Thread: Indentifying Preferred Woods for Carving

Wow! Grab one of those (with a fork lift) and take it home - carve a cigar store Indian out of it... <grin>

Since it grows in the area, you might contact a local lumber mill and see if they'll give you some of their offcuts, or let you look through their scrap firewood pile.</grin>

Originally Posted by ClaudeF

Wow! Grab one of those (with a fork lift) and take it home - carve a cigar store Indian out of it... <grin>

Since it grows in the area, you might contact a local lumber mill and see if they'll give you some of their offcuts, or let you look through their scrap firewood pile.</grin>

Yes a fork lift is right, (lol) but a STIHL chainsaw would work nicely. These logs are huge. image.jpg
At the moment I don't really need any basswood as we purchased a huge amount 25 years ago locally. (My partner is the main carver and woodworker here.)
It was an 8 x 4.5 inch piece that was 12 feet long for $10 so it's really dry. The only woods purchased at the saw mill are imported woods or domestic woods that are in the bargain bin for next to nothing. Walnut we have yet to find and harvest locally so can get some nice pieces for about $0.25 or so.

This wood here isn't on private property. It's on land that is owned and maintained by the township which has paths going through it that go for miles and join onto other townships They are made for walking, horse back riding, snow mobiling , ATV' ing etc., and while you aren't supposed to haul away large timbers at a time, they certainly don't mind if you take the odd piece of wood which I've been known to do.


The reason why I started this thread was to show others that you can often find suitable carving wood in your local area if you know what you are looking for. I've passed basswood many a time and until yesterday didn't know what it was and for those who carve in the round, finding the odd branch or part off a fallen tree isn't so obscurely out of the question. You can get foldable hack saws for such purposes. If you aren't able to do that then it's quite possible that you can find suppliers or a localized saw mill, like you suggested, who can offer it for much less than specialized wood places can.
The basswood is a great example of that. Here is a chunk off that , which has been planed down some. Yes it has a crack in the end of it but for a chunk this big that's 12 feet long for $10 Canadian $ is great.
Before this basswood was purchased at a place called Unicorn woods and a small 2 foot piece cost about $40 and that was over 25 years ago.
image.jpg image.jpg


I'm certainly not suggesting going out with a chain saw and cutting down trees off someone else's property. That's not only illegal, it's impractical , it's dangerous and I don't suggest it but if you are able to identify wood that's suitable for carving, you can usually find dried dead wood close by small enough to fit in a knapsack but big enough to be worth your while.


This pile of basswood has been here for about a month now, along with some jack pines. The township is thinning out the forest to allow more space for harder woods like maple and oak. This wood is most likely sitting here drying getting ready to be sold. The huge piles of pine are already gone. These wood piles covered a pathway on both sides for about 500 feet.

Black Cherry | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwoods)


https://www.ontario.ca/page/black-cherry


Black Cherry grows abundantly here in Ontario. It's identifying characteristics are the flowers in spring and distinctive berries in the fall. Since the article doesn't show the berries, I took a picture of them for you. This black cherry tree has gotten diseased this year possibly due to the extreme heat, which is why the leaves look like they do.

We have many of them on our property and the birds love eating the fruit off them, especially the blue jays and cardinals. Here are some pics of them.


Leaf pattern including autumn berries.
image.jpg


Bark of older cherry wood.

image.jpg


Tree top image.

image.jpg


I have yet to carve anything from cherry wood using knives and chisels but I have used it for other projects I've done.
It's really nice wood to work with and has a beautiful grain.


This is the only thing I can find on hand showing the distinctive pattern of North American Black Cherry wood.

image.jpg

I in no way want to put a damper on your enthusiasm & I too collect wood from the wild but it is always been tiny little bits for netsuke sort of thing.
Anything larger has usually checked & split ,despite being properly stacked & covered & sealed.
Then there is the time spent waiting for it dry .
No I know that dried timber is expensive but I prefer to leave it to the pro's.
Although I can't deny the enjoyment & satisfaction of using even the occasional tiny little bits I've had success with !
Mike

Originally Posted by Mike the knife

I in no way want to put a damper on your enthusiasm & I too collect wood from the wild but it is always been tiny little bits for netsuke sort of thing.
Anything larger has usually checked & split ,despite being properly stacked & covered & sealed.
Then there is the time spent waiting for it dry .
No I know that dried timber is expensive but I prefer to leave it to the pro's.
Although I can't deny the enjoyment & satisfaction of using even the occasional tiny little bits I've had success with !
Mike

Hey Mike. Your words don't put a damper on my enthusiasm to find and harvest my own wood at all. Nobody could put a damper on that.
In fact, if you don't have the resources, the space, the proper equipment, or 'know-how' , then you are best off purchasing your wood from those that do.
I'm just For me I am able to do it , so why wouldn't I?


