Buying some wood and need some help

[Rob001]

Hello, I'm new to carving and I've got some green oak on offer which has been air drying for 3 years so i guess its now just called oak
I'm considering buying it but they have some shakes, cracks and I wanted some expert opinion on whether it'll be good to carve out sculptures in the round. The 3 blocks measure:
80cm x 30cm x 30cm
50cm x 40cm x 40cm
50cm x 40cm x 40cm
Its gonna cost me about £130 delivered so if anyone can advise me on which way to jump that would be great as I dont fancy paying out that much cash for a poor return.
Links to photos of the wood can be found at image shack here:

Yfrog - 075ka - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 077m - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 078be - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 079nk - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 080bc - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 081au - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 084rf - Uploaded by Rob_Rob
Yfrog - 086vi - Uploaded by Rob_Rob

Many thanks
Rob

[bbowers]

Rob-
I've never carved oak but have done some other wood working with it. I'm not sure I would carve in it. It has a pretty distinct grain to deal with besides being very hard. I'm a fan of northern basswood but there are several other woods that work well. If it were me I'd keep looking. Heineke (Ithink the spelling is right) & Wilcox are both vendors with basswood that have websites.
Good luck-

[TreeWizard]

I'm assuming form your measurements and to cost being in pounds that your located in the British Isles. I don't know how hard English Oak is but Oak in the states isn't something someone new to carving should not try.
Between the hardness of the wood and the tricky grain, it can be very disconcerting for the inexperienced carver. You might want to start with something more easily worked with hand tools like Lime or Pine.

[Paul_Guraedy]

I have carved oak; but, always with power. It seems to range from hard to very hard, depending on species and drying time. There are some old buildings on our place that have to be drilled prior to nailing.

Oak has a very distinctive grain and that can be very distracting, or very advantageous, depending on the subject of the carving and pattern of the grain. I have also found that there is considerable difference in hardness between the layers. This can cause problems when sanding and even when using some bits in a power carver.

I agree, not a wood I would recommend for beginning carvers. It can be done, but is more likely to lead to frustration and may dampen your interest in woodcarving.

[Rob001]

Hi Guys thanks for your help, I realise that Oak will be testing for a beginner. I've a got a few books on carving telling me about the ease of certain types of wood to others. I'm determined to jump in at the deep end and just go for it learning from my mistakes as I go.

What I really need to know is are the cracks in the wood you can see in the photos going to cause me problems deeper into the wood? In your experience do shakes and cracks carry on right through the whole piece of wood or will they peter out nearer the middle or closer to the surface? If you was going to buy some Oak would these blocks interest you or would the cracks put you off?

Rob

[Donsexton]

Oak is my favorite wood to carve, red oak is my first choice and then live oak. You will need sharp professional grade tools I use the brand made in Shefield England called Henry Taylor. Man I would love to go after some nice oak like that with my 2" #9 fish tail gouge and 32oz mallet. I looked at all the pictures of that wood and it is very nice. Oak is hard and does have open grain but beautiful when finished especially carvings in the round.

[Rob001]

Hey Guys thanks for all advice much appreciated. I've been reading up on woodcarving in some books recently and understand that the harder the wood the more difficult the task, espcially for a beginner such as myself. I've always been a bit of a sadist though and like to chuck myself in at the deep end and learn from my mistakes as I go. I'm not going to go for anything detailed, just abstract pieces at first and building up to more detail when I get more confident.

Going on your comments, a quick read of the buying wood guide on this site and Don's inspirational thoughts I've decided to jump in and get them.

Clearly though all the issues raised such as the diffuclty in sanding, the hardness of carving Oak plus the diffcult grain is duly noted. Looks like i better get onto sharpening my tools and have some power tools ready to back me up when the going gets tough, if only lightsabers existed how much easier carving would be...

[Paul_Guraedy]

Good luck Rob, I think you made a good decision. I went back over the pics of the wood and would go ahead and get them myself. Of course I don't know the exchange rate right now so can't speak to whether or not this is a good financial deal.

It looks like you may lose a couple of inches on the ends where there seems to be some serious checking; but, they look dry enough, that once past this, you should not have future problems. There are some cracks on the side; but, depending on the type of stylized carvings you want, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It will give them an old look that can be an advantage.

At any rate, it will be a worthwhile learning experience. I look forward to future posts about how things work out for you.

[Rob001]

Thanks Paul, I'm really looking foward to getting stuck into it now. Wood should be with me next week sometime. I'm going to use a couple of the blocks as display stands whilst they're not being carved which saves having to spend out money on expensive display units which is handy.

The ends as you say will hopefully be OK once cut back a bit. I hadn't thought about using the cracks to accentuate the finish or style of the carving, i'll have to think about that as I rough out the shape I want to make.

I think the exchange rate makes the wood roughly $217.00 delivered, not sure if thats good or bad really. The seller orignally wanted more but cut a thrid off the price cos I wanted all 3 which was great.

I'm not sure sure how long it will take me to get the piece finished but I will be sure to post a pic when its done - hopefully it wont be the size of a postage stamp due to continuous errors although at least I'll have some nice chips for the fire if that happens
All the best
Rob

[Phyllis Singer]

Hi Rob, I'm a new carver too started last year. I just finished a sign for my shop down in the barn. It is carved out of an oak shelf. The big problem I had with it was the flowers and lettering were detailed and in deep relief. The wood has striations of grain which are soft and the wood fiber between is hard. So an uneven result from the same tool across the same area of cut.
I used all kinds of knives and gouges and also my router to take down some background. My Wecheer and moto tools saved my sanity....well almost. Good luck, keep your tools sharpthat looks like some great wood!!
Phyllis