Thread: Basswood

Originally Posted by section1

What I understood is what's written you said Jelutong is good for carving but not for fine detail, ... I've never held basswood to know but it must slice through like balsa and be sturdy enough for him to make boxes and initially that's what a clock is. A box but decorated.

I am sensing a 'tone' developing in this thread that leads me to believe you were not helped by our answers. I want to assure you that I meant no disrespect to what you are trying to do. I only made suggestions based on what you asked. It has become painfully clear that I didn't have any idea of your intentions at all and hence commented inappropriately. Now it has been clarified that you mean 'chip carving' let me qualify my earlier remarks.

Firstly, chip carving isn't particularly detailed as I define it. There are no free arches or protruberant parts... nothing particularly fragile Perhaps I might better define what I took you to mean as 'delicate'. I don't do a lot of chip carving, though I do a great deal of blade work, but I'm fairly confident that Jelutong will sustain the sort of pattern you posted. (so will poplar if it comes to that but you have already ruled that out and I'm not pushing it. I mentioned it because you were having trouble finding wood for 'blade' carving and poplar is at least easy to find if you can live with its limitations). There can be a great deal of variation in wood, even within the same species so finding a particular species suitable (or unsuitable) for a specific task does not guarentee that every piece of that species will prove the same.

Secondly, you mentioned, again belatedly, that you want to make a clock housing which adds yet another variable. What overall colour do you want the clock to be? Or are you planing on staining or painting it when done? I showed you two photos of English Lime (the euopean version of Basswood) with very different colouration.

Thirdly, I may be off the mark again here, but I am getting the impression that you are basing your expectaions of what Basswood is like from watching an internationally recognise expert working with it. RV is quite correct here.... its not that easy. Basswood will not make it so. I stongly suggest you try practicing on a bit of something that you can find easily to get the feel (and discover for yourself the pitfalls) of chip carving. That way early mistakes are not going to spoil a lot of prepratory work and expensive wood.

Now that I have a better understanding of what you actually want to do (I hope), I would suggest Huon pine or Walnut as giving you the best colour choices depending on your preference for a dark or light coloured clock. It may be that these woods will be difficult for you to find, but it sounds as though what you have in mind is a significant piece of practical art and worthy of the best materials you can aquire.

Again, I wish you the best with it and hope that you will document your journey and post as much of it here as you are comfortable doing, so the rest of us can learn from it too.

Yes Section, the huon, white beech or jelutong sound pretty good for chip carving.
If you would like to try basswood to see if it is worth chasing, then purchase this set from Carbatec, it comes with a sample block of basswood.
FlexCut Portable Carving Set : CARBA-TEC

Whittling, can I ask where topurchase Poplar. Never seen it here in Queensland.

Terry

Hi again, As mentioned before I have done lots of Chip carving much of it in great detail mostly on Jewellery Box lids and frames. I have all of Wayne Bartons boooks on the subject and also one of his videos. If I can get myself sorted out with how to post some pics of my work I will do so in the next few days. I have in the past used both English Lime and Basswood and agree that both are easy to carve but for the finished article I still believe that Huon is far superior. The grain structure and figuring in Huon is not evident in Basswood or Lime, I think that is why so many American craftsmen stain or in some cases paint their carvings. Brian.

Aust White Beech is like firm cheese, Aust Red Cedar or yes Huon is the ultimate.

It's all good there is no tone I apologise if I made it sound that way, I do understand what I'm trying to achieve isn't easy nor an overnight learning experience but I'm type that jumps into the deep end and then learn to swim. Sometimes it pays out and other times it becomes painstakingly difficult but none the less it's enjoyable and a rewarding experience.

The way I see it and thanks to mass production the market is filled with boring looking junk, sometimes when I get a chance to go to Brisbane CBD I look and admire the architecture of the old churches and other historical buildings that are atleast 100 years old and still standing. They were elaborate in their work, obviously they took pride in it and the fact they haven't collapsed say's something about the way it was built. A great deal of time, effort and expense went into these projects but the end results speak for themselves.

That's the kind of attitude I take in my work, I never rush it I'm not interested in mass production and I've got a very long way to go to achieve the perfection I'm after.

