[bcarvings]

Hi,
I have been carving basswood with a knife for about 7 months, and am switching to power tools. Where can I get cheap tupelo wood? Also I was thinking about buying an quarter acre of rural land and grow trees on it for future timber. Anyone know of a wood that grows in PA, and is VERY expensive. Also does anyone know where I can get Tupelo seeds, how can I grow them in PA, and not in a swamp? Would a beech work? Thank you

[AlArchie]

If you are planning on buying timberd land you may have a ready source of saleable wood, however, even aspen, one of the fastest growing trees requires 10 to 15 years to grow to marketable size. That's a 6 to 10 inch dia tree and usually good for only paper pulp, as it is still too small to cut into lumber or carving blocks. Â*Carving size wood will take even longer. Â*Basswood takes about double that time to mature to marketable size. Trees for harvest are usually planted for a one or even two generation projection....in other words, if you plant them now, your children and grandchildren can profit from your efforts. Â*

Here's another thought; Â*you may have heard that the best basswood is 'northern' basswood. Â*That is true because of the slower growth rates in northern climates resulting in tighter grain and more dense wood. Â*Pennsylvania grown trees would probably fall into the 'northern grown' category, which means they would grow to marketable size even slower.

'Expensive' wood like maple, oak, butternut, birch and veneer sized pines may take a hundred years to grow to a valuable size. Â*Even today's 50 to 60 year old second growth timber has nowhere near the value of the old stand timber. Â*

I'm really not trying to discourage a budding timber baron, but there are some realities of the industry that you should understand. Â*Most timber growers either own or lease tens of thousands of acres production land and manage it all scientifically to extract the maximum profit from their investment. Â*A quarter of an acre may provide you with your own carving wood in 20 years, but would not be economically profitable under any circumstances that I can forsee. Â*Heck, my lawn is almost a half acre!

As far as finding seeds, check with your State Department of Natural Resources, the local county forester, or state University Extension Office. They may have seedlings available at certain times of the year. Â*Here in Michigan the loacal conservation district and the USFS provide seedlings in the spring for woodlot developers. Â*They have white and red pine, white and red oak, hard rock maple and several species of decorative shrubs, all at a reasonable price/hundred. Â*You may be able to go in with several others and purchase only a few of the specific trees you want. Â*

Al

If you're wanting to make some money from trees in the near future, you're best bet would be christmas trees. But a christmas tree farm requires alot of work trimming and shaping to get good looking trees.

Buy the land and go deer hunting, PA has alot of nice running venison

[BobD]

Not sure where to get Tupelo, but if you want some valuable wood, look for some woods in either McKean, Potter, Warren, Elk or Cameron counties. I grew up there and black cherry grows like weeds up there. Off the top of my head, the only wood more valuable than cherry I can think of is Black Walnut, at least that grows easily in PA.

I agree though about timber being a long term investment. For the most part, when someone sells land, they usually log it first to maximize their earnings. I'd buy some land, manage it for Cherry and put up a hunting cabin for the meantime. Not only is there a lot of deer up there, there are lots of grouse which I think taste even better!

Bob

[Nancy_G]

One place to buy tupelo is http://www.tupelotimber.ca/
I doubt it's cheap but I'm certain it's great wood.

There is no 'cheap tupelo' that I know of. Tupelo is very labor intensive to harvest and only a small portion of the tree is used for carving wood so the price is quite high compared to basswood or northern white pine. A 6'X9'X12' piece runs about $40-$50.

As stated before, buying such a small piece of land and trying to grow timber is unlikely to be a success.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Try Nancy's Tupelo Timber...a piece the size you described goes for 31.00

[Colin_Partridge]

I dont know where you buy cheap lumber most of the lumber I get I get given to me. I am also fussy about the lumber I carve. I would think that cheap lumber would probably be like cheap tools not worth the frustration. For as much lumber as you would need for carving I would suggest that you find the best you can find it will certainly make your carving go that much better. Just my two cents worth.
Colin

[squbrigg]

What a great idea, a worthy inheritance to leave your Grandkids. Unfortunately, they would be the ones that would benefit.

I wish I had done that, plant some acrage of Butternut, Maples, Beech, Oak, Walnut and Tupelo if it would grow. Trouble around here is keeping it from being stolen. Some less reputable fools are scouting the woods and butchering Maples in the search for Birds Eye, and will steal any hardwood species and sell it for firewood. Make you weep, how stupid and short sighted some folks can be. I hope the Maples in my backyard are still there...........! I'd better check! Course I just planted them last year, so I may be safe for a while yet.

Bob

[quote author=Hi_Ho_Sliver link=board=Beginner;num=1095207967;start=0#6 date=09/15/04 at 10:08:11]Try Nancy's Tupelo Timber...a piece the size you described goes for 31.00 [/quote]

Yeah but it is shipped from Canada right? I have paid UPS shipping from Canada several times and it is almost as bad as the price difference in some cases.