The photo shows a slice of boxelder I came upon when helping my brother remove trees. I instructed him to keep his eyes open for blood red staining. As he began to saw the first tree, red wood chips shot out! Though boxelder is considered a worthless tree, I love the scraggly look and the fact it's native. A maple, it can also be tapped for syrup. We cut some of them down to get sunlight to newly planted trees. They grow all over the place on his acreage. The staining was once thought to be the result of fungal infection, but studies, including a University of Minnesota study, proved this is not the case. The stain is released by the heartwood in response to a wound. It might prevent infection. If a tree is undamaged, staining does not form. This stained wood is prized by woodturners for bowls and cups. I think it would make beautiful knife handles and tip overlays! Anyone have examples they can show? It does fade to pink or turn brown when exposed to sunlight, so a UV inhibiting finish should be applied.

I've used plumb , but I'm sure it would work risers as well.

It would need to be stabilized first. Boxelder is very brittle.

I built me and my brother a longbow with flaming box elder.Best looking bow i ever made,.Mine blew up but his is fine,pictures coming

Box Elder reel seat on a Scott S4 fly rod, I have another one that has more figure and contrast but this one was out.

Little fuzzy

Another one

Great longbow pics! I think stabilizing would be a good idea, as it might also help with retaining the red color. I notice the red in the longbow hasn't faded.

Joe

Reel seats are not usually stabilized.

5 yrs old,not faded any,knife handle out of the same tree

Sagebrush- Any photos of the knife?

Tulipwood is nice but not native to the US.

Joe

I've HEARD, that you could stabilize wood pretty well by letting it air dry, then painting on several coats of thinned epoxy.

A friend of my dads was a woodworker and he used to do that. I've seen the finished product, but never seen the process.

The best way to stabilize wood is to submerse it in epoxy and put it in a vacuum. It isn't difficult but it gets expensive, the epoxies to do it are pretty specific. I have a bow with a piece of flamed spalted box elder on the belly side of the riser. It was stabilized using cactus juice. Firewood is the thread it is in I think.

Preferred turkey call wood as well.

I bet the box elder burl would be beautiful stuff for a lot of things, I am thinking tobacco pipes.

Badger- I agree.

X2 on the stabilizing. I love using it for knife handles.

Sagebrush and CJE- Nice knives! I see burls in old boxelders on my brother's property. Half of one of the trees broke off, and I bet there are burls on the half! My brother wouldn't know what they are, so I have to call him and make sure he leaves them alone until I can get out there.

Joe

A few custom turkey call makers use it time to time. Jimmy Schafer of Oak Ridge custom calls did some and David Halloran of Halloran Turkey Calls used it on his Mistress call.

A few custom turkey call makers use it time to time. Jimmy Schafer of Oak Ridge custom calls did some and David Halloran of Halloran Turkey Calls used it on his Mistress call. Also I should add those were flamed. Bunch of guys use it for boxes

More knives with box elder

Interesting antler guards!

Joe

Here are some pics of my selfbow. I got a bunch of boxelder from a wood turner friend in Michigan. Not all box elder has the ice cream look, it is prized. I also agree it needs to be stabilized. John

Brush nocks

Got my first Javelina with it. The color has faded some since Arizona. But a guy who makes drums with exotic woods told me to use an alcohol based sun screen to preserve color. John

Also there is a penetrating epoxy for stone. I have used it on delicate marble carvings. Might work on wood also. John

Stoner- That's what we want to see! Did you stabilize yours and, if so, how?

Joe

I did not stabilize, just injected any little cracks with West System epoxy. Finished with 3-4 coats of Truoil. The wood did not flex in the handle or the tips. No issues, still shooting the bow today. John

OK. That's a real beauty of a bow! That snakiness is cool and those tips are great!

Joe

I like that bow too.

We had four box elders on the yard growing up. Two died they were full of the red in the cores. The local raw lumber man, said that was the reason the trees died and it made them almost worthless, but he was willing to take the long straight tree trunks away for nothing. Warning, never get between a Dutch CR and his money. The raw lumber guy even though he was a stern CR said lots of naughty words when an area wood worker offered $20 per tree and offered the use of his wagon and tractor to carry the branches to the wood dump. The furniture builder called and had us come over when he split those logs. He coated them with something to preserve the color. Then later he made a table out of some of it. The table was not for sale for any amount of money. This was 58 years ago. A few years ago a park ecologist in Woodbury county told me that the box elder is the most important trees for supporting wildlife of all varieties in his area. He said that every animal uses them.

Dean- Flamed boxelder table tops go for over $300 at auction! $20 a tree was good money 58 years ago. I told my brother the trees are valuable for wildlife and to leave the big ones, even though they have burl on them and are probably flamed. So, he listened and is only taking smaller trees out. Most of the ones we're removing are still saplings.

Joe

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