[Lightningbolt]

Bob; Just last week in the Beginner's Forum I was delighted to find another carver who loves working with sourwood from a link offered by Clifford at: http://www.tusedesigns.com/woodcarving/woodspirit.htm

According to my tree guide it appears that it is native to the southeastern U.S. and it is very unusual to ever find a tree over 60 feet tall. I work at a 900 acre boys camp in the heart of the blue ridge mountains and we most definitely have some monster virgin sourwoods much larger and especially on the very steep sides of the mountain where the lumberjacks saw have never entered. I've also never forgotten my very first encounter with sourwood at age 11 during a nature hike at scout camp when the leader let us pick the leaves to sample the bitter sour taste of the leaves... just one of those things I never forgot.

I have attached a photo that I took last summer of one such monster tree while leading a compass/GPS course ramble. (The kids faces had to be distorted due to Federal Hippa laws) Notice that there are two kids inside the tree! So far, this is the largest sourwood tree found on our property but I feel sure there are larger ones laughing at us!

Once again, I can't say enough good things about sourwood as for carving and cooperative finishing properties. It's just a pleasure to work and especially where walking sticks are concerned. I suppose that having a plentiful supply close at hand might have a bit to do with my "love-affair" too!


I also really like your ramblings on finding ways to use laminated woods into a cane and especially for the handles. Now, that's an excellent idea to ponder upon! I frequently laminate different woods for use in my various woodshop projects but you might have stumbled upon some new possibilities when it comes to carving. For example, there was some fairly recent talk on the forum about the unique qualities of using eastern red cedar since the red heartwood contrasts so well with the outer cream-colored wood. I would like to further explore the possibilies of "creating" such contrasts in different woods for carving purposes.

Thanks for tickling my brain again!

[squbrigg]

Was wondering about wood movement, not that this will be a critical joint, but wanted to glue Mahogany, Cherry and Maple together in a nice smooth tight joint and didn't want any surprises. Not sure yet, maybe just Mahogany and Maple, but you get the idea.

Bob

[Ken Bedel]

Conditions for joining different woods (in my relatively limited experience)

1. Joint width (perpendicular to the grain) is more critical than length (parallel to the grain). If the joint is not too wide, any decent glue should hold with no major issues due to movement. Also, I have not had any issues with thin laminations (1/4" thick or so, up to 6" wide) because the glue seems to overpower the humidity.

2. If in doubt, check on the density, radial, and tangential movement of the different woods you want to join. www.woodfinder.com has a wood library that contains this information for a pretty good selection of species. As long as the woods are comparable (especially if the movements are within 1-2% of each other) there should be no issues.

3. When finished, seal the piece well. The less humidity that can enter the piece, the less it will move.

Hope this helps

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

that trees bark looks just like oak! At least in Northern California!

[GeorgiaFred]

Tulip Poplar ! I was lucky to find that it carves like basswood and is about the same color. Also I have a lot of free cane size saplings just outside my back door ! I hate to think of all the great carving wood i cut and burned as being useless !!! Now I am transplanting all the sprouts to a corner of my yard so I will have a steady supply of 'cane and stick' wood in my 'old age' !!
GaFred

[Ken Bedel]

My vote is for pink ivory. Granted it's about the hardest stuff I've ever sucessfully carved, it's difficult to find (especially in larger pieces) and it's expensive when you do find it.

BUT... the fine grain, watermellon pink color and the level of detail you can use is simply phenomenal. For the right project, it's definitely worth the cost and effort.