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David Tiell
05-02-2008, 5:27 PM
My mother has recently taken up carving and really seems to enjoy it. She says she wants to eventually be able to carve a nativity set.

Well, Mother's Day is next Sunday, and my mom I was thinking about getting her some wood to practice on, and some more to do the nativity set, even if she has to set it aside until she feels she is ready to attempt it.

So, what is a good wood for a beginner, what would be a good wood for a nativity set, and what are some good sources for said wood? Are some of the sellers on ebay good places? What about carvers here. Got any wood you are willing to let go of for my mom?

Thanks,

Dave

Mike Henderson
05-02-2008, 6:43 PM
Basswood is the traditional carving wood. Any fine straight grained wood that's not to hard will do. Mahogany (but NOT African mahogany) works well, also.

Mike

Jamie Cowan
05-03-2008, 12:11 AM
Mike is right on. Basswood is so satisfying to carve, because the wood gives pretty easily and it doesn't hack up your tools too much. Not real fancy, but it gets you there fast, which is good encouragement early on. I'm also new to carving (started in January), and carve about 2 hours every night. I buy basswood every week, usually footlong 3x3s or a 15" 2x6, and practice patterns found in magazines or books. There are some online for free, if you look for them. I also try to recreate non-wood things found around the house. Tonight I took a smaller piece of basswood and made a carving of a carving gouge. A #11/15, actually. Sort of fun. The other wood I'd mention is butternut, because Woodcraft seems to have a lot of it lately. Darker than Basswood, and looks kind of like red oak, if you ask me. Carves pretty good, but has these hard, dense spots that are unpredictable. Carving through them is hard going sometimes. I got a book about relief carving by a guy who prefers Honduran mahogany, like Mike mentioned. It looks nice, but I haven't tried it yet.

David Tiell
05-03-2008, 12:16 AM
Mike is right on. Basswood is so satisfying to carve, because the wood gives pretty easily and it doesn't hack up your tools too much. Not real fancy, but it gets you there fast, which is good encouragement early on. I'm also new to carving (started in January), and carve about 2 hours every night. I buy basswood every week, usually footlong 3x3s or a 15" 2x6, and practice patterns found in magazines or books. There are some online for free, if you look for them. I also try to recreate non-wood things found around the house. Tonight I took a smaller piece of basswood and made a carving of a carving gouge. A #11/15, actually. Sort of fun. The other wood I'd mention is butternut, because Woodcraft seems to have a lot of it lately. Darker than Basswood, and looks kind of like red oak, if you ask me. Carves pretty good, but has these hard, dense spots that are unpredictable. Carving through them is hard going sometimes. I got a book about relief carving by a guy who prefers Honduran mahogany, like Mike mentioned. It looks nice, but I haven't tried it yet.Jamie,
Where do you get your basswood from? I bought some off a "buy-it-now" on eBay, but would appreciate any other reputable sources.

Thanks,

DAve

Jamie Cowan
05-03-2008, 12:17 AM
One more thing--Mike Henderson, though I've never met or otherwise communicated with him, posts often and well. There's a guy who isn't shy about posting advice, and I really appreciate it. I'm always eager to read his posts. Thanks, Mike!

Mike Henderson
05-03-2008, 1:37 AM
One more thing--Mike Henderson, though I've never met or otherwise communicated with him, posts often and well. There's a guy who isn't shy about posting advice, and I really appreciate it. I'm always eager to read his posts. Thanks, Mike!
Thank you for your kind words, Jamie. I'm flattered.

Mike

Jamie Cowan
05-03-2008, 2:02 AM
Woodcraft is my local one-stop-shop. They are the only place around here that sells woodworking tools/supplies. And the people are nice to deal with. They carry decent tools, and always have quite a bit of wood hanging around. I don't know if that's where the cool kids shop, but they always do right by me. Stock of gouges needs replenishing, but they have the wood to keep busy.

John Timberlake
05-03-2008, 1:32 PM
Basswood (linden or lime wood in England) are the best for most carvers, especially beginners. If possible, get wood that is well air dried. Kiln dried wood is a little harder to carve.

John Novak
05-10-2008, 9:33 AM
Basswood is a great carving wood but is does not have a pretty grain structure. If you are going to paint your carving, basswood is great. For a natural wood finish - tung oil paste wax, etc., try butternut - it is related to walnut but is MUCH lighter in weight and color. It carves very similar to basswood. The link below contains some of my carvings. The mountain man and the lion are both butternut. The mountain man has a tung oil finish with a few areas painted with an oil wash. The lion has a paste wax finish. www.fandfwoodcarving.com/carvings.htm (http://www.fandfwoodcarving.com/carvings.htm)

Dave McGeehan
05-10-2008, 5:28 PM
Terrific work, John. I especially like the carving and finishing job you did on the mountain man. Regarding the "oil wash" you used on the darker areas: what did you combine with the tung oil to create your wash?

