Carving Found Wood

[JustDooky]

I am new to carving. I have read on the forum people referring to sap wood and heart wood.

Are there considerations to carving these? What is the difference between sap and heart?

I have a ton of fresh cut Australian Pine (She-Oak, Ironwood, Casuarina) from my property here in Florida. It is rated at 1980 green and 3200 dry on the Janka scale. Is there something I should consider when carving this species? Yep it is hard as a rock. Especially in regards to sap and heart wood.

Thanks,
Glen

[TreeWizard]

Depending on the tree the sap wood is usually the lighter color wood just under the bark. It can vary in thickness from 1 to about 3 inches. Heartwood is further into the tree and is usually darker in color. As the name indicates sap wood is the portion of the tree that has cells that allow sap and nutrients to flow from roots to leaves.

An example is sugar maple, in spring when sap is flowing heavily, you can put a tap into the first inch or 2 inches of wood and sap will flow out into a bucket. If you drilled into the heartwood and set the tap that deep, you'd get no flow out of that tap.

Most carvers use heartwood for carving, and most sawmills cut off the sapwood when they saw the lumber. If you look at the post on Black Walnut, you'll see one member who posted a picture of a couple planks he has. You can see the difference in the sap wood and heartwood clearly in that picture. The mill didn't remove all the sap wood and it has a lighter color than the heartwood.

Hope this helps you in telling the difference.

[Ron T]

Hello and welcome, Glen. It's nice to have you here with us.

[JustDooky]

Thanks for the Info. I really appreciate this forum and the Scroll Saw forum. I use both as a source of information frequently.

It is really helpful to have experts available to answer questions. The wealth of information here is invaluable. It makes starting out as a carver very easy.

Thanks again!
Glen

[brian-bailey]

Glen,

I like the color contrast between the sapwood and heartwood in most of the hardwoods that I saw. So I generally leave the sapwood on the board when cutting the log into lumber. One drawback is that the sapwood dries differently than the heartwood, which can be troublesome at times.

When I'm making an item, I have the option of using the color contrast to my design advantage or I can trim the contrasting wood off.

One advantage of having your own sawmill, is that you get to decide which board is a keeper or one that gets sent to the edger for trimming.

Most commercial sawmills trim the sapwood off because of grade rules or market demands.

Brian...

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

You'll be able to make a lot of beautiful carvings out of that lot. Just stay creative with the contrasting woods. I'd tell you the wood will be a might on the hard side, but you already know that.

[JustDooky]

Thanks again for everyone's comments!