cyprus

I have come across nice large planks of cyprus. (2' X 8' X 3 ' ) My good , sharp carving tools are storage ( soon to come out and ready for work) But can anyone tell me the qualities of cyprus as a carving wood. That is, durability, ease of carving, splitting, 'grain stability' ( shredding) etc. All help appreciated. If you give a good answer and pay shipping, I'll send you a block.

According to my Tangerman book:
Weight per cu ft 29 (basswood is 24)
Hardness Soft
Strength Med
Stability Good
Gluing Fair
Nailing Fair (ability to take nails without splitting)
Steam Bending Poor
Plaining and Jointing Good
Turning Poor
Sanding Fair
Shaping Poor
Mortising Poor
Tends to splinter. Most durable of American woods for outdoor and soil exposure.


Used to have a boat built of cypress and can vouch for the durability. The thing just wouldn't rot.

also heard is hard on knives and is more of a power carving wood....just what I heard...no experience with cypress! :

[sbrown]

I've carved several cypress knees and have found it easy to carve and not any harder on the tools than basswood. As for a cypress plank from the trunk, I can't say, I've had no experience with that part of the tree.

Steve

Should make great outdoor signs.

Hi, can you tell me where one can get a cypress knee? I am really a beginning woodcarver, have taken a few workshops in Native American Northern Coastal pieces,carved a rattle of maple wood (bled a lot) put my father's, husband's and son's ivory elk teeth and a few pieces of the bullets in it , a canoe paddle of yellow cedar, full size, a Potlatch serving bowl, and a salmon of cedar. I would like to obtain a cypress knee. I have been reading the questions and answers and feel like I am learning quite a lot from them, thanks. I don't know how to do the smiley's or any of those tags so will just be Plain Jill for now.

This is one site I found on the net.
I don't know anything about them.

http://www.cypressknee.com/index2.htm

Hi, thank you so much for the site, I looked it up already and it is just exactly what I was looking for. Plain Jill