[fishcarver]

I want to do an interpative carving of sevearal fish and marine life in a twisted piece of juniper or some call it western cedar. i am in central idaho and have heard that there is some in Oregon around John Day or Burnes. Will be in Tri-cities teaching fish carving in three weeks and plan to drive home slowly looking for such wood, willing to cut it or buy it or beg it, would welcom more than one piece for future use also, something twisted and bent is what i ahve in mine with luck the resulting carving on such a piece of wood will be entered in the "best of the world" competetion April '07 in reno, thanks for any and all help...fishcarver...www.fishcarvers.com

[wade clark]

Fishcarver,
I grew up in Eastern Oregon, Baker County, Durkee is the town, using the term loosely. Ranchers there would let you cut the junipers for fenceposts, sometimes at no charge. They figured the junipers competed with the grass for sun and water. They need the grass for cows...I think it's about 1 cow to 40 acres grazing, not much grass...13" to 17" of rain per year.
If you take your chainsaw with you, stop at a few ranches and ask if you can cut a few junipers for woodcarving. You'll probably find someone who'll let you have some, especially if you want the crooked ones, no good for fenceposts. Maybe they'll let you cut one for you, one for them for a fencepost.
They'd also let me pick up all the stone I wanted! I did stone masonry there for several years. Less stone on the ground, more grass growing.
Whatever you do, watch out for their dog(s)! They all have good cow dogs, good heelers...a good cow dog may like a person's heels as well as a cow's heels! Don't get bit!
Also, take a file for your chainsaw. Juniper is one step softer than rock! It'll dull a saw right now!
Wade

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I don't think you'll have any problem convincing a rancher to let you cut some of that stuff. I'm in central Texas and it's infested with it. People here cut and burn it just to be rid of it. Texas A&M claims one juniper takes 50 gals of ground water per day. I'd guess a lot of that is lost to evaporation somehow. It cause allergies (known locally as Cedar Fever). It's considered a weed here. It is pretty though.

[whitecree]

Burning wood just to 'get rid' of it. Sheesh! What a waste!

[Canopener]

Sounds like the same stuff we got here in AZ. Ranchers here used to take a couple Cats and string a chain between them and drag it out. Now it gets cut by the truckload for Las Vegas/Phoenix etc.
Burns great, still got a 1/2 cord out back, so not a waste attall Whitecree. In fact it is pretty good to cook on also, we used it at a steakhouse my wife and I used to work at, and as we speak my wife Barb, [Bar-B-Que was her nickname] is picking out something at the store to cook this weekend on the smallchunks from the woodlot. Oh the memories.....Maybe, I'll get......Nevermind; anyway.
Wade is correct on the extra files, but my experience is that what ruins your chain is all of the windblown sand that gets caught in the bark; hence the local name "shaggybark". In fact if you are still cutting at dusk, you will notice a fine line of sparks shooting from your chainsaw. At any rate; a carver would want to use his "beater" tools to get the bark off.
Fishcarver; you will also want to get it as green as possible, because once dry it splits like crazy. I assume you already know this.
On a slightly different note; do any of you have alligator juniper, or have you carved it? The inside when green is the most beautiful magenta color, plus it is less likely to split. I was just wondering if you can keep the color. Plus they can get pretty big, like 6 feet across. Hard to find here.
Good luck Fishcarver.
Jim

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Canopener - Never heard of bbq'n with the stuff ... we use oak and mesquite here, but will pick up a bunch of the juniper and try it in the smoker, maybe even this weekend. Got a half a feral hog that needs cookin so might as well try the juniper.

[Canopener]

Ed;
Oak and mesquite are much heavier so you get a better bed of coals; but the flavor is good, very aromatic and worked well grilling steaks. I like mesquite when I can get it, but you work with what ya got, right.
BBQ
Jim

[fishcarver]

I was successful finding some juniper in Mitchel OR, juniperguy,com sold me a trailer full was very pleasant to deal with and i feel i got a great shake of a deal. zlso got some antilope wood and mountain mahogany, loved the drive, check this guy out great looking stuff, bye