[grampabatball]

Hi, I want to try my hand at carving some N.W. Indian masks and I need a source for some fairly large pieces of Red Cedar. Can anyone help? Thanks, Mike

[mdallensr]

A few years ago, I bought some Alaska Yellow Cedar from a guy in B.C. who also sells red cedar. He just sold a big piece on ebay this week. His user name is rompinreggie (or something close to that). He's a really nice guy to talk to and really helpful for those who want his wood. Mike

[whitecree]

If you aren't familiar with carving cedar, I'd say you're best off working with yellow cedar, rather than red. Even a good piece of red cedar is a challenge, grain tends to be splintery and the wood itself degrades cutting edges rather quickly.

What sort of mask were you considering? I'm "into" west coast carving myself.

[grampabatball]

Thank you for your help. Whitecree, I appreciate your comment about yellow cedar as I hadn't considered how brittle red cedar tends to be. Now I have find some. Sheesh!Thanks again.

[whitecree]

Heh, it can be frustrating, can't it? For me, all I have to do is hike up a mountain.

Here's a link for you, might help. Scroll down to 'C' and click on it for cedar.