Newbie

[GWW805]

I am new to carvig and should be getting my machne next wek. What is the best wood to carve? Thanks for the advice.

Greg

[Kenm810]

Hi Greg,

Welcome to the CW Forum

You can carve nearly any type of wood you like,
But the harder, tight grained woods are the best.
I personally like Cherry, Hard Maple, Red Oak.
I also do some of my less detailed signs and plaques from Poplar and select Pine.
Another nice wood is Red or Western Cedar -- it's a little soft and can be prone to chip-out,
but a sharp bit and a little Draft added to the text or fine lines will take
care of most of that on any type of wood you decide to use.
Read all you can on the form and ask questions,
But remember most of all have Fun carving. :wink:

[GWW805]

Where do you guys get your woods? Do you order off of the internet? Who has the best prices?

[Kenm810]

I get some of my wood at the Rockler or WoodCraft Stores,
but mostly from local Lumber yards, I Like to actually see in advance
what a buying and paying for. :cool:

Ps. Some folks that do order wood on-line
fine that the shipping cost can be prohibitive

[b.sumner47]

Hi Greg, I also like to see my wood that I'm going to carve. I like to incorparate the grain in my carving, goes a long way sometime. Welcome Aboard. Thanks Capt.Barry.

[lawrence]

Welcome-- it helps to know where you live-- I get all my wood from the sawmill or from wood/lumber retailers

Lawrence

[CarverJerry]

Welcome aboard Greg, as you will see this forum will guide you in the right direction for what ever needs you have. As far as wood, with the large learning curve ahead I would do one project at a time, what I did to get my feet wet was get some select pine from Lowes or HD and once I was happy with my carve then I would carve in something else if I wasn't happy with the pine. It (pine) stains fairly nice, is light and carves well. Now don't let the fuzzies freak you out into thinking something is wrong, all woods will give you some fuzzies, just some worste than others. The carving right out of the machine will always need some hand finishing but with the right tools it will go easy. Good luck and happy carving.

CJ

[robbrigg2]

Welcome... and learn from my mistake... learn maintenance early on....

As far as wood, I love to carve on hard woods... maple is very nice, cherry, cypress, oak, and many others carve very nice. I get some of my woods, especially the exotics from Rockler or local hardwood lumber yards. These are local so I never order on line. I also get a great price on some rough sawn cypress from a local pallet manufaturing company. I have to square and plane it but it is well worth the time because I get it for about .65 a sq ft and the wood is beautiful and stains very well.

Poplar is also a pretty wood and compartivly cheap. Pine, can carve ok but has a lot of pitch and requires more cleaning of the machine then normal....

Hope this helps.

[GWW805]

You guys are great and offer sound advice. I really appreciate your support and look forward to reading your blogs and staying in touch.

I wish everyone a great day........................

[CarverJerry]

Just another piece of advice, get yourself a good vac system hooked up to your machine, not a shop vac and invest in the rock chuck, it will save you a lot of headacks.... just my 2 cents worth.......again.

CJ

[Icutone2]

Welcome to the forum! Happy carving.
Lee