David, I agree with the other replies: basswood is a good beginner's wood. Check with your local lumber suppliers or saw mills. Linden trees are fairly common in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states.

Dave

Jacob Reverb
05-10-2008, 9:36 PM
Those are some real nice carvings, John. I really like the sparrow hawk.

Question: Do many of you folks carve with cherry wood (black cherry)? I have a nice log that I saved for carving, and I think I can get cherry locally when I do my firewood cutting. It looks like it would carve nicely -- cherry definitely machines nicely -- but I'm wondering how hard it is. Is it too hard?

How is cherry to carve?

Jamie Cowan
05-11-2008, 12:34 AM
Wow, those are amazing. In one sense, really inspiring. In another, it makes me want to have a tool sale. Great work. Thanks for posting those pictures.

randall rosenthal
05-12-2008, 8:33 AM
Those are some real nice carvings, John. I really like the sparrow hawk.

Question: Do many of you folks carve with cherry wood (black cherry)? I have a nice log that I saved for carving, and I think I can get cherry locally when I do my firewood cutting. It looks like it would carve nicely -- cherry definitely machines nicely -- but I'm wondering how hard it is. Is it too hard?

How is cherry to carve?

jacob.....not a great photo... but the wall sculpture is cherry. my experience was that it's not hard to carve but is fairly fragile and brittle when it's very thin with almost no ability to flex or give. so it might be good for work that dosent have a lot of small detail.....but lots of the leaves in this sculpture have little broken bits.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n186/randallro/dsc04179.jpg

Jacob Reverb
05-12-2008, 10:32 AM
...the wall sculpture is cherry...

"White Oaks in Black Cherry" ... THAT'S INSANE! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Wow, nice work Randall! Thanks for posting. I think I'll go hang myself now. ;)

allen norris
05-20-2008, 12:16 PM
My favorite wood for carving spoons, scoops and spatulas for the kitchen is thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia triocanthos inermis).

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/honeylocust01.jpg
Danish oil finish spatulas on left, Danish oil finish spoons on right, far right spoon unfinished


Hard, heavy, strong, and nice ray fleck, the orange-ish brown grain in the heartwood is pretty. It smells marvelous while being worked. There was a Walgreen's store in a lot downtown, and when the lot sold, the man who sold it advertized free trees - black walnut, mulberry - for atrists/artisans, and he ended up giving the black walnut (Juglans nigra)

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/blackwalnut02.jpg
unfinished black walnut spoons, one all heartwood, one from a branch, with both heartwood and sapwood


to the Rocky Mountain Woodturners. The mulberry had already been removed to make a parking area for the construction guys. There was a honeylocust on the south side of the lot, which no one else wanted, and I called the guy on the phone, and he said I could have it. Yippee!
Next favorite is pecan (Carya illinoensis),

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/pecanscoop01.jpg http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/pecanscoop02.jpg
unfinished pecan scoop - the white in the edge is flour, I just took it from the canister

because I grew up with one in the back yard, and when my Daddy had it taken down, I got two chunks of the trunk. Sentimental value, tremendous, the tree was 50+ years old, and the pink latewood is a gentle contrast to the pale yellow earlywood.
Butternut (Juglans cineria) and black walnut are easy to carve, polish nicely, and are medium brown and dark brown with purplish streaks, respectively. Yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a little softer than butternut, and very easily carved, and the greenish tinge is kinda pretty. Two-town darkish brown Russian olive (Eleagnus angustifolia)

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/Russian-olive02.jpg
Russian-olive spoon, Danish oil finish


is another softish wood, but tends to splinter - at least the piece I had did. Maple (Acer spp) is hard, heavy, stiff and strong, and can be quite pretty. Red alder (Alnus rubra) carves easily, looks nice, and has some really wide rays.

As to sources, I live relatively close to some production cabinet shops, and their dumpsters have lots of material, and from time to time some small pieces that make a really nice spoon or ten. (chuckle) I also look for tree-trimmer and removal crews, and ask about the wood. often I get it for free, but have to chainsaw it to usable (or loadable) sizes.
A neighbor had an old Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) that was interfering with the power lines, and when the crew took it down, I wandered over and asked what they were gonna do with the wood. "Take it to the recycling center," they said. I told 'em they could dump it in my driveway and save some deisel fuel, and they asked me how much of it I wanted. "All of it," and they dropped it in my driveway, and I now have lots of practice wood drying in my garage attic. (grin)

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z167/allenn1006/spoons/Elmspoons.jpg
from left, three unfinished Siberian elm spoons, far right Danish oil finish

If there's a small-scale sawyer locally, you can get some really nice freshly-milled lumber quite reasonably, if you hold your mouth right.
Call cabinet shops, and ask them about their suppliers. Call the tree trimmer and removal companies, and ask them what they do with the wood. Some sell it as firewood, some may know of a sawyer to mill it. It never hurts to ask. Lumberyards sometimes throw away pallets, and the pallet maker guys do not care if the wood is pretty or not, they're in the pallet-making business.

allen norris