Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    349

    Default American Tulipwood/Poplar ?

    Hi everyone , more & more this American tulipwood/Poplar is being offered in the UK. I've heard it is carved but can't find any photos of it having been carved. At the moment I am trying to prolong my useful carving life & struggle with the harder woods nowadays.
    I've heard this Tulipwood is soft yet takes detail -great ! Unfortunately I can only get it in larger bits, which I can cut down but don't want to waste my money if it's no good
    So what is it like to carve? How does it compare to say good Basswood for taking detail & a finish ? & why haven't I seen it used for carving more around the net Is basswood just more traditional & available or is it a superior wood to carve ?
    Cheers Mike

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Denmark, WA
    Age
    66
    Posts
    174

    Default

    Hi Mike.
    The Rocking Horse Shop in York use this as their timber of choice. You can see some examples on their website. I was going to try it but couldn't get the sizes I needed. I am going to try Paulownia, more commonly known as Kiri in Japan. Apparently this is also light yet strong and very stable. I guess I'll find out shortly if it makes a good carving timber. Don't know if this would be available to you in smaller pieces. I read it is being used quite a bit by boat builders so you may be able to find someone in that field that has off cuts.
    Philip.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    349

    Default

    Thanks Phil , yes I didn't find those pics it looks like it finishes well at least ! Boat building , I'd read that it wasn't durable which doesn't matter for my purposes of course but obviously is pretty important for a boat !
    You have access to Japanese woods down under ? Now I'm jealous ! I've seen a few videos of Japanese carvers on U-tube & they carve umm...... some kind of cedar I think it is & it looks to perform spectacularly well under an edge, quite unlike any wood I've ever carved. I've even tried the cedar I can get in this country in the hope of getting close to replicating what I saw in the videos but the red cedar that is offered here is way too soft & coarse to come close to that. Do you know the cedar that the Japanese use for carving is called ? Maybe I could track some down if I knew what it was called, I have access to a whole load of different kinds of wood here but nothing that even approached the gorgeous manner in which I can clearly see when I see it worked.
    Enough wood lust for one post I think !
    Cheers Mike

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
    Posts
    3,543

    Default

    When you are looking at North American cedars for wood carving, the first step is to do a ring count.
    Count growth rings per inch. Less than 12/inch is fence board crap. 15 - 30 is really good.
    More than 40 gets kind of boney but it's still very carvable.
    In the past 20 years of carving cedars, I have not learned of any other character that matters as much.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    349

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Robson Valley View Post
    When you are looking at North American cedars for wood carving, the first step is to do a ring count.
    Count growth rings per inch. Less than 12/inch is fence board crap. 15 - 30 is really good.
    More than 40 gets kind of boney but it's still very carvable.
    In the past 20 years of carving cedars, I have not learned of any other character that matters as much.
    Thanks RV, that makes total sense , unfortunately there is very little cedar here ,sometimes you see a cedar of Lebanon grown for it's beauty as a ornamental tree but that is it. In old furniture you sometimes see draw carcasses made of it - of course I had to test it out with a pen knife briefly but it was awful to work ! Probably it didn't have enough end grain rings I've learnt !
    Mike

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Ponchatoula, LA, USA
    Posts
    342

    Default

    Tulip poplar is a good carving wood. It holds detail well (better than basswood, in my opinion), but is slightly harder than basswood. Here are the specs on it: Basswood | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood) and here is poplar Poplar | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood) Janka Hardness is the measure to look at.

    Philip mentions Paulownia. Here are the stats on it. Paulownia | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwood) Because of it's relative softness, I don't think it will hold fine detail well. Having said that, there is a carver in Baltimore, MD, USA area that uses a lot of Paulownia to carve Santas. Harold Goodman. Here's a link to one of his Santas on his facebook page: Harold Goodman - Took another ribbon at the Catonsville... | Facebook

    Claude Here's a Santa I carved several years ago. My wife saw this style of Santa in a store and asked me to carve one for her. Carved from poplar scraps my son gave me...

    DSCF1792b.jpg

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    349

    Default

    Thanks Claude ,although I thank you for the references to those sites ,what I really appreciate is your comment that it holds detail as well as Basswood "(better in my opinion)" , a hearty, Thanks for that . This surely shows just one inestimable value the of forums - help from people who have been there & done that !
    Yet all forums are dyeing ,I just don't get it at all, seems like getting a "like" or a smile of some description is the preferred method of communication now
    Thanks again
    Mike

Similar Threads

  1. X cut tulipwood
    By eisbaer in forum WOODTURNING - PEN TURNING
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11th November 2010, 11:56 PM
  2. Tulipwood
    By Les in Red Deer in forum WOODTURNING - PEN TURNING
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 2nd September 2008, 11:15 PM
  3. American Poplar
    By adwoood001 in forum TIMBER
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 8th July 2008, 10:06 AM
  4. Tulipwood Score!
    By Matt88s in forum WOODTURNING - PEN TURNING
    Replies: 31
    Last Post: 31st May 2008, 03:33 PM
  5. American Gift-Box Purpleheart and tulipwood
    By zenwood in forum WOODWORK PICS
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 29th August 2005, 06:49 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •