Wood species

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

the wood called "pearwood" used in kits is not pearwood not even remotely related to European pearwood or what we call Swiss Pearwood
the wood is actually African Pearwood also referred to as Moabi or Djave Nut. scientific it's Baillonella toxisperma
true Boxwood is not even a tree it is a shrub and only small pieces can be obtained the biggest piece i have ever had in my collection was a log 4 inch diam by a clear 9 inches long. so i highly doubt these kits that claim are boxwood are not boxwood not even related to true boxwood.
once i figured out the cost to build a 1/4 scale frigate out of true boxwood. At the going rate the wood along would have cost $3,500.00
so how can you buy a "boxwood" kit at $1.200
It’s a tricky balance: we want honesty in labeling, yes, but also a little flexibility in understanding how nature and the lumber trade actually work. Maybe more detailed info from kit makers, like species name and country of origin, would help clear the fog.
i have been involved in the lumber trade for 35 years and handled thousands of board feet of lumber both domestic and exotic. My brother had a degree in forestry. It bugged the crap out of him when i would ID a tree as OAK he would say what Oak? Red Oak, pin Oak, swamp oak, black oak, white oak, Beech, you know how may types of Oak there are?
the names of wood is very confusing i went to a local saw mill down in Amish and asked for Beech oh do you mean Hackberry don't ask for Maple because there is a large list of wood that falls under Maple. Ask for Ghost wood what do you think you would get?
If a person is paying a premium for a boxwood and pearwood ship model, it damn well better be made of boxwood and pearwood.
it matters between the builder and his client. It has happened to me where i was asked to produce a timbering set for a model out of boxwood and rather than pull a bait and switch and use Castello Boxwood and say nothing i quoted $8.600.00 for Buxus sempervirens because the wood is rare, very expensive and hard to find and you can only find it in small heart check logs which results in a lot of waist.
so i gave the client a choice of a wood that looks like boxwood for $700.00
in the case of kits made for a hobby i do not think it matters what the wood is called. but if you built a kit that claimed it is boxwood and put that model in an art gallery as the material being Boxwood that is a lie.
Wondering, as far as ship kits go, what are the differences between pearwood and boxwood. Seems there’s a fair difference in price for kits that offer both as an option.

differences in price come into play because it is possible the claim of Pearwood and Boxwood may not be actual pearwood or boxwood but whatever the wood is it is a step up from common Basswood or other less expensive woods. So you paying for a better quality wood whatever it actually is.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

There are at least two kit suppliers offering kits with pear wood planking. They are also advertising Castello and one offers Yellow Cedar. If their advertising is truthful this is better than the kit supplied mystery woods.


PORTLAND, Ore.. Yellow-cedar, a culturally and economically valuable tree in southeastern Alaska and adjacent parts of British Columbia, has been dying off across large expanses of these areas for the past 100 years.
The yellow-cedar is a slow-growing tree; many are 700 to 1,200 years old.
Conservation interests have petitioned to protect yellow cedar under the Endangered Species Act. The petition, citing two scientific journals, described yellow cedar’s decline as “the most severe forest die-off ever recorded in North America.”

 

[Bob Cleek]

There are at least two kit suppliers offering kits with pear wood planking. They are also advertising Castello and one offers Yellow Cedar. If their advertising is truthful this is better than the kit supplied mystery woods.


PORTLAND, Ore.. Yellow-cedar, a culturally and economically valuable tree in southeastern Alaska and adjacent parts of British Columbia, has been dying off across large expanses of these areas for the past 100 years.
The yellow-cedar is a slow-growing tree; many are 700 to 1,200 years old.
Conservation interests have petitioned to protect yellow cedar under the Endangered Species Act. The petition, citing two scientific journals, described yellow cedar’s decline as “the most severe forest die-off ever recorded in North America.”

Alaska Yellow Cedar (actually a cypress) is just about the perfect full-scale boatbuilding wood and really a great modeling wood, as well. It's just super stuff.

The "die-off" is a fascinating phenomenon. It's directly related to global warming. AYC's shallow roots are able to survive winter freezes because deep snowpack provides insulation for them. As the climate warms, the snowpack has not been as heavy as it once was. This causes ACY roots to freeze in a cold winter and that kills the trees. In this instance, counterintuitively, it's global warming that is causing the roots to freeze.

The large die-off is sad, but the wood remains suitable for harvest last standing dead of around a hundred years. The primary difficulty, however, is accessibility for harvesting. The logging industry is relatively dependent upon easily accessible timber and much of the dead standing AYC is in areas that are not accessible to heavy logging equipment.