Raptor carving and hard wood,what a bummer!

[torpidhummer]

OK,Hugh,Randy.Ken and all other raptor,bird, waterfowl and animal carvers,how long do you meddle around your carvings when the dang wood is hard as rock. Being a conservative sort of a person,I have spent the last two days carving a Kestrel and I have used everything but dynamite to carve it. Last year I bought several blocks of tupelo from Brad (you figure out the last name) I started using this batch Monday turned out so far all are hard. I know the old saying one will never know what your tupelo be like until you start the removal of wood,especially if you order by mail.

So now my fellow raptor,waterfowl,bird and animal carvers that use tupelo,would you please share some of your good reliable tupelo vendors. I have done everything but draw a picture for this Brad guy (so far I won't use his last name) and still can't get good tupelo. Guess everyone is right,"Californianians "will buy anything, nooottt sooo.
Thanks folks for letting spout off.

Oscar

[Blackjaxe]

Oscar I understand your frustration. I had a piece of Basswood that was so hard to carve I thought I was working on Marble that had a woodgrain pattern....????? I invented a whole bunch of new words to discribe what it was like to work on this piece of wood. If I had a woodburning stove I might have even tried to see if this stuff would even burn. My wife said I was using language that would make a Marine blush............hahahahahahahaha......are you spilling anything yet Oscar.

Maybe this wood isn't even Tupelo, me thinks you got ripped off. I wish I could help you but Tupelo is a imported wood here in Canada. I'm positive that someone here will get you a connection stateside.

Ken

[Hugh-P]

I've purchased wood from that Brad person, and found it to be excellent, but have bought tupelo that was very hard and difficult to work with. Different batches of wood apparently. On one large carving with a particularly hard piece of wood, I used the mini grinder with the chain saw blade on it, when the outer surface of the wood was removed it seemed to be not as hard . Oscar you might be doing this now , but thought this worth mentioning. When you have a piece of hard wood, it seems to be easier to cut against the grain with a very aggressive bit. Just be careful to start with a slow speed as the bit might dig in. Sorry about your wood Oscar, I know how frustrating that is.

[Wildbirdcarver]

Have you tried spraying the wood with alcohol to soften the wood. Sometimes that helps. You will have to keep spraying as you remove the "softer" wood. Good luck. DM

[Wildbirdcarver]

I just posted an error!!! Alcohol "hardens" wood instead of softening it. My dyslexia must have kicked in again! LOL Sorry.

[Orygoner]

Oscar... I've found varying degrees of hardness with various woods, including Tupelo. I have to buy all the Tupelo I use and I get mine from Sugar Pine, which just a half an hour or so up the road from me - in Lebanon, OR. The characteristics of the wood IS pretty variable. I like to buy their "grab bags" of mixed sizes. I can normally get quite a lot of good song bird pieces or head pieces from each grab bag. I think they always have a special around Christmas time and it's 10-15 percent off. If you want larger sizes, the price is generally same all year. They have std sizes and will do special order dimensions. Back to the grab bags...each piece from the same bag will be different in terms of rings per inch, density, etc. So, I think you're likely to normally have some significant variability from piece to piece unless you can sort through and select in person and I don't know of anywhere you can do that. I've never had any that didn't carve effectively with a rotary carver (Foredom or Micro-Ram).

My experience differs from Wildbirdcarver on the alcohol tho. If I'm knife carving I like to spray the block with a mix of 50/50 alcohol and water. The knife seems to slide through so much easier...not quite like butter, but definitely smoother and easier than dry wood.

[torpidhummer]

DM,Hugh and Ken,thanks for the quick reply,with tupelo I guess it's just the roll of the dice in what's hidden beneath the surface of this wood. I'm trying very hard to believe, a wood vendor to folks on this site would not intentionally put their heads on the chopping block. Ken easy with that Marine stuff,all the time I was in the Marine Corp,I never used bad language, now if that statement does not spill your coffe nothing will. "NO",I did not spill anything ,I threw" things so loud that my wife came by the my shed and politely asked who I was arguing with as she head a few new swear words and banging on the wall. To add more abuse and insult,her parting words were,"did you hurt your head or cut your hand again, honey'?
Thanks guy for the support of my wounded spirits.

Oscar

[Blackjaxe]

"Wounded Spirits" is that the same as Jack Daniels.....sorry about the marine stuff.

I watched a artical on the restoration they did in Buckingham Palace after the fire and they where replacing the oak beams in the ceiling. They carved all the oak while it was green and they kept it wet while they where doing their fitting and carving. Seems that once it dries out its impossible to carve it without it splitting.

Oscar there should be a supplier somewhere in your neighbourhood.

Ken

[torpidhummer]

I like the "wounded spirits" bit before I retired I used work on an Indian Reservation,a lot commemorations and holidays,now I know who Jack Daniels is. Hey I was only pulling your leg,while I was a Marine,I invented cuss words that had never been invented,specially some of the recruits I got that did n't know their left foot from their right.
I'm getting a handle on the hard work,I'm stingy and to hard head to through the piece of tupelo away.
Oscar

[woodchips4u]

I don't know if this is helpful at all but - When a fan bird carver by the name of Rick would do seminars at the club he brought in wood in buckets of water where they had been for several days prior to carving. This was to prevent splitting while carving I believe. As Tupelo is a swamp/bog inhabitant perhaps water would soften the wood as well?