Does Box Elder suck?

Certain woods aren't any good for making things, right? That's what I've always heard. In this video, we take a look at Box Elder.
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[@andrewburleson9846]

Have you ever looked into Mullberry wood? They get quite large and the wood is dense, fine grained, rot resistant& has an interesting color and patterns. Male White Mullberry trees are super common in the suburbs of Southern California. The Box Elder info was awesome. I hope you show some more unusual woods! Andrew Burleson

[@Tembo254]

Noon 12/13/2023 I just received a flame box elder log about 16” long. I’m in the process of slicing it into 1-1/2” thick planks and looking for ideas. Your video was quite informative. Thank you!

[@royormonde3682]

Nice mix in that cutting board. There's many in our area here in southern Ontario, Canada and some are huge, 70 to 80 foot tall and 2 to 3 foot in diameter. Have a bunch of big long logs drying for future projects, I've made many garden benches out of trunks, made some shingles with a froe for a shed needing some siding, cut a bunch of 4 inch disks for lining a steep hill to stop rain erosion and used the rest for my outdoor fireplace, also gave a bunch to my neighbor for starting fires in her wood stove, she likes it brings the flame up to roar real quick. Used a bunch of half logs for forming raised garden beds and it's held up for years now without much signs rot. Your right about the beauty of it, it's real vibrant red when it first comes down, fades off as it dries. Got 2 or 3 huge ones to take down in the spring, thinking of sawing it into useable lumber for some fake beams in some upcoming renovations.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Glad to see you are using them, Roy! Garden benches seems like a good fit. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@wolfy1987]

Its interesting to look at stands of them near water, as the trunks are often gnarled, twisted and hollowed out. They end up in all kinds of interesting shapes as a result. Tree has a lot of character. I dont mind the bugs. Always thought they were neat looking. but I dont have boxelder trees in the yard, so never had an issue with them invading my house. I do have a Silver Maple which puts out tons of saplings like boxelder. Not a big deal to me though. Just pull them when I do the weeding, sometimes I dig up and give away larger healthier ones.

[@RealFrankyDog]

I’ve got several acres of prairie surrounded by a tree tree line with many large box elders. Unfortunately the box elders significantly sees the prairie much more than any other tree in the tree line. Left the sprouts unchecked for about five years and they took over the prairie growing probably over 25’ tall. Cut them all down a few years ago and the roots just sprouted up quickly while new seeds sprouted and grew up large trees. Now I’m taking the prairie back by cutting them all down and putting root killer on the stumps. After the prairie is cleared I will hopefully start cleaning out the tree line so limit maintenance. The trees themselves are not offensive but when they grow faster than weeds I can see how many considered them invasive.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Wow, Tim. I can see how that would be an issue. What will you do with the wood?

[@FearsomeWarrior]

I've always seen boxelder bugs here in Minnesota. When I was little they'd be around my house and were one of the only bugs that I could stand. They really love the sun and cover buildings in the fall. I had a job redoing plywood structures and I know I swallowed a dozen of them over that summer.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Fearsome Warrior - I think I’ve seen them too, but not in any quantities. I have heard the upper Midwest has some fierce bugs.

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Patrick Parson Workshop Winter really takes care of bugs up here. Whenever I go down south I see and hear bigger bugs.

[@taylorsessions4143]

A nearby sawyer was trying to sell me a beautiful slab of box elder. I didn't know anything about it so I didn't pick it up, but I may be calling him back soon!

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Hey Taylor! Yeah, I think it's neat to work with species that are outside the norm. Hope you get some...and enjoy it.

[@HuskyHusqvarna]

I live in ND, there’s a grass clipping and branch disposal site near my house, people are only supposed to be able to drop branches 4” or smaller but every time I check the pile it’s not uncommon to find 10-20” logs of all sorts of varieties. I was gathering a few hundred pound a year of boxelder to cut into boards and turning blanks. It is a really pretty wood, I agree that it’s softness makes it less desirable but I still find all sorts of things to make out of it. I’ve gathered so much of it over the last few years that this last summer I didn’t pick up any unless is was really large logs or extremely full of color, I don’t know a ton about boxelder but of the stuff I’ve come across, the larger or move colorful logs are more likely to have rot in them though but sometimes I get lucky and they’re nice and solid. For smaller things like duck or coyote calls I always resin stabilize the pieces with “cactus juice” and a vacuum chamber. At this moment I have a pile of boxelder picture frames full of the red color ready for the final examination to double check my sanding before the finish goes on. I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of people wanting them. I’d rather have a never ending supply of walnut but I won’t complain too much when I’m getting the boxelder for free, it is very pretty...

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Wow! Way to make use of free wood. Yes, I would think that it would be great for frames. Walnut is really pretty, but I actually have a sensitivity to it...the only wood I have worked with that gives me a rash. Weird.

[@marshaharriss4765]

Very interesting, Patrick.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Marsha Harriss - Thanks Marsha!

[@kellyklaask7su990]

I had to cut down 2 box elder trees in my yard a couple years ago. They just up and died. I kept the wood and thinking about trying to make some chess pieces (for white) out of them. Will see how it goes. Thanks for the video.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Great idea. I think box elder would be great to make chess pieces from. Thanks for watching.

[@lrn_news9171]

I don't understand why Box Elder is considered undesirable, it's beyond me because Silver Maple is actually slightly softer yet considered relatively desirable for many things, including musical instruments, even as an alternative to hard maple for hardwood flooring in some cases. I don't understand. I want to build a guitar from Box elder with that red discolouration but it's very difficult to find a big enough piece

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

You could glue up a few pieces to make a wide enough plank. I think that would make a nice electric guitar.

[@lrn_news9171]

@@PatrickParsonWorkshop Exactly what I want to make, a solid body electric with box elder with pronounced red stain.

[@lrn_news9171]

@@PatrickParsonWorkshop Ideally one piece would be awesome but the other option is using a few smaller pieces perhaps which might be very noticeable because the patterns aren't consistent.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

@@lrn_news9171 - True. The grain patterns probably wouldn't match up. If you made the body of three pieces, with a different type of wood in the middle, that would eliminate the need to match grain. Not exactly what you were going for...but an option.

[@shaneshow6484]

Boxelder is not a maple, it is in the ash family.

[@PatrickParsonWorkshop]

Acer negundo, the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. Common names[edit] Indicative of its familiarity to many people over a large geographic range, A. negundo has numerous common names. The names "box elder" and "boxelder maple" are based upon the similarity of its whitish wood to that of boxwood and the similarity of its pinnately compound leaves to those of some species of elder.[8] Other common names are based upon this maple's similarity to ash, its preferred environment, its sugary sap, a description of its leaves, its binomial name, and so on. These names include "Manitoba maple", "ash-leaf maple", "cut-leaved maple", "three-leaf maple", "ash maple", "sugar maple", "negundo maple", and "river maple".[9]

[@Sheepdog1314]

no wood is garbage wood.