Roys rosewood PH

[scottg]

 Let me just gloat for a pal. 
I just stole this picture!! heehehe

My good buddy Roy posted it on Galoot Image Central. It was his Christmas Galootaclause perfect handle project.
G-clause sent him an abused PH driver and a scrap of rosewood..... sooooooo
  yours Scott

[Papaw]

Very nice! I like his workbench top as well!

[Fins/413]

Very nice

[johnsironsanctuary]

Great looking tool! Bet there is a story that goes with the bench top.
JIS

[Neals]

Thats a beauty!

[64longstep/Brian]

Nice!!

[lauver]

scottg,

That handle is sweet.  Roy did himself proud.

Your thread gave me a wood stock idea.  I've got to remove an old rosemary bush and some of the branches and leaders are 2-4 inches in diameter.

Have you ever used rosemary stock for a handle?

Should I cut it to workable lengths while it's green?

Should I strip the bark and rip it while green?

How long should I dry it before using it to make a handle?

Are there reasons not to use rosemary?

[lauver]

scottg,

PM sent. Check your messages.

[Branson]

>Should I cut it to workable lengths while it's green?

Not if you mean exact lengths.  You still may get seasoning checks at the ends.

>Should I strip the bark and rip it while green?

Yes.  You want as much surface area as possible for the wood to dehydrate.

>How long should I dry it before using it to make a handle?

The old standard is one year per inch of thickness.

>Are there reasons not to use rosemary?

Probably not, unless you are superstitious.  Rosemary is symbolic of death, and remembrance.

[lauver]

Branson,

Thanks for the info.  I jumped the gun while waiting for answers.  Have been doing a few prelim experiments with rosemary wood.  So far it looks promising.

[rusty]

So...I'm sitting here reading this thread, and it occurs to me that I don't know if rosemary is a shrub or a tree. Many spices are shrubs, so I figure it's a 50/50...

So I google 'rosemary wood'

And discover that Rose Mary Woods was President Nixons secretary....

Ehhh....

Gotta love google....LOL!

(oh, turns out to be a tree....)

[lauver]

rusty,

Rosewood is a tree. Rosemary is a shrub, about 4' tall, highly aromatic. 

Never seen a rosewood tree; they must not grow in tejas.

[rusty]

Hmm,so it is, serves me right for not going to a better source.
There are sure a lot of folks selling rosemary trees......
(apparently trying to pawn them off as christmas tree substitutes, i suppose no one wants a christmas shrub -P)

[lauver]

rusty,

"It's a fine line between a large shrub and a small tree." (Gary Lauver, 2012)

I believe the miniture rosemary christmas trees are grown and shaped specifically for christmas sales.  It's a marketing gimmick, plain and simple. 

That said, rosemary shrubs are a truely great plant. They live to be 100 years old with just minimal maintenance.  They are evergreen, drought hardy, can handle summer heat, and yet are also winter hardy.  They make an excellent ornamental speciman as well as a culinary herb.

I have three rosemary bushes in my yard, one right outside my back door so I can get to it easily when I'm cooking.  I also recommend them all the time to my landscape customers.  And, none of my customers have ever complained about these low maintenance plants.

Time will tell, but rosemary may just turn out to be a good wood stock to use for making replacement Perfect Handles.  Stay tuned....