Australian wood?

[Tyton]

I've recently decided to try my hand at whittling and have done a lot of reading about what sort of knife to use and the right types of wood. Basswood seems to be the most popular wood for beginners. Unfortunately i live in Australia and it is rather hard to come by.
Are there any members on here from Australia that could offer advice as to what types of local wood they recommend?

[leavyc]

There is a carver by the name of Hellie Meyer that comes to Bettendorf to teach at the Woodcraft shop, he carves tyrolian pine. The people I know that have worked with it say it is very nice to work with, and smells great. Something about the altitude it grows at makes it great carving wood.

[Robson Valley]

1. Ask in the Wood Sculpting forum in the UBeaut-run WOODWORKING forums. Wonderful Australian site.
2. You have Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata). A true conifer softwood, so is Pseudotsuga macrocarpa.
3. I read that many Australian woodworkers refer to Pinus radiata as Pinus crapiata. . . . or just Crapiata. Here in BC/Canada, we have Lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta. Most of it has been killed by epidemic Mountain Pine Beetle infestations. . . . now known as "Bug-Wood" or Craporta.

[Tyton]

Thanks for the replies. I know of Radiata Pine, so will give it a go. Looking up that website now!

[Robson Valley]

Tyton, if and when you go looking in a timberyard, you want radiata with really inconspicuous growth rings. When they are really easy to see, there's quite a difference in toughness between the pale, early/spring wood and the darker late/summer wood of each growth ring.
Get some of that anyway just so you can feel how different the ring parts are.

Some timberyards have junk bins where they toss stickers, straps and bits of broken pallets and crates. If there not too much tool-wrecking mud on them, those pieces will be fine to start with.

[STAR]

I have not been on this site for a long time for personal and business reasons. I am interested in this thread because I have just started with Wood Carving over the last 12 months and because I live in Australia.

I have gone through the complete range of emotions with my carvings, but surprisingly after a few stutters and false starts have produced some carvings that I am proud of considering I new nought before I started.

Now, he is the rub. Because I know no wood carvers I have only the internet to help me. Unfortunately, nearly all that info is on this site and being in America means their are some differences in the wood available to us.

Because I am only new what I say should be taken with that in mind but I am slowly forming the opinion that carving with a knife or hand goughes may not be the easy way with the wood available in Australia. I was given some American Basswood and if the sample was what you guys in the States use then you are truly blessed and i can see why many of the techniques seen in this forum are used.

The closest I have here is Jelutong which I have a good supply but that is a bit harder then basswood and it requires a bit more enterprise to cut through then Basswood.

Using radiata pine would see me givin up carving forever. I am slowly forming the opinion or getting it changed for me because of our harder wood that the use of Power carving is looking very tempting. I have even used an Arbotec Mini grinder and often use a die grinder on my compressor to hog away wood quickly.

I have just made a Wood carving mallet so I can bang away and save my hands. When I became interested in carving and whittling i just wanted to use a knife and a few chisels, but I realised if i want to keep going i had to make some changes if I wanted to continue carving.

The wood and availability in Australia makes you take some deviations that you had not planned on, but that is what makes carving so intersting.

I would like to see what our experts in Australia do but I suspect they are of a similar opinion to me as the only Wood Carving I have really seen here is Sculpture like not like the caricature carving done with a knife in the States.

I like the caricature style, but by necessity, am finding myself drawn to a combination of both depending on the wood and subject in question.

Pete

[David Stanley]

Tyton, Where in Australia do you live? I live close enough to Trend Timbers Near Windsor, NSW to obtain most the carving timbers I might need from there. Their web site indicates when timbers in their list are most suitable for carving. I say most suitable, because almost any timber may be carved, it's just that some are more suitable than others for the different carving techniques you might want to employ. Even different pieces of the same timber species will present their own particular challenges.

