Different wood for carving.

[KTutt]

Well now that the move south is almost done, looking to get back to carving, but looking in the Augusta Ga area, other then Hobby Lobby I see no place to get basswood, let alone cottonwood, but I can handle that.

I see that there is a lumber yard that has the following and wonder from the experts here, since I am a newbie if they are good for carving or not.

They are:
Red Oak
White Oak
Walnut
Poplar
Hickory
Cherry.

I hand carve at this time, if that makes a difference.

Any suggestions and comments are welcomed.

Kurt

[Claude]

Of those listed, Poplar is the least hard, but it's still a bit harder than good Northern Basswood. Hickory is about the hardest. White oak will hold detail better than red oak. Walnut and cherry are both good woods for detail. Other than poplar, I'd suggest all of these are too hard to do much carving with just a knife, unless the carving are quite small and you have lots of time. All will carve well with mallet and gouge.

FWIW, I get my bass wood from Heinecke Wood Products High quality wood and decent prices.

Here's a link to bookmark: http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm

Hardness (lower number = softer wood)
Bass wood 410
Yellow Poplar 540
Cherry 950
Black Walnut 1010
Red oak 1060 (southern) - 1290 (northern)
White oak 1360
Hickory 1810 - 2140 depending on species


Claude

[Donsexton]

As far as I know I have only carved bass wood 1 time in my over 40 years of carving and never carved bark of any type. But all the others you mentioned yes mostly oak of all types. If I can carve it so can you red oak is my all time fav.

[carver33]

Kurt,

I live just across the river in Aiken, SC. The Aiken Woodcarvers meet every Tuesday in the Aiken Hobby Lobby from about 6:00 to 7:30 PM or so.

Most of us order our Basswood on-line, but there will be a vendor, Jim Hart from Good Wood, ETC, behind the Hobby Lobby Thursday, the 11th ONLY at 8 am for about an hour and a half to 2 hours. He has Basswood, Butternut, Cyprus knees, and sticks if you're interested.

I've carved both Poplar and Cherry. The Poplar is a little harder and stringier than Basswood, but not bad. Cherry is quite a bit harder, but is great for carving.

[jmischel]

Of the woods you listed, I like poplar, cherry, and black walnut for carving. I've done many carvings from all three types. The poplar will carve easiest. It makes great spoons. Cherry is a delight to carve, walnut a little less so, but still not too bad.

Except for spoons, most of my carvings are rather small: usually less than three inches tall and rarely more than about an inch and a half in diameter. That said, I enjoy carving all three of those woods with "just a knife."

I've carved both of the oaks and found them a bit harder than I'm comfortable with, using a knife. I have some hickory but I'm not going to ruin my knife on it. For the oaks and hickory, I'll wait until I get some mallet tools or a power carver.

[KTutt]

Thanks for the reply's and Bill the offer to attend the group and info on purchasing some basswood. Luckly I did have a small stock with me when I moved so don't needed any right away but always looking for a source of wood locally instead of having to have it shipped. Save a little money and time.

Kurt

[carver33]

Good luck on finding Basswood locally. If you do, be sure to let me know.

The Furniture Doctor in Augusta used to sell Basswood, but as far as I know they no longer do. The closest place that I'm aware of that might is Atlanta Hardwood.

[Lazy Carver]

The South is loaded with Basswood (Tilia Americana, and Tilia Carolina) also from Europe, is its cousin (Tilia Cordata and Europa) The European version is Lindenwood! Try the parks down there... Its good to do a research and study... Thats what i did... Also Claude has a great references too... BTW don't limit yourself to just Basswood... Sycamore, Poplar, and Radiata pine are great for carving too... Very available

[davidinsarasota]

The south is not loaded with Basswood. Do not cut down trees in parks. No wonder folks down here still don't trust Yankees.