[Thomp]

Just wondering about carature size,

Since my carving is done when the moode hits me and my wood purchace is on a impulse while the mood is still in me
Im limited by size of materials (basswood blocks at local hobbie shop)
Im forced to carve most caratures less than 4 inches tall, Although for $45.00 i can buy a 4x6 block 12 " tall, limited by budget ret.

All woods have their own charistics and i have tried to carve many different species from local area, while i love one for ease of carving the texture is pithy, or its too hard and sharpening is a frequency i loose intrest in carving soon after,

any suggestions on a alternate medium localy available in the us southern gulf regon ?

thanks for input

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

How about cypress or tupelo?

[dart]

I usually just use a piece of pine 2"x4" construction grade or whatever else I can get. I have some firewood in the backyard, mayberry, oak, ash, maple, locust, and some I don't know what it is, that I will split into pieces to carve. I tried basswood and poplar. Both seemed too hard and narly for me. I don't care much for cedar either. It's soft and causes a rash. Pine has its faults as far as pitch and knots go. But I've been whittling it all my life and I guess I'm used to it and know what to expect from it. I have some spalted maple pieces that I've been drying for a year or more. They seem to carve nicely. I like tulip but I haven't been able to get anymore of it for a long time. It's considered a "weed" in my area and it's destroyed quickly when it's young by cutting or poisoning. So it is scarce.

[Thomp]

dart,


i guess its each to his own kind of medium,
as a child i had a neighbor who carved rosewood burl from the gnarley roots of old growth rose bushes, he got from a plant nursery.
he mostly made smoking pipes with nothing but a wore out broken pocket knife blade and a 16 penny nail,sharpened into a scratch all and tiny scraps of wore out sandpaper. is all i ever seen him use. he also carved monkeys and few other animals,

amy grandpaw must have carved every peach pit he ever came across. into a monkey...

now i cant see the possibility for me to try something like that, but my uncles can do the same,
all i could do would be to hurt myself. i would think a coconut shell would be easier to carve than seasoned briar root or peach pit.. bake-o-lite or such
but the old men loved to carve um.

you want to have some fun, try to carve a piece of that dried out locus in your firewood pile. especally if its black locus, the ahmish(sp?) use it strictly for rake tines, wooden beam pins and fence posts becuse its so desease resistant hard and tough,, it was said "a fence post made of black locus would last 3 years longer than the hole it was pit in"...

[dart]

I have many carved peach pit monkeys. Really as hard a rock. I will try a piece of locust. I don't know if it is the black kind tho. Is there a way to tell if it is black locust? I know the Amish use a lot of wood and not many power tools. They have some power tools that run from horse power. Like hooking up a tablesaw that had a motor but using water or horse to power it. I live near the Amish. Nice folks too.

[carver6]

I think the Black Locust mentioned in other posts is what they call "Bois de arc" in this area. Pronounced Bodark. It's harder than the hubs of h*** but has a beautiful grain if you can get to it. Most folks around here use grinders to carve and shape it.
Garon

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by carver6

I think the Black Locust mentioned in other posts is what they call "Bois de arc" in this area. Pronounced Bodark. It's harder than the hubs of h*** but has a beautiful grain if you can get to it. Most folks around here use grinders to carve and shape it.
Garon

IMHO

isent bodock? (SP) orange? i was always told john waynes pistol grips was made of bodock.. ? the tree has a large fruit that about the size of grapefruit, but looks like its made of green cottage cheese.. totaly usless for anything i know of but the wood is especally beautiful, i been hunting for a storm fallen tree in the recent storms, i know of only one in my area and it has to be the strong one.....

[carver6]

You may well be correct. I'm certainly no expert or authority on species of trees. The tree with the green fruit you mention, I've always heard it refered to as "Hedge ". The only use for them (the fruits), the hogs will eat them if there is a tree in the pasture with them. Don't know if there is any nutritional value. One other use is the kids like to throw them at each other. The only thing I do know for sure is, the Bois de Arc tree is HARD.
Garon

[Thomp]

garon,
i dont bout what them trees species are,
im not an expert woods man, or experianced - educated in wood species, ..
but heres a few links of what i found on the web.

leaf of bodark - osage orange tree.

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/...age_orange.jpg

Facts and Myths Associated with "Hedge s"
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortn...edgeapple.html

walter reeves
http://www.walterreeves.com/landscap...?cat=18&id=607

Harry Whitehorse Art.
http://www.harrywhitehorse.com/Bayvi...wtreefacts.htm

now im educated..

species of tree related to mulburry.. tough, hard and heavy wood. orange to yellow in color which fades in time like mulburry..

mulburry was like kiln dried ash or hickory hardist wood i ever scratched on much..

i did make file and socketed chizzle handles and a couple turned mallets. tough on any saw. and the dust made my nose itch bad.

bodark fruit is discussed on the collage page above as a insect repelent, places on the foundation,

anybody know more than i found ... Hey jump in here im over my head on education of wood species.. ha

thomp2

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I doesn't sound like the fruit is edible except maybe to pigs and squirrels, if that is so, what is the fruit doing in the "farmers market?"