New carver - Trouble with wood types

[tw82606]

I'm new to carving - have been reading up on it for around a year though, so I know a few things. I'm just finally getting around to it.
The one thing I can't find is what types of wood to use for each project.

Now I know for the most part any type of wood will suffice, but think professional pieces being sold in a shop.

I know basswood is ideal for beginners, and that's what I'm starting with.

But for someone who wishes to sell pieces in a shop later on and have it be good, beautiful quality, what types of wood would you use for....

- Small sculptures like a small wood spirit head
- Large sculptures around 12 inches tall
- Relief Carvings
- Chainsaw carvings

Thanks in advance for the responses mates

[JJF]

For my part I use almost all the wood by avoiding conifer. I have a preference for the lime tree, the walnut, the oak and the box tree

FRENCH : Pour ma part j'utilise presque tous les bois en évitant les résineux. J'ai une préférence pour le tilleul, le noyer, le chêne et le buis.

[Donsexton]

Bass wood is great for holding details on carvings that have extreme detail. For contemporary stylized figures with only suggested detail I want to see a beautiful wood grain its hard to go wrong with black walnut or mahogany and oak.

[carver33]

You can use just about any type of wood for carving. The only thing to be careful of is not to use a wood that has a grain pattern that overwhelms the detail of the piece. For instance Butternut has a beautiful grain, but can hide the details of smaller more intricate relief or in-the-round carvings,

Personally I like Cherry for smaller figures, as it has a beautiful color and grain which doesn't hide fine detail.

[Claude]

Good advice so far. For clarification, the LIME that JJF mentions is the European Lime - which is the same family of wood as the American Basswood or Linden.

Claude

[tw82606]

So basswood isn't a wood that would be bad to sell to people for money?
I just wouldn't feel right selling people carvings with really soft wood that is easily fragile and not worth a penny or dime.

Take a relief carving for instance that you would hang on the wall - I see them sold for $500.00 sometimes, it seems to me for that much money it would be something stronger than basswood yes? Or am I wrong.

[Rook]

Originally Posted by tw82606

So basswood isn't a wood that would be bad to sell to people for money?
I just wouldn't feel right selling people carvings with really soft wood that is easily fragile and not worth a penny or dime.

Take a relief carving for instance that you would hang on the wall - I see them sold for $500.00 sometimes, it seems to me for that much money it would be something stronger than basswood yes? Or am I wrong.

I've seen crystal glasses selling for $2000 a set, but you can't drop 'em. Folks are paying for the craftsmanship, not for something harder than stone. Even if the items are delicate, you shouldn't just give them away because they might not survive being chunked down a logging road.

[mpounders]

You may be confusing basswood with balsa wood, used for model airplanes and such. Your choice of materials should be based on what you are creating and how the grain or pattern works with the design. I like basswood for most of my stuff, but love cherry also for certain things.

[SeaLeveler]

Mahogany and walnut are great carvers to me,but I am still a rookie.
Tony

[twymanok]

They are not necessarily paying for the wood. they are paying for the craftsmanship. I do relief carvings in Mahogany, cherry walnut and I have done some in Basswood (especially bigones) they appreciate the light weight. I did a 24X36 out of 8/4 bass wood had i used the denser pretty woods, the weight would have posed a challenge for mounting.