[stevefrfla]

Good evening all: Taking a break from working on my Huge Barbie dollhouse, I thought that I would try to carve a santa looking thing. Looking through my racks of wood I could not find anything that I thought I could hack into without a chainsaw. I decided to try the lumber yard out on US1, nice day for a ride, no basswood, they never heard of it. But I should try this other yard in the next town south. Not being totally stupid ??? ??? I called first, YES they have some basswood come on down. Well to make an already long story short, the basswood was a 4'x6'x8' dried and planed, it was beautiful to see. : :. It was also $97.00, could that be the stuff that grows on trees?? Unreal needless to say it is still there and I will try and get a second mortgage on the house to pay for it. Does basswood really run that high??

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

No....try Don Wedll....you can order whatever size and shape you want, he has a one man mill operation in Wisconsin, I have been happy with everything I have bought and the prices even with shipping aren't bad... http://members.tripod.com/~woodsource/index.html tell him I sent you, promised I would tell people and try and help him get some business.....if he is busy, sometimes he is a little slow getting back to you, but he does......its worth the wait!

That's probably a fair price for a piece that large. But for your use Hi-Ho's got the right idea. I bought two 4x8's two feet long and with shipping they were around $60 someplace, can't remember exactly how much, but the shipping was a significant part of the price.

[Colin_Partridge]

Steve,
Try some of the local woodcarving shows there is always someone there selling basswood and butternut in probably the lengths and dimentions you are looking for I find you can usually get a whole bag full for less than $20.00.
Goodluck
Colin

[AlArchie]

Try any local hobby shops you may have in the area; ie Michael's craft store, Joanne's Fabrics (ya, I know, but they carry that wood sometimes), Ben Franklin stores. I've seen basswood carving blocks in all of these. Small carving blocks about 3x4x6 or 8 usually run 3-5 bucks. If you figure this out per board foot, it's still a lot higher than your 8 foot piece, but ya don't have to buy the whole thing. If you decide to do a lot of serious carving, the large pieces are really a bargain in the long run. Plus as you get carving more, you will find more sources at more reasonable prices; some even free or just token payment.

Check the back advertisers in WCI or Wood Magazine or Carving magazine. You'll find small mills there that cater to carvers and will have reasonable prices. Like mentioned earlier, shipping will kill ya, but if one of these mills is in your area, a drive up to them might prove a nice day trip, and I'll bet you meet some fine folkis!

Al

I am considering trying to do a life-size wolf carving, but..... where would be a good place to get wood? Do I just find a tree stump that I like the shape of, or do I have to purchase a specific type of wood? Where do other amateurs get their wood? I've never carved before. Well, since sitting on Grandpa's porch, years ago.
Carmen

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I would try something a bit smaller to start....that would be a tough one to learn on LOL As for wood, see my earlier post for wood from Don Wedll. I would think you would want to carve it in basswood, maybe butternut, but that would be expensive...not sure what else...that size anyway, the larger the wood gets, the tougher it gets.

[Colin_Partridge]

Carmen.
A life size carving of a wolf might be a little ambitious for your first carving. I would suggest trying it on a small scale first. If you are going to try one life size you will have to first rough it out with a chain saw. White Pine would be my choice of wood but make sure you cover it with a plastic garbage bag when you are finished otherwise it will check before you get is sealed.
Colin

Okay, just looked through all the photos on here, and can't help but think I'm a little bit out of my league!! I have no idea what 'check' means, and don't know anything about carving other than how to make little people from my Grandpa's firewood, which was one of the first things he taught me. I had been thinking that maybe I could learn it since our family has a long line of people talented in wood and maybe some of it would have passed to me. But just looking at what everyone else has done makes me shudder. A little intimidating! Maybe I'll just stick to woodburning.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Don't be intimidated, there are lots of books available to learn how and the people on here are great about helping ....give it a shot....just start with a 22 calibur instead of a .45 LOL