.

Chris

[jHop]

The only guy I contacted that had boxwood turned out to be from the UK. (Years ago, and shipping was more than the cost of the little bit of wood I was getting, so I didn't keep his contact.)

If you find some closer than that, please share.