As 'Star' has mentioned, radiata pine would not generally be a good choice to begin carving with. The one asset it has is, it is very cheap. More suitable timbers you will find however to be alarmingly expensive in comparison. If for reasons of economy you are forced to use radiata pine then I will mention a few things to be aware of before listing some timbers that I have found useful for whittling style carving (Welsh Lovespoons come into this category to a large degree).

Radiata pine, I can understand someone wanting to use, due to availability and price, and also when you don't want to waste expensive timber to practice on. You will however, if you must use it, need first of all to select the pieces of radiata very carefully and as 'Robson Valley' suggested find some very clear stuff without prominent growth rings. The timber will alternate between very soft and very hard in any case and this will be the first difficulty you encounter with this timber. Trying to make consistent cuts through a medium that continually presents little resistance and then much resistance to your cutting edge is a frustration you must expect with this timber. Another problem will be the timber's tendency to crush and collapse when you cut across short (end) grain. Slicing cuts, with sharper than usual tools, will help here but of course you should have tools as sharp as you can possibly get them in any case.

Now about other timbers you can use, I mostly use small palm tools and various knives including micro tools home made from sharpened piano wire. I prefer and get the best results from the hardest timbers I can find, because they generally hold fine detail better.

The non Australian timbers I have used include Walnut, European and black walnut, Rock maple (a favourite) Lime (the equivalent of bass wood) a classic carving timber, cherry and jelutong (which is considered a very easy timber to carve and finish and therefore very suitable to learn and experiment with).

The Australian timbers I have used and ones that I believe would be good carving timbers are; huon pine (a bit soft but holds detail well), White beech (very soft and very easy to carve, holds detail surprisingly well but can be waxy, difficult to sand, if you finish your carvings that way. Doesn't take other finishes well either), sassafrass should be good, just avoid the black heart part and any highly figured timbers in general that would compete visually with shapes in a carving. Myrtle, coach wood, NSW rosewood (excellent but not strong) Queensland Maple and Queensland walnut would all be suitable but only the very light coloured timbers, if you want to use colour of course.

Another timber I have carved is Saffron heart (the hardest timber I have carved so far). This is a beautiful timber but probably a bit too hard to begin with.

There are also some exotic species easily available in Australia but you would have to wait for the cut pieces to dry before carving. They include camphor laurel, if not too highly figured, (you might be able to buy this timber already dried) , privet (an excellent white timber that is capable of holding the finest detail extremely well). Holly (same characteristics as privet, but has a nicer name and associations), fruit woods of all kinds, pittostorum (said to be like box wood) and Japanese maple.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions if you contact me via my blog or website especially if you are interested in lovespoon carving and the particular needs a carver in Australia might have.

On the other hand you will get a much more comprehensive education (short of direct tuition) by just continuing to post your questions here, or as 'Robson Valley' suggested, The Woodworking Forums, Australia.

I wish you the best with your carving and don't let radiata diminish your enthusiasm if you do use it. Just expect some character building failures.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I have some Kauri wood from new zealand.....very unique....I think it was before noah's flood...can't see natives leaving wood in that quantity and quality laying around for who knows how long...and the fact they have been completely buried...........my opinion and I am sticking to it!

[Tyton]

Thanks David, That is a veritable treasure trove of information you provided me. I was starting to despair that my interest in whittling was never going to get off the ground due to no suitable wood being readily available in Australia.
I live in Newcastle. Will have to have a look around for a timer supply place somewhere local, write down the names of the timbers you have listed, and see what they have.
I take it the timber is best to whittle when dried out?
J

[Robson Valley]

Tyton: Please remember that common names are exactly that= common names. All too often, the common names for timbers of the Northern Hemisphere have been applied locally to Australian woods.
On a global scale, consider "Spanish Cedar." It is not Spanish, it is not cedar (a broad grouping of N American Thuja sp. conifers.) In fact, it is a mahogany.

Strive to determine the Latin names. Quercus rubra is "red oak" or some other local name, to everyone on earth.

DS: . . . character building failures with Pinus radiata." Amen, sir.