Beauty from stress – ‘Flame’ Boxelder

The red color in the boxelder wood used in some of my turnings (like the globe in the ornament above) is produced by the tree in response to stress. When the tree is harmed by insects or storms it releases a chemical to help prevent further damage from fungal growth. The red ‘flame’ is a beautiful side-effect of that response to stress. Some woodworkers will further dye the red areas to enhance the color, I prefer to leave the natural red as found – though I do sometimes bleach the lighter areas of the wood to a paler white to help it stand out. When exposed to the light of day (or other UV light source) the red will gradually fade to brown, so the effect is most lasting when used for objects that don’t see a lot of daylight. As with the ornament above, black cherry is a fitting accent wood as it exhibits the opposite response to UV light – its color will grow to a deeper red as the boxelder fades.