Actually, if you go deeper into the types of wood thematics, you will find that it is much more interesting than you thought. Each of these types of wood, and then different kinds of species among them, has a specific purpose in furniture, building, and wood carving industries.
For example, most beginners are recommended to start with basswood as it is easy to work with, while basswood is in fact — a hardwood! The same goes with some other hardwoods such as butternut and aspen. The difference between softwoods and hardwoods reflects the tools as well. There is no final answer to the question of which is the best wood to whittle. Every wood is a good wood for carving some kind of project.
We choose the type of wood based on our needs at the moment. What is your skill level? Do you have appropriate tools for processing hardwoods? What is the size of your desired project? Which property of your design would you prefer to highlight — plasticity, color, durability, or woodgrain? What is your budget at the moment? Once you know answers to these questions, and once you learn more about the characteristics of each wood species cherry, acacia, basswood, etc.
If you are an experienced craftsman, with skillful hands and appropriate power tools, then you want to show your artistry to the world by taming l pieces of wood as hard and as beautiful as maple or oak. The first group of woods is called hardwood. This type is basically trees that have broad leaves. The typical representatives are maple, oak, mahogany, walnut, hickory, alder, beech and others. They grow in different climate zones. This type of wood has an enormous variety of appearance, density, and strengths.
Harder kinds can be used in building and making furniture. High-density hardwood is long-lasting and has good fire resistance. Hardwood is generally more expensive than softwood because it grows more slowly. High density. Fire resistance. Decay resistance. Easy to maintain. Grows slowly. Difficult to cut. Softwood is the wood produced from trees that have needles or cones instead of leaves.
It generally is less dense than hardwood. Softwood is represented by cedar, pine, fir, redwood, spruce. The other advantage is that this wood is more resistant to insect attack than hardwood.
But because of lower density, this timber has bad decay and fire resistance. The production of sticky saps may also influence on the comfort of working with it. Easy to cut. Grows fast. Not expensive. Resistant to insects. Low density. Not resistant to fire. Poor decay resistance. Sticky sup. Difficult to maintain.
Wood carving can be done on the hardwood as well as softwood. Not all hardwood has high density and is difficult to work with, the same as not all softwood is really soft and suitable for hand carving. Let us look through the several most common species of wood and discuss their properties in regard to wood carving.
There is a tree and also a shrub called acacia. They are both used for handcraft. Acacia is of fine quality and is preferred for turning works because the wood is hard and strong. The timber is yellow, yellow-greenish or olive-green, and its annual growth rings have a clear appearance. It is also preferred for creating miniatures. This wood is strong and water-resistant.
Use paraffin wax to finish your project from acacia. Hawthorn wood is very solid, it is expensive because of the many qualities that it possesses. This timber is suitable for delicate carvings. Old trees have a reddish or reddish-brown color of its wood and the young ones are of yellowish color.
Beechwood grows in Europe, Asia, and America. This type of wood is strong and heavy. I live in Labrador Canada and the selection of wood is very limited. Tags: None. Re: Carving with aspen or poplar Hello, I've carved with both poplar and aspen. Of the two aspen is a favorite of mine--carves like basswood and I love the color variations.
Poplar, for me I'd use my powercarver next time--it might have been just the wood but man it was hard! I used it for a small relief carving and cussed the whole time I was working on it. Now, after my comment hopefully someone will come along and give you a good report on their experiences with Poplar. Comment Post Cancel. Re: Carving with aspen or poplar Aspe and poplar are from the same family. Very similar characteristics. Re: Carving with aspen or poplar Thanks guys.
I tried uploading a pic of the tree which i carving from but don't seem to be working. Re: Carving with aspen or poplar I've carved my share of poplar. Its sort of a soft hardwood if that makes any sense. Carves fine but I don't find it as stable as birch when it starts to dry out. You must have some birch in your parts. The other thing I find about poplar is that its grain doesn't take oil very well.
Moreover, you can get good detail while using this wood for carving. A widely-used variety of poplar is yellow poplar , and you can get it at most home improvement stores and leading lumber yards.
Using poplar for carving follows a tradition since ancient times with some of the native tribes from the East Coast. By carving with this wood and following the style of these tribes, you can be part of that tradition. Poplar also finds its place in many contemporary carvings, and you can find some incredibly intricate relief work in poplar as part of buildings or on furniture.
Poplar also responds well to machining, so you can enhance your carvings by adding some machine work, especially with sanders and routers. Some woodworkers feel that poplar is challenging to work on. If you use suitable and appropriately sharp carving tools, you can achieve satisfactory results. Others express the opinion that the color of poplar needs much to be desired. But some sculptors swear by it. In fact, they say that it is their favorite wood and feel that poplar if finished properly, can take on the appearance of any wood that you want it to.
For instance, you can make your finished carvings look like walnut , oak or cherry , depending on the type of finish you apply. If you take your cuts too deeply, you may end up cracking the wood. If you are careful, you can create some fine-looking carvings with poplar.
To summarize, here is a list of pros and cons that you can consider when using poplar for wood carving:. If you are a beginner and you want to do wood carving with poplar, you can give it a go. There are specific steps that you can follow to do poplar wood carving effectively. Do not hesitate to give it a try. Being a woodworker, it may turn out that you have a flair for it.
To get you started, here are a few steps to follow:. One of the tried and tested ways of starting a sculpture is to make a sketch of what you plan to sculpt.
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