Opinion on Butternut Please

[jillsy]

Hey Everyone,

Well, looks like both my Basswood and Butternut have run out so I'll be needing to get some soon. Usually, I'll get 2" Bass for my bigger Santas, and 1 " Butternut for my minis.

My question is this: Does Butternut come thicker like Bass? If so, would you recommend that for carving bigger pieces? One thing I like about it is it's ability to hold fine details. But, it does seem much more delicate than Bass, so I'm not sure it'd do well for bigger pieces.

Any ideas? Should I leave well enough alone? Thanking you all in advance & Happy Thanksgiving!

Jillsy

[Just Carving]

Call up Dale at Heineke. If he doesn't have the size you want, he might be able to glue up what you want. BTW--if you going to paint, stick with basswood. Butternut is too pretty to be painting and more expensive than bass.

Bob L

[susieq]

Hi Jillsy,
Butternut is great for larger pieces when you can find large stock. I have a friend in IL who brings me large butternut once in a while when he comes south for the winter. I have never found butternut to be delicate though....
Good butternut is at least as hard as basswood if not harder. Beautiful grain make it a perfect wood for not painting or just applying a very thin wash so the grain shows through.

I have been on the Heineke site and it looks like they have nice stuff at good prices.

[mdallensr]

Butternut is getting harder to find. I use it when I'm going to let the beauty of the wood show. It finishes very well and can be used to enhance a carving. No mater what you do with basswood, it is basically featureless; great for painting but not for natural finishes. Heineke's were at the Dayton show but I didn't see any butternut in their booth. A couple of others had a little butternut, but not as much as last year. Over the past few years, I bought some butternut on-line and met some suppliers that will make special sizes and blanks. Tuckaway Timber in Lyme, NH is one that I trust. You could check ebay as well. You'll find you can get thick butternut from several sources.

If you find butternut that is as soft as basswood, you won't like it as carving wood. It will be a little brittle and won't hold detail well. Northern grown butternut grows slower, has more growth rings per inch, and is a little harder. It's also known as white walnut or poor man's walnut ; the same beauty at a lower cost and much easier to work. Mike

[Clifford_Parker]

Due to the spread of butternut canker it is getting harder and harder to find trees to harvest. Buy through the most reputable seller you can find as butternut, as you may already know, is also a favorite meal for wood borers.

[squbrigg]

Butternut is my favorite wood to carve, and I don't throw any away, no matter how small the scraps. As the others have said, the colour is wonderful, carves well, holds detail, and while it can splinter and chip, you just have to be careful and pay attention to the grain and your cuts.

Too bad it is so hard to find, especially in reasonable sizes. Wish I could find some in good thicknesses, but ..... we can't have everything we want in life! I've already spent too much on wood and tools this year, so I had better get busy and carve it up! LOL

So, if you have some good Butternut Jillsy, then use it and enjoy it. Wood doesn't come any better than Butternut for carving!

Bob

[Just Carving]

I started a new thread on pine because Bob Squbrigg got me thinking with his description of butternut which is similar to what I think of pine.

I like pine

[jillsy]

Thanks all! I didn't realize there was a shortage. Now I wanna gather it up while I can.

Jillsy

[Alice in Wonderland]

Jillsy
I too love Butternut the grain is beautiful, I would not want to paint it ,you might as well stick to Basswood if you want to do this.
I had to cut a Butternut tree down because of the disease, as a matter of fact a big Poplar and some Birches had to come down too. Last Spring when we had a bit of an ice storm they were looking dangerously hanging over the house.
Unfortunately they were split by the time I got home:-(((((( but still good pieces left.
I look at every piece of wood with tenderness and draw inspirations of its structure for my next work. My husband gets jealous the way I handle wood lol :-)))
Alice

[Lindy]

Jillsy I too am a huge fan of butternut for its beauty and ease of carving. For those you looking Black Forest Wood in Calgary usually carries it and if you contacted them you might be able to get them to ship. I've bought pieces from them that were cut off pieces that were 8' long 12"x9" long. They carry a huge selection of really nice, good quality woods.

Here's their website if anyone is interested: www.blackforestwood.com

Lindy