Boxwood logs

[Sawyer]

I've just had the good fortune to have been given some logs of box, around 27" long and the largest are 11" diameter. The question is how to dry and use them. I tested a fragment which showed up around 16%, so the wood seems to be reasonably dry already.

I suppose I need to split them down at least into quarters, asap to stop the wood pulling itself apart and then put it all in stack outdoors?

Any thoughts?

 

[AndyT]

I'm no expert on this, but I do know that boxwood is usually imported and traded as round logs, looking just like your stash. So possibly all you need to do is to seal the ends and wait a few years.
That's what I did with a slimmer log I bought a few years ago. It has split a little at one end but is mostly in one piece.

This practice may be influenced by how boxwood was used, in small sections for rules, tool handles, chess pieces etc, where you could work around any splits that do develop.

Bill Carter uses a lot of boxwood for making his marvellous planes and judging by pictures of him in his workshop, his stock is all in the round as well.