Thread: Hoop Carves??

It carves very nicely, if you can get some without prominent growth rings then you should be right

huon carves nicely
so does blackwood

jacaranda is good too.

Thanks Guys for all your suggestions,

Just finding it really difficult to source any of these timbers for carving. Do you know where I might purchase some from?

Thanks.
C.

Originally Posted by echnidna

huon carves nicely
so does blackwood

And they look nice when you paint over them.

Originally Posted by clare

Hello Guys,
I'm running out of the white beech use to carve the horse's heads,
Clare.

sorry to hear that clare, cos it's all downhill after white beech
hoop should do the trick, especially if you're painting over it,
the price is right, you should be able to source good sizes regularly and its carving properties are fairly consistent.

Pity you are so far away from me....
We have (had) 44 Hoop pines, about 50 years old along our front boundrary.
Larry took one out & scared the daylights out of us so we have just had 9 more removed 'cos they were within spitting distance of the house or the shed.
The branchs have all been chipped & there is a bloke coming this weekend to start cutting up the trunks.

I am surprised nobody mentioned jelutong and cupressus macrocarpa, both sold commercially and widely used in carving.

I was told that white cedar (the street tree with the noxious bunches of small yellow fruits) is also good, but AFAIK is not sold commercially.

If we say white beech = 100, how do you rate these three and hoop pine?

jelutong might be a bit pricey but macrocarpra should be relatively cheap.
Don't know if you can get it around mullumbimby.
Though its been planted in many places so you might be lucky.
Even a log would do if cheap as you could cut blocks out of it with a chainsaw.

Originally Posted by echnidna

jelutong might be a bit pricey but macrocarpra should be relatively cheap.

Are you the same person who suggested huon pine and blackwood?

Oh c'mon Bob, don't ignore me. Please....

Originally Posted by Wongo

Are you the same person who suggested huon pine and blackwood?

Oh c'mon Bob, don't ignore me. Please....

how could I ignore you!!!!

Thanks SO MUCH guys for your speedy feedback. Geeeze, I love this place! Seems I can easily obtain hoop beams from Lismore, so might give that a go. As was touched on, better to be using something 'run of the mill', so to speak, over something semi-precious, when it's going to get painted over anyway. Did l-o-v-e the beech though. Just like taking butter out of the fridge and slicing it effortlessly

Thanks again,
Clare.

Hi Clare,
I would've thought camphor laurel would be a good choice where you are! I reckon it carves nicely and smells beautiful, the only downside is the colour (I find it too loud), but you're painting over it anyway. Maybe it doesn't take a paint well? Or does advertising the use of noxious weed put customers off?
I have carved Hoop for small things and its not bad, maybe a bit splintery.


Good luck

Hoop is Ok.
Try the rocking horse maker in Toowoomba Forget his name but he uses a very stable pine from north Queensland - White Pine I think.
I have seen Camphor used for neddies as well as Oregan. Saw some particularly fine examples of both of these in Coffs Harbour. The grain had been used very effectively to demonstrate the motion of the said neddies.