I guess what I'm trying to say and what your saying to me is experiment and something will come up.

Lastly I'm currently staining them.

To answer Schaf you can find poplar in Masters, I'm not sure if you have Masters in your area but they're a Coles owned group in direct competition with Bunnings. They have alot more to offer and a variety of many things like Besser clamps which are alot cheaper than CT and they stock poplar, tas oak and even their worst pine is much, much better than Bunnings. Unfortunately that's all they stock in timber maybe one day if there are enough requests from us they will stock a variety of fancy timbers and then happy days for us all.

Guys thanks heaps I do have Huon lying around in the shed but I haven't used them as yet because their not the right width for my current project, but I will have to cut off piece and give it a go. If it's as good and easy to cut as you say well happy days then.

Caution! Very long arms and very deep pockets required.

I'm not certain if this is much of a positive contribution but. . . just yesterday, I stumbled across the "CarveWright" machine. CarveWright.com There was even a gallery of clock pictures.
Seems to be a small CNC router-type beast. If I understood it, I'd jump straight to mathematical constructions, Fibonacci series and the like. Acorns and oak leaves have been done before.

With all these machines floating about what kind of woodworkers is the next generation going to be. The most important skill a man can have is what he can produce with his own hands without the aid of a machine. What we do whether were good at it or not is art it is our own thoughts, ideas and skill that is poured into our work, with these machines that are getting cheeaper and cheaper to buy this unique skill that has taken woodworkers years to develop will be undermined and taken for granted because now skill has been replaced by push of a button. I call this woodworking cheaters, nothing more than worthless mass producing rubbish.

section1, I agree with what you express about machinery = you can't hide the fact that it was made by machine. If I take that as a "given fact," then I look to see just how innovative the operator has been. Going through the galleries, the CarveWright stuff had a peculiar "same-ness" to it all.

Scanning somebody else's copyright-protected pattern and pushing the button really is shabby. I'm never comfortable with anyone else's pattern. I have to do my own drawings.
Despite 50+ years of influence from Pacific Northwest Native art & carvings, I do make all of my work unique.

I found that CW-machine in association with a badly disabled chap with a head for maths and computer science. I can't wait to see what he creates.

Originally Posted by section1

It's all good there is no tone I apologise if I made it sound that way, I do understand what I'm trying to achieve isn't easy nor an overnight learning experience but I'm type that jumps into the deep end and then learn to swim. Sometimes it pays out and other times it becomes painstakingly difficult but none the less it's enjoyable and a rewarding experience.

The way I see it and thanks to mass production the market is filled with boring looking junk, sometimes when I get a chance to go to Brisbane CBD I look and admire the architecture of the old churches and other historical buildings that are atleast 100 years old and still standing. They were elaborate in their work, obviously they took pride in it and the fact they haven't collapsed say's something about the way it was built. A great deal of time, effort and expense went into these projects but the end results speak for themselves.

That's the kind of attitude I take in my work, I never rush it I'm not interested in mass production and I've got a very long way to go to achieve the perfection I'm after.

I guess what I'm trying to say and what your saying to me is experiment and something will come up.

Lastly I'm currently staining them.

To answer Schaf you can find poplar in Masters, I'm not sure if you have Masters in your area but they're a Coles owned group in direct competition with Bunnings. They have alot more to offer and a variety of many things like Besser clamps which are alot cheaper than CT and they stock poplar, tas oak and even their worst pine is much, much better than Bunnings. Unfortunately that's all they stock in timber maybe one day if there are enough requests from us they will stock a variety of fancy timbers and then happy days for us all.

Go and see Geoff at Burleigh next week re the Paulownia. He is collecting the last of my stock which includes some 300 x 25 mm planks that could suit your purpose. I should add that Paulownia takes stain very well

Whitewood.

Sure will do

I started a job at a coffee plantation last wekk ago near Nimbin. I remembered there being a pawlonia plantation of 5000 - 10000 trees perhaps. They had bulldozed the whole lot the week before!

Good luck in getting your hands on it I remember when they were building an estate on the Gold Coast, they had piles of logs mountain high. I thought fantastic for wood turning I only needed a few but later in the afternoon the whole estate was barb wired off, they even dug a ditch around perimeter so no one could drive in.