# What is the best wood for carving?



## JRay

I once made an attempt to carve an eagle out of elm, and I didn't get back to it for a couple months and found it to be cracking, therefore I never finished it. Is a certain species better than others. Thanks,


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## Husky137

I supply hemlock and white pine to a local carver. I don't know if that is because it is good for carving, or because its cheap. She makes some cool stuff out of it though.


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## John Paul Sanborn

It depends on what you are doing with it, if carving wet, then a dryer wood is better, since it will move less. 

If you are going to carve dry blocks then soft, straight grained woods like basswood and butternut. They are very forgiving and easy to use. Basswood is a favorite for painted carvings like decoys. Very boring grain though, sorta like plain vanilla.


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## sawyerDave

*Carving wood*

Almost any wood can be carved. A favorite around here is catalpa.


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## timberwolf

Butternut is pretty, but tends to fuzz a little unless tools are sharp, cedar can be nice too but does split easy.

One thing to prevent cracking to tp put the finished work in the freezer for a couple months after working. The moisture is drawn out evenly and cracking and warping is limited.


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## John Paul Sanborn

timberwolf said:


> One thing to prevent cracking to tp put the finished work in the freezer for a couple months after working. The moisture is drawn out evenly and cracking and warping is limited.



For turning greenwood blanks I will double bag in paper grocery bags and place them in a cool place, like the basement or garage floor. They dry sloser, so the wood moves less. 

Don't know if it will work for fine cravings, but maybe if it's a roughed blank?


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## Adkpk

I just got done sanding some hemlock floors. I noticed it was very splintery. I also have some slabs drying in the yard and it is checking a lot. I don't see how that would be good for carving.


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## buzz sawyer

sawyerDave said:


> Almost any wood can be carved. A favorite around here is catalpa.



You took the words out of my mouth! Catalpa is a great carving and turning wood - interesting grain and VERY stable - very little shrinkage in any direction. I find it about as hard as basswood and not quite as hard as sassafrass. You would think the coarse grain would have hard and soft rings, but it's really pretty consistent.


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## crowboy

The best carving wood is FREE wood! Cracking is a part of the deal when using whole logs. Put a kerf down the back to relieve some of the stress of drying. Also keep your carving away from heat sources,put a plastic garbage bag over it and turn it inside out every day so it won't get moldy. You can varnish it if you're not going to get to it for a while, then just carve it again. Basically, the slower it dries, the less it will crack.


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## Fordman99

*dumb ?...sorry!!!*

sorry guys, just seen a few responses from the north east,(Md.,W.V.) what is "Catalpa" wood? i've never heard of it??...(From southern PA.)


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## buzz sawyer

Fordman99 said:


> sorry guys, just seen a few responses from the north east,(Md.,W.V.) what is "Catalpa" wood? i've never heard of it??...(From southern PA.)



It's sometimes called catawba or "stogie tree". It's easily recognized by the long slender seed pods in late Summer and Fall.


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## lumberjackchef

Fordman99 said:


> sorry guys, just seen a few responses from the north east,(Md.,W.V.) what is "Catalpa" wood? i've never heard of it??...(From southern PA.)




Here is a link that will show some pics of the two major catalpa species:

http://www.treehelp.com/trees/catalpa/catalpa-types.asp


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## BIG JAKE

buzz sawyer said:


> It's sometimes called catawba or "stogie tree". It's easily recognized by the long slender seed pods in late Summer and Fall.



Got a good chuckle out of "stogie tree". opcorn: Wonder what made 'em think of that?


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## Zac

A work buddy of mine says that American elm is the best for carving, but you need to put some type of oil or varnish on it immidiately after carving.


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## buzz sawyer

Zac said:


> A work buddy of mine says that American elm is the best for carving, but you need to put some type of oil or varnish on it immidiately after carving.



Never tried elm. It has an interesting grain - seems like it would be tough to carve. Now that I think about it, I think Peter Toth carved a large one in Wheeling about 30 years ago. I don't recall if he used chainsaws or not. I know he did a lot with chisels and gouges.


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## twoclones

*Elm Carving*



Zac said:


> A work buddy of mine says that American elm is the best for carving



I have carved elm but it sure would be low on my list of favorites. Cedar, spruce and sycamore are all very good carving woods. Both of these pics are carved from the same elm stump. http://www.woodhacker.com/stumps.html


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## andysheffield

Over here (UK) Laburnum is sought after, nice contrast between the dark brown heartwood and light sapwood makes for some funky carvings.


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## carvinmark

andysheffield said:


> Over here (UK) Laburnum is sought after, nice contrast between the dark brown heartwood and light sapwood makes for some funky carvings.



I like woods that have a contrast, as long as they aren't too hard to carve.


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## s7ylin

Basswood has always been the best wood for carving for me. I've only used hardwood a couple times, but my tools aren't that sharp to withstand that much tension.


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## SeMoTony

sawyerDave said:


> *Carving wood*
> 
> Almost any wood can be carved. A favorite around here is catalpa.


From my reading n study bass is the softer easier to carve but will not carry detail as well as catalpa, which is about fifty percent heavier and holds details better .l am trying to find some catalpa trims or drops from tree services around to experiment.


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## SeMoTony

BIG JAKE said:


> Got a good chuckle out of "stogie tree". opcorn: Wonder what made 'em think of that?


One nick name of catalpa is "Indian cigar tree" from the seed pods which open in spring to drop grey light weight seeds. Grabbed a few and placed them around my property. Since all my acres where under flowing water have no faith in that working out this year.


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## Picaso

catalpa is known in the fisherman's world - the particular moth that use them for breeding grounds leave behind a delicatessen for fish. Most people in southern WV call them catawba worms, and they are a favorite live bait for fish. 
Valuable too. 

Im mentioning this because if you are looking for catalpa trees and cant find it, then you might ask a fisherman- he may know of some (maybe just ask him for catawba).

As for carving... if you're carving with power than you could use mahogany, cherry, butternut, or it's more famous (and plentiful) cousin black walnut. I have also carved purpleheart, osage orange, and black locust with power. Since they're such hard woods, the features are crisp and turn out great with a high polish.

If you're carving with chisels and a mallet then go with the woods others mentioned already in this thread plus mahogany and walnut added to the list. 

As for drying... the paper grocery bag method works well. I get extra paper bags at the grocery store for free. I turn pieces green 1/3 of the way or so, and then put it in the bag and weigh it and mark the weight on the outside of the bag ( what the piece is, the date, and the weight) and store it in my unheated garage. Then I reweigh it every two-three weeks to see how it is drying and mark the weights on the outside of the bag too for a record. I finish turn the result when the weight is basically not changing anymore. 

For the impatient and curious- you can also successfully dry new turnings in the microwave. Ive done it and gone from a 6.5" blank of cherry I cut from a stump that day, to finished product that I could bring inside my hvac'd home that night and zero cracking and minimal warping. It takes repeated cycles in the microwave and cooling down. Dont just cook it. This piece was microwaved, and 5 years later zero cracking. 
. It took me 45 minutes total of microwave cycles.

Good Luck


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## twoclones

Here's a piece carved from catalpa. This one is not quite 5' tall and is offal from a 42" diameter log I milled.


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