“Cook Wood in Oregon carries (box elder) and sells a variety of sizes.” – Ron Suchara

“Writing from the hill country of Texas we have a lot of it here. I have a nice tree growing in front yard about as high as the two-story house. (Box elder) is a sub-form of maple. Enjoy the grain as it has varying colors.” – Ralph Hausman

“Box elder (Acer Negundo) is an interesting emergent species that occurs in open areas that are in transition from field to forest. I have also seen them struggling on the forest floor in whatever light is available to stimulate seed germination. As for seeing slabs or cookies of it in lumberyards, no, even though it grows to lumber-sized trees all over central New York. It does have interesting grain and is relatively soft by comparison to other maple species. It doesn’t seem to be seriously injured or bothered by the native box elder beetles that reproduce in serious numbers and are a nuisance when they search for places to hibernate in the Fall. By the way, it also is sometimes known as black maple (Acer Nigrum) but really is a separate species.” – Jeffrey Gehm

“I work with box elder. The stuff grows all over the place here in west Michigan, and my wife hates it because it attracts box elder bugs (big surprise), which congregate in swarms around here. They’re harmless but annoying and (according to my wife) icky. So I cut down every box elder on our property and ‘trimmed back’ (ahem) several of them on neighbors’ lots as well. All of which left me with ample stock for making walking sticks, pens, boxes and lots of other stuff. It works well and usually turns beautifully, as you now have found out.” – Mark Williams

“Nice find and a beautiful lamp. While this slab (see photo above) didn’t come from a lumberyard, I snagged it from my local lumber supplier about a year ago. I just couldn’t resist buying it because of its uniqueness. It is just hanging out in my shop waiting to be turned into something useful.” – Gary Tague

“No, I have not used (box elder) as I have not seen it before. However I will use it if I run into it. Beautiful wood.” – Rudy Gonzalez

“Your editorial about the piece of salvaged box elder caught my attention. Awesome looking lamp! A few years ago we cleared some trees to make way for a new cabin about an hour north of Minneapolis. A couple of those trees were box elder. I had them milled to 9/4 and I built our kitchen table from it (see photos above). It’s a trestle style, just a shade over 8 ft. long and right at 30-in. wide to fit benches on three sides. My lumber has incredible grain, which seems to have a feathered look to it. My family was pretty excited about how the table turned out (me too)!” – Randy Gatzke

“Great job on that lamp base. It’s gorgeous!” – Rick Corbitt

“Awesome piece. Nice work!” – Gordon Patnude

“I’d never heard of box elder down here in Australia. I just googled it and discovered it does grow here, but it’s classified as an invasive weed.” – Mark Hyland

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A Craftsman-style cabinet. The wood is red oak and I used golden oak finish.

An urn, turned on my Robust lathe. The woods are cherry burl and ebony.

A miniature cabinet, made from white oak (natural oil finish), with hand-turned cocobolo door pulls. Two small hollowed turnings sitting on top of the cabinet: a cherry burl vase and a persimmon vessel with ebony finial.

-John Nicholson

Here is a small project that I made within the past year.  It is a sundial that has been designed to give accurate readings specifically for MY backyard. It can be set up leveled and oriented to North with the gnome sent to the proper month. The dimensions of the oval, spacing of the months and compass orientation required considerable research. But it was a fun project – just not practical.

-Dave Fogt

There are 4 species blended into each board so you have to make them in multiples of 4. I usually make 8 at a time.

I donate them to a local non-profit called VISTE (Volunteers in Service to the Elderly). They reward major donors and long term volunteers with one as a thank you.

I buy 4/4 rough sawn 4/S material and transform it into 8 boards in 9-10 hours of work. That time does not include glue or finish drying times.

No, I don’t own a CNC machine. Tools required include a table saw, band saw, glue brush, clamps, thickness planer, router table and sanders. See photos. All cutting is done free style so no 2 boards are alike. Each is an original artistic piece. Designs can be infinite in number.

My “how do you do it” secret sauce? Double Stick Tape.

-Don Van Houtte
Lakeland, FL

This is from a purchased plan, probably from Rockler. I made several of these for my construction customers.

-Phillip Hansen

This is an old workbench that belonged to my wife’s father. I had forever and decided to put a hardwood top over the old laminate that is always coming off. I have been collecting wood my entire life, and when I decided to do this I didn’t really have a plan. It kind of evolved with what lumber and sizes I had to work with. Walnut,, Maple, Zebra, Brazilwood, Oak. I know it looks too good to be a workbench but that’s what it is and it is very nice. Well to me anyway. I put six coats of Tung Oil and that’s all.

-Ricky Cherup
Grove City, OH

Here’s my Beer Paddle Project.

-Brian Kise

Thank you again for these great projects! We’ll see you again next week!

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