Where I live , trees often get knocked down due to storms, disease or old age which have to be cut and removed. Then there have been ones that needed to come down to have the house built , which was about 20 years ago. Through this experience Ive have learned to recognize different trees and wood including burls, and spalted wood I've even learned to spalt my own. It's not that difficult.


image.jpg
Then there's the fact that I have a wood-stove in my women cave which needs cut and dried wood anyway so why not kill two birds with one stone ?
image.jpgThe image.jpgwood is alimage.jpgcut aimage.jpgo finding some select pieces IS actually exciting.
The things being made are relatively small and I can find plenty of very attractive wood from my own wood pile or find while out walking my dogs since I'm always walking through the forest.


Plus the fact that I like to add colour to some of my work is another reason for seeking some selective woods. Many of these chosen woods are light enough in colour that it doesn't interfere with getting the colour I'm intending on. The fact that some of these woods have some killer grain patterns to them is a bonus because when I do add colour, I like it to be transparent enough that the grain pattern shows through. Colour ROCKS!!!
image.jpg image.jpgimage.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpg image.jpeg image.jpg
No this isn't for everyone. Most of these trees are in the western part of the world but there's a lot of people in the west and maybe someone will read this and on there way home from work , spot a fallen branch off a recognized tree ( most likely already dried) and make use of it; then it's all good.

Well I admire your position , jealous even !
Nowadays I have a house on the edge of town there is a large ancient wood 2 minutes walk away , BUT the policy is, " to leave fallen trees as they fell to maintain the biodiversity ", taking anything is strictly forbidden . I take a few bits anyway ! it does no harm at all .
Anyway Nesuke size pieces are all I have the room to store well , only just !
Ah the wide open spaces & room in Canada it must be great - a long sigh .

If the shipping wasn't such a killer, I'd love to trade some Yellow Cedar (Chamycyparis nootkatensis) for some Huon Pine (Dacrydium franklini.)
Locally, I can take anything I want, as much as I want, out of the logging debris piles after harvesting. The piles are dangerously unstable and usually
quite dirty.

Instead, I can go to a local mill and buy western red cedar shake blocks, 24" x 12" x 8" or so, size varies but all 24" long, for $5 each.
Posts are 5" x 5" x 64" for $5 each. All clean and clear, knot free and straight grain split, never sawn.
With a mallet and a froe, I can split out whatever size pieces suit me, even to the point of making glue-ups.

Originally Posted by Mike the knife

Well I admire your position , jealous even !
Nowadays I have a house on the edge of town there is a large ancient wood 2 minutes walk away , BUT the policy is, " to leave fallen trees as they fell to maintain the biodiversity ", taking anything is strictly forbidden . I take a few bits anyway ! it does no harm at all .
Anyway Nesuke size pieces are all I have the room to store well , only just !
Ah the wide open spaces & room in Canada it must be great - a long sigh .

Thats too bad. I think I'd be snitching pieces if I were in your position. That's quite restrictive.
In my enthusiasm for trying to be helpful, I think I failed to recognize that most people don't have this type of opportunity. Canada does have plenty of vast open space. Where I live is a wood workers paradise and I should probably keep this to myself.
I hadn't really thought of that aspect of it.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

If the shipping wasn't such a killer, I'd love to trade some Yellow Cedar (Chamycyparis nootkatensis) for some Huon Pine (Dacrydium franklini.)
Locally, I can take anything I want, as much as I want, out of the logging debris piles after harvesting. The piles are dangerously unstable and usually
quite dirty.

Instead, I can go to a local mill and buy western red cedar shake blocks, 24" x 12" x 8" or so, size varies but all 24" long, for $5 each.
Posts are 5" x 5" x 64" for $5 each. All clean and clear, knot free and straight grain split, never sawn.
With a mallet and a froe, I can split out whatever size pieces suit me, even to the point of making glue-ups.

That's a great deal. I don't think I've ever used yellow cedar. We have quite a bit of cedar but I haven't figured out what type it is. It is too bad wood is expensive to ship because it would be cool to have a wood trade

Originally Posted by Mike the knife

Well I admire your position , jealous even !
Nowadays I have a house on the edge of town there is a large ancient wood 2 minutes walk away , BUT the policy is, " to leave fallen trees as they fell to maintain the biodiversity ", taking anything is strictly forbidden . I take a few bits anyway ! it does no harm at all .
Anyway Nesuke size pieces are all I have the room to store well , only just !
Ah the wide open spaces & room in Canada it must be great - a long sigh .

What about fallin' branches in the ditch of a dirt road? Are you not allowed to take them and throw them in the back of your truck?

The only time we aren't allowed to take wood is if it has fallen on someone else's property or fallen on electrical wires, otherwise it's free game. Even if it was illegal here nobody really cares and there's usually nobody around to see anyway.