Hello,

I posted this in another forum but thought maybe I might find more help here. Please excuse the cross posting.

. I was wondering what you all can tell me regarding storing super dense woods like true boxwood, and African Blackwood, etc. I have a handful of boxwood pieces that I purchased a couple of years ago that came to me fully waxed. The wood was mostly, if not entirely dry, and I've simply stored them as is since then. I'm beginning to think, however, that maybe this isn't the best idea. For those of you who know, is it ok that I've been storing them fully encased in wax? Am I greatly inhibiting them fully drying by doing so?

If you think I should remove the wax, do you have any good ideas on how to go about this? The pieces aren't perfectly flat or jointed, and so scraping them wouldn't be easy. Should I try to use newspaper and an iron and try to melt most of it off?

I also have a few pieces of African Blackwood that came to me fully encased in wax. Is this the best way to store it? Should I also remove the wax? Is the wax there simply to help keep these super dense woods from developing checks? They're fully dry from what I gather.

Any advice and insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks very much,

David