Thursday, August 13, 2009

OPEN POST Thursday!

Well, Today's post. is pretty basic, obtaining carving wood. Tom H is still out of pocket, i waited till now to post a subject, hoping tom would post from his alternate location, but no Tom, seams then gals and grandchildren has him hostage! I finely got in my 50 pounds of wood from Heinecke Wood Products, hope the bill aint that hefty... fast delivery since last friday nice thing bout dale, he sends the order then bills you on the next billing cycle... i dont think you can get wood from him by paying the day you order unless you find him at a carving show... how do you buy your wood? practice sticks only? some blocks? I have been buying large blocks 3 or 4" thick x 7 or 8"wide x 12" since i got my bandsaw, so i had the choice of what i wanted to carve when it comes down to them days when i need to make an order, i still have at least one big block i can carve out a big horse or multi charter scene project still,. and not have to be forced to glue up a bunch of practice sticks to get enough wood, then there's the grain problems as they change direction at the glue lines Itasca has some great prices on overstock and half priced wood, besides basswood, there are other woods available for carving, butternut being one, Iv'e only carved butternut once, and found it wanting to tear out more than basswood or cypress knee, Although knowing conditions like wood wetness make lots of difference in carving performance i cant judge all butternut by the piece i carved. Herold Enlow once mentioned in one of his books that air dried wood was a little harder to carve than kiln dried? I dont know anything about it, but definitely have found differences in wood of the same species.. any other experiences out there? any sales out there? or different types of wood to carve?

7 comments:

hwallen48 said...

thomp
i have never bought from heinecke before, would they sent it to me then bill later for a 1st time buyer??

Hal

Thomp said...

Hal, the first time i bought i sent an email to them with my order and billing address, and i received the best basswood i ever got to carve,
i didn't know anybody there..

im nobody special

JimB said...

Thomp, sure yer special!
And yes for anyone Heinecke ships then bills

Thomp said...

Special, humm
i guess so, got the bill today,
well my math was wrong.. 8.3 bd ft.?
$62.56

momma said happy birthday, and i cant go shopping alone no more

Marcia said...

I buy my basswood from him too! This last order was just 12x12x1 inch and 1/2 inch by 6 inch for ornaments. I think I'll do that order again adding in some bigger blocks. I still have a half a box of 2x2x12's I do my dolls out of. And 10 pcs of 3x4x12 inch blocks.

With two bandsaws , one in the barn (16 inch) and the smaller one (9 inch) on my table in the back room I can cut the smaller pieces as I need them. :D Well.. hubby can. He likes that job. LOL

Today I was shopping for my Christmas present.. another set of tools from Flexcut. Found out I need some smaller gouges.

Marcia.

Tom H said...

I decided to take Heinecke Wood Products up on their special cuts/sizes. I just received a box of 1/2"x1/2", 3/4"x3/4", and 1"x1" all 24 inches long for my small carvings. Couldn't beat the price, nor the quality and service..

Robert Cahill said...

Have not purchased from Heinecke yet but hope to when I have money saved up.
I was in Albuquerque a couple weeks ago and visited stocks wood store to get some baltic birch ply and they had a wood bin that was $2.50 for a bandfull so I had my daughter hold out her hands and loaded them up. I got four or five blocks of what I think is popular they were at least 1 1/2 inches thick and 12 " long. I'm carving a mailbox from one and its a bit harder than basswood but still not too difficult to carve.
Just joinee a carving club and they have some basswood members can purchase at cost.( I think they get it at Heinecke )
Robert