What wood should I use?

[Kalai]

Hi everyone, I do not do carving but I want to get some wood for my Dad to carve, I want to get some wood to make a cover for a photo album and my Dad is going to do some carving on the cover, I want a wood that looks nice and that is easy to carve, any ideas on what would be a good wood to use? Thanks and aloha.

Chris:icon_thum

 

[CarvedTones]

Basswood or butternut are the woods of choice for carving. The only hesitation I would have is that they are soft and a photo album might get handled enough for them to be dinged up. But basswood would still be my first choice.

 

[ScottM]

Chris, I am not a carver but I have been doing some reading on it. Anyway this URL might help.

http://www.carvingpatterns.com/c-wood.htm

 

[CarvedTones]

That is a great list! I thought about suggesting walnut if dark wood is a good option (though you can find it fairly light colored) but hesitated for the reason mentioned in the description in the linked page - it is pretty much a mallet wood. But it is tougher and would hold up to handling well. Basswood isn't balsa; it holds up pretty well. But the outer edge is likely to pick up a few dings. In fact, thinking it over, my top choice for a photo album cover would be basswood trimmed with a really hard wood (bloodwood would look awesome).

 

[ccccarving]

Andy is right in my experience Basswood. Trim it out with a hardwood after carving.

 

[Kalai]

Hi guys, thanks for all the info and ideas, I will get my Dad started on it as soon as I get the wood, aloha.

Chris