Any woodcarvers here?

[czechsonofagun]

I have to share this Waiting on a traffic light I noticed a car next me had a trailer with basswood leaves sticking out of it. I - call me Sherlock Holmes - deducted he is taking it to the landfill to dump it for mulch shredding.
On the express way I stayed behind him to see what he has there - and it was nice bottom chunk of basswood about 4 feet long and one more stump and a thick branch. Anyway, long story short, I approached him on next traffic light and got a load of basswood for my hobby for free.

I have to debark it, cut it, rip it and seal ends and stock it for a year or two but it will make a beautiful supply of nice wood for my carving knifes and enough scraps for the kids to learn their basic cuts.

 

[ToadHill]

I know the joy of found wood, I have several large butternut trees on my land, One is somewhat sick and when it dies the wood will make some nice carving stock. I like butternut better than basswood, but the price difference makes basswood my main carving choice.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Well, I learned something new Never heard of butternut in my life, thank you.

Also unloading the big trunk from my truck, I dropped it on a wheel of reel mower - looks like the luck is all gone by now

 

[Soundguy]

I used to dabble... still have all my tools but just no time for it.

I mainly worked on birds.. but did a few other animals too.. elephants, mice, .. etc.

bass or balsam ( depending on what I was doing ) was my choice.

soundguy

 

[jimmy1]

I know the joy of found wood, I have several large butternut trees on my land, One is somewhat sick and when it dies the wood will make some nice carving stock. I like butternut better than basswood, but the price difference makes basswood my main carving choice.

Is it the "butternut canker'? I don't know mch about it but up here thw MNR is realy trying to manage the disease to prevent speading.

There is an interesting situation in our area where there is a building development that is rumored to be the site of a new Lowes. Anyway there is a rare healthy butternut tree smack in the middle of where the parking lot will be. The ministry is involved as they want to keep the tree and I can imagine the developers don't care. It will be interesting to watch it play out.

Cheers
Jim

 

[toy]

I know the joy of found wood, I have several large butternut trees on my land, One is somewhat sick and when it dies the wood will make some nice carving stock.* I like butternut better than basswood, but the price difference makes basswood my main carving choice.

Is the fruit of a butternut tree long walnuts? When I was a kid we had what we called butternut trees and they had long walnuts. Anyway a blight came through and killed all of them a long time ago at least I thought but my brother has a friend that had had some that survived and she got me three small trees started.* They are now about 8 ft tall but they haven't had any fruit yet, am I expecting fruit too soon? Is there anything that I can do to make them bare fruit sooner? They have limbs close to the ground and are bushed out pretty good. Do I need to prune the lower limbs out or leave it alone? If this is the kind of tree that you are talking about its wood would also be good for wood turning to wouldn't it be?

 

[toy]

Is it the "butternut canker'? I don't know mch about it but up here thw MNR is realy trying to manage the disease to prevent speading.

There is an interesting situation in our area where there is a building development that is rumored to be the site of a new Lowes. Anyway there is a rare healthy butternut tree smack in the middle of where the parking lot will be. The ministry is involved as they want to keep the tree and I can imagine the developers don't care. It will be interesting to watch it play out.

Cheers
Jim

Could you describe what the butternut canker looks like and how to keep a tree from getting it?

 

[ToadHill]

The canker is the cause of the loss of most butternut trees and I don't believe they have yet developed a treatment for it. I believe it is a fungal disease and a general fungicide may help keep it under control.

Butternut has sometimes been called white walnut and the wood is light brown in color.

I think my trees are just dying from old age, I haven't seen any signs of canker on them.

 

[EddieWalker]

I like to carve reliefs on flat panels. Mostly animals on a variety of hardwoods and exotic woods. Walnut is my favorite, but playing around with new types of wood is fun too. I haven't done anything since moving to Texas in 2002, but here's a few pics of some panels that I did.

Eddie

 

[bigshovel]

Eddie,

I'm pretty sure that Caribou will make top 10 Boone or Pope I hope it's not "the one" that got away.

Brad

 

[czechsonofagun]

I like to carve reliefs on flat panels. Mostly animals on a variety of hardwoods and exotic woods. Walnut is my favorite, but playing around with new types of wood is fun too. I haven't done anything since moving to Texas in 2002, but here's a few pics of some panels that I did.

Eddie

Interesting! I know they use pear wood and plum wood to cut forms for pressure printing which is very close to what you posted here. One thing about that wood is it is very hard to carve.

 

[1bush2hog]

I have found mahogony is a nice wood to use for carving. While it is harder than bass or balsa, the grain is nice to work with, especially in 3D carvings.

Like everyone else, it is tough to find the time for this anymore, but I do enjoy it. I have carved birds, folk art figures, bears, Christmas ornaments, etc. Most I have given as gifts.

There used to be a guy here in downtown ATL that dealt in exotic woods - like anything else, you better know the wood you work with, as dust from some can be hazardous to your health

I always wanted to try purple heart - maybe one day

 

[EddieWalker]

I like the hardwoods for carving because of the tight grain and how you can take off small bits of it easer then the soft woods. With sharp tools, it's just as easy to cut as pine, but the results are so much nicer. I can get more detail and depth with the hardwoods too, and of course, the finish is just amazing after fine sanding.

Eddie

 

[Soundguy]

In college I worked for a water meter factory that imported bronze meter castings from brazil and other south american countries... all the pallates and shipping boxes were mahogany... after a few years all the employees had hand made mahogany furniture!

soundguy

I have found mahogony is a nice wood to use for carving. While it is harder than bass or balsa, the grain is nice to work with, especially in 3D carvings.

Like everyone else, it is tough to find the time for this anymore, but I do enjoy it. I have carved birds, folk art figures, bears, Christmas ornaments, etc. Most I have given as gifts.

There used to be a guy here in downtown ATL that dealt in exotic woods - like anything else, you better know the wood you work with, as dust from some can be hazardous to your health

I always wanted to try purple heart - maybe one day

 

[alchemysa]

Thats not a woodcarving. THIS is a woodcarving.

YouTube - Chainsaw sculpture of a silverback