[hipshot301]

Greetings all! I have a carving to do that I think will best be accomplished with a single, solid piece of wood. The wood must be a light or pale color with dimensions at least 30"W x 36"L x 16/4 up to 20/4T. I know this is a very tough find and that is why I am looking to this group. Does anyone know where I can purchase wood this size or at least a lead to follow? If I absolutely have to, I can use multiple pieces, but I really do not want to... Thanks in advance for any and all help! Brian
hipshotwood.com

[kitaye]

I'd be afraid that a piece of woodthat big would warp and twist, ruining your carving. Hopefully, someone with more experience in larger carvings will have an answer for you.

[ChrisS]

As a contractor, Architect, farmer, furniture maker who has worked in a lumber mill I can tell you that I have never see a piece 30 inches wide and that thick forsale. I have seen many things made from lumber that wide but you need t go to Europe to see them. You might contact lumber companies around the US to see if thay can order what you need. I would think you would have cracks with that large a piece. That is a tall order. There are a lot of great lumber companies out there. Go to the Woodweb site. They publish a magazine I receive. The site is professional. You can get any question answered there. If it is out there someone on that site will have it. It is one of the best wood and manifacturing sites on the net.
One peson wanted the formula for an oval winding stair case. A professor from Harvard posted it.

Now you have me wondering what you are going to carve.

[pallin]

I would recommend that you build up the piece from several boards and reinforce it across the back with hardwood strips. You should build it from milled boards so that you can carefully match the grain direction & tone. I have carved several built-up pieces in this way. The widest single board I have used is 16 inches.

[mikeGinSC]

I've got a piece of E. White Pine that is about 22" wide x 5/4 thick x eight feet long. It was left over from some sawn lumber I used to repair a home where the original siding had started to rot. Thought about making a table top out of it. It's mixed in with some other lumber I've salvaged off of jobs over the years, W. Chestnut, Cypress, a bunch of "short logs" of Am. Holly, Sassafrass, a big pile of Mt Laurel and Dogwood and some other limbs and large branches I've forgotten what they are.

What others have said about building up the size of lumber you need is the best way to go although I think either Van Dykes restorer's catalogue or Constantines sells Mahogany up to 20" wide and at least eight feet long.

Mike G. in SC

[squbrigg]

Saw some Mahogany about 48 - 60" wide x 12' long and 3" thick at East Coast Hardwood Specialty in Dartmouth, NS, Canada, this past summer. Better have a deep pocket as the smallest of the batch was something like $4,400.00 and went up from there to $6,000.00 +.

Bob