[pedo]

Hi guys just found and joined this site, looks real cool. Alright, I am building a log home in a few weeks and I want to custom order a front door blank from the local woodsmith here, He said it would be maybe 2 months before he could get to it. I plan on carving a standing Grizzly in relief carving as soon a I feel confident enough to give it a shot, my question is what would be the best wood to have the door made from? what would be the most easily carved and still hold up to weather? (it will be protected from the elements by a porch) As you can tell I am a rank beginner but with a lot of time on my hands I plan to study and practice hard, any good beginner books on relief carving? how about hand tools?Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. thanks Pedo

[squbrigg]

Welcome aboard, Pedo. Great bunch here, you should get some great suggestions. Perhaps use Walnut. Good carving wood, great color, fine finish, a good native species that shouldn't be too hard to find. I should stand up to the indirect weather okay. Cedar would be a bit soft, but would also work. Oak would be ideal, but as a beginners project, no. It's hard to carve, but worth the effort.

That is a major piece to begin with, are you sure you want to tackle something that big to start with? Lots to think of...tools for a start. Sharpening first, then using. Get lots of practice on some smaller stuff before you tackle the door, or you might regret ruining the wood. It would look fantastic on a log home door for sure, and you will have lots of logs and log ends to practice on. Lots of books available, good place to start is Chris Pye's book on "Elements of Woodcarving" or Butz'z book "How To Carve Wood". Either will give you the basics of tools, sharpening, and techniques.

Careful with tools, you can spend a lot real easy, check out www.littleshavers.com web site, Rick has some great tips for new carvers. Listen to the advice from the good folks here, tons of experience here, can save you lots of costly mistakes. Most importantly, enjoy your carving, it is a lot of fun. Good luck and we'll be looking forward to seeing some pictures of the door and the new house in the future.

Bob

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Another wood worth looking at is Teak (if you can find it). It will hold up extremely well to the elements and carves realatively nicely. However, as Squbrigg advised, this may be a bit more than you want to bite off as a first project.

[pedo]

Hey thanks guys, no this will not be my first project, I want to order it now because of the wait, we will use another door until I am confident enough to tackle this, I plan on MANY small projects, I have been a taxidermist for many years, I learned young to start small. I will discuss the different wood with the woodsmith and let you guys know what happens. I appreciate your advise and will also pick up those books you recommended. take care Pedo

[mdallensr]

Coinsider cypress or Alaskan yellow cedar. Both carve well and hold up to the weather very well.

[Ky_Whittler]

Don't forget cherry. Once seasoned it is fairly stable. A bit hard to carve but holds up very well. Teak would be my second chioce. It too is a stable wood and is good to carve. Whittler

[AlArchie]

There are several large carved doors at restaurants in our area done in white pine. they have been in place for years and have held up well. Also fairly easy to carve.

Al

[rales]

Hey Pedo,

In your situation with a protected entrance you can use almost anything as long as you maintain the finish....

Classic woods for exterior durability include teak (expensive!), white oak - both are fairly tough to carve. Mahogany (solid prehungs are readily available), and cypress are much easier. Cedar and redwood are hard to hold detail. White pine would work well also.

The first site below is that of the master carver of entrance doors - IMHO - William Schnute.... I get chills everytime I look at his stuff! I highly recommend his book High Relief Wood Carving, it's out of print but you might find one on ebay.... (this would be a great one for Fox Chapel to pick up!)

The other two are there to show you what some others do and what woods they use...

http://www.redshift.com/~oakleaves/index.html
http://www.kkwoodcarver.com/doors.html
http://www.carvedbyramsey.com/

Good Luck and send some pics when you're done! Oh - and welcome...

rales

[Colin_Partridge]

My Choice would be white pine because of its ease in carving and its beauty. Good advice from all here all good suggestions hard woods take better detail but of course are much harder to carve soft woods are pretty easy to carve and most take pretty good detail. I think that what ever you choose the key is to use a good protective finish that will preserve the door for years. It is hard to say because we cant see your home some of the hard woods may be too dark for the rest of the wood. I think that maybe take a scrap piece and try it with different stains also check it out and see how you like carving it before starting on the real thing. I also was a taxidermist before wood carving I like woodcarving a whole lot better, not as messy and you can leave your work for a few days or weeks before returning to it without putting it in the freezer. A bit of advice because I have done some large relief carving it to use a router with a carbide bit to out line the carving it works really well and saves a huge amount of time. Just my two cents worth.
Colin

[pedo]

Thanks to all for the info!!! Wow! Rales, now those are some doors, take what 2-3 weeks to learn to carve like Schnute???HA! Thanks for the links, it did give me some great ideas! take care Pedo