Wood for carving advice

[Echoes of the old ways]

Hi
Can anyone tell me what Willow wood is like for carving?
got access to quite a lot of it just now.

Also I've whittled from silver birch before so I know I can work with that.
But what are other woods like? are there ones which are better to work with?

Thanks

 

[woodspirits]

hiya, you might try green hawthorn for smaller whittling projects, but lime is a firm favorite

 

[robin wood]

The willow family is very broad and variable but most carve well so long as you have nice clean grained sections. Ideal wood for learning spoon or bowl carving. A bit on the soft side for eating spoons but makes excellent cooking spoons.

 

[PhotoGirl]

Like woodspirit said, lime wood is good for a beginner as it is easy to carve and normally has a very good grain.

But to some extent it depends what your wanting to do. Is it a sculpture or like said something like a bowl or spoon?

 

[Echoes of the old ways]

Hi
Thanks for posting back.
Think I'll be trying some of the wood spirits mentioned in a recent post and want to do some little mother earth goddess things too.
small at first but maybe larger later... did fancy a try at a bowl or spoon too, but I think that will have to wait till later.
Find my feet first.
Don't have any lime around us here, but do have plenty of good willow and should be able to get Hawthorn too.
BTW we got handfasted under a Hawthorn so it'd be kind of cool to work with that for sentimental reasons
thanks for info

 

[ex-member Raikey]

i recently scaled a knife with hawthorn root,...

a tad plain but nice enough to work,...

 

[SOAR]

For bowl or spoon carving Willow will be ok, it can split though so be carefull when carving bowls from it.
For the Wood Spirit carving Ash is really good when seasoned or you could try Hazel, which will carve well seasoned or green.

 

[bikebum1975]

I have been getting into carving myself and played around with Willow a bit very nice to work with just make sure your blades are kept nice and sharp.