Wood purchase question

I'm a newbie to wood carving and for my next project it would be ideal if I could start with a block of wood shaped like a cylinder about 12' to 18' tall and about 4' diameter. Do the suppliers sell rounded blocks like this (for turning maybe??), or will I need to start with a squared block, say 4x4x18 and round off the corners myself? I'm looking for something like Basswood, Tupelo or White Pine.

[Captain_Bandaid]

I have never seen cylindrical wood blocks advertised but you might get someone to turn a big block for you. Would probably be quite expensive compared to buying a square block and shaping it yourself.

Being a new carver myself i don't have as much exposure to the industry as some of the others in here but I recently saw small basswood cylinders/dowels in the Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers Supply catalog. They were smaller than the dimensions you specified but they advertising custom cut to size so you might want to contact them to see.

www.woodcarvers.com

I realize this is an old thread but I figured it may be of use.

'a block of wood shaped like a cylinder about 12' to 18' tall and about 4' diameter'

This should be the easiest shape to find in nature Being a stick carver that is what I have to work with all the time, except they are more like 50' to 60' tall. Why not just go out and harvest a small tree, or get into someones woodpile? If you do go after a living tree, tulip poplar is least likely to split when carved fresh.
I hope that was helpful.

Donna

I dont know what you have in mind to carve but you could try looking around at places that sell firewood. Unsplit logs are fairly cheep. You can pick through the piles in most places to find what ever size you need. Its green wood though. so you have to take into account moisture content and such. The type of wood you can pick from may be limited. but check around you would be amazed at the wood you can get that someone would send up in smoke

Being as how this tread is still alive I'm going to assume your still looking. The local Home Depot used to have, maybe stilll do havn't been there is quite awhile, about what you'r looking for. They were what is left over after the mill gets done making plywood. They were about 4' in diameter and 8' long for just a few dollars can't remember how much exactly. Don't remember what they were called either. Looked a little like landscape timbers, but were untreated. Peeler posts or some such.