Listening and learning....me?

[sashadoc]

I've found the answer by myself. Why pay good money for Basswood when Poplar works just as well? WRONG !!
I thought I had found the cheap way to carve. I decided that Poplar carved as good as Basswood without ever having carved Basswood before. I know I'm the only bull headed person out there...right?
I decided to try carving "in the round" and for some reason I thought I'd give Basswood a try even though it probably wasn't any better than other wood. Guess what? I WAS WRONG. If you are new to carving as I am pay attention to what the real carvers are using. My first hint was when I pumped up my fore arms to make a cut cross grain. I put the needed extra pressure on the knife and WOW I almost cut through the piece I was working on! It cuts like butter!! (I have sharp knives).
Moral of story: The old timers know their stuff. If you are new and want to have a good carving experience, try Basswood. I will be buying more from Heinecke Wood Products. It's worth the price and makes you feel like an experienced carver. Just my thoughts...
Tim

[Claude]

Tim:
Here's a site that may help you in deciding which woods to carve.

Janka hardness

Claude

[Just Carving]

Tim and others

Stay with basswood until your more comfortable. Then venture to the other woods. THey'll be there. But like anything else you need to start from a baseline and work your way out. But when ready, go back to poplar. And also try eastern white pine (which is a challenge with the grain but it can make a carving look really neat), butternut (which can be crumbly but the grain can really make the right carving stand out), one of my favorites: aspen, which in my opinion, is about as close to basswood as you can get, and cedar really is a lot of fun to carve. All of these woods are good for whittling. Carving with tools can be very interesting and a challenge when carving oak, maple, cherry, and the other hard hardwoods. But again, only when you willing to venture into the challenge.

Bob L

[mdallensr]

sashadoc, good for you and thanks for this post. We need to encourage new carvers to make their early experiences positive. Carve good wood with good tools! Take a carving class, join a club, or go to carving shows and some seminars. The good news is that none of the above costs a lot of money.

I pick up some of Heinecke's basswood every year at the Dayton show. They sell 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 12" pieces for $1.75 each. Cut it in half and you have wood for two nice caricatures for less than a buck each. Our carving group is doing chip-carved pine cone ornaments out of one of those blanks, and you get two ornaments for less than $.50 each. The best wood is cheap! There's just no way I'm going to put anywhere from 10 to 100 hours of carving time into a piece of junk wood, while struggling with junk tools. Mike

[brent]

Uh! Duh!!!..................just kidding, the first time I tried to carve cherry, I learned a good lesson.

[Dagwood]

i think me first trip to the hospital was from ASH.... havent touched a pcs scence

[mobjack68]

Originally Posted by Dagwood

i think me first trip to the hospital was from ASH.... havent touched a pcs scence

I got hold of some bad ASH...my trip to the clinic was for a shot of penicillin...not the right forum, huh????
My first carving experiences were with walnut and maple. Spent quite a bit of time in the mahogany family...some hard, some really hard. Basswood still feels "too soft". I have and will continue to encourage all on this forum to try your hand at carving everything in your neighborhood....then try carving wht is in your neighbor's neighborhood...try carving everything that has leaves on it!!!!
'cept the poison stuff of course!! Anyone (besides me) ever carve grapevine???
If anybody wants to try some eastern red cedar, let me know??

[Dileon]

Bull head , no way....I got that title for a ten year of pounding on a statue of Kiawe, hard as rock....broke my best knife, and two old chisels and killed a foredom flexshaft on the darn thing, I still was pounding on it. Kids used to say mom you still working on the statue? smile....

[Ezzylearner]

Give jelutong a plug. Only wood available to me in my country that is close to basswood. Rubber wood, sea almond .... these are tropical wood I got to try carving with a knife. Basswood, butter nut ... all those wood you've got in the States ... I drool over them ... will my country's Customs authorities let them through if I purchase them ... stringent laws a hassle for suppliers.

[gtech]

When I was young, I tried to carve cedar with cheap knives. My wood carving carrier stopped right there. I just used what was available for me at that time.

Now, many years later, carving basswood with good tools seems so much easier...

Gilles