Top 5 Best Woods For Carving--According to a Woodcarver

#wood #aleclacasse #woodcarving
I show you my top 5 favorite woods for carving. Please comment below your favorites!
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[@kallemustonen]

Here in Finland White birch is one of the most common trees. They do make some plywood out of it, but other wise they just grind it to paper pulp. Birch is wonderfull material for woodworker, but it builds fungi easy. That means your birch bench has to stay dry

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[@user-xs6rx1op2t]

my faves Butternut Jelutong Basswood and clear white pine Great carver

[@kristenwilson640]

I appreciate your expertise and knowledge very much! Thanks for being so approachable and putting things in a clear and understandable way. I’m an old grandma just starting to get into carving. No age is too old, right? Thanks for the videos and all the valuable information!

[@americasass]

Thanks for making this! Really loved learning how environmental factors/invasive species affect this craft!

[@MessickGreg]

I was told pine split real easy and had some experience with it but bought some anyway just look at how the grain runs and growth lines. It's still one of the cheapest woods to carve though. Thanks Alec

[@quinntheeskimooutdoors6234]

Nice information, nice work. I made 20 spoons from very small Eastern White Pine trees we had to clear while cutting Maple firewood. I made spoons from the Maple also. Thanks😊

[@embers-cotswold-walks]

Great video, thank you. Have only been carving for a year &, until recently, have been buying basswood. I now only carve wood (fallen etc.) which I collect when hiking. Generally it's Beech or Ash at the moment. It's a learning curve but really enjoy carving something out of local wood.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I love that! Thanks for watching!

[@jessiwalker5283]

Informative! Carved a figurine the other day and I wish I knew what kind of wood it was, I just nabbed it from my firewood haha. Extremly hard but very shiney and beautiful straight grain. It split into such perfect pieces when put through the wood splitter.

[@Werewolfwhittles]

Very enjoyable video, thank you, Alec! You are a great speaker

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thank you very much!

[@greggibson7313]

Thank you. Always informative and helpful!

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks a lot Greg!

[@nospamhere]

As being based in Europe, I got excited when you mentioned birch! (I can also can get pine and maybe some oak, alder, ash) and then got humbled really quickly by it being the intermediate wood. Imported some basswood for first learning experience, but I have my work carved out for me with birch being second!

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Ah! Beautiful! Great to hear from your perspective!

[@seanfaherty]

I recently carved some cotton wood, not the bark. Hard , takes detail well, pretty, grows everywhere around here . I think it's my new favourite

[@FRANKMANGIAPANE]

When I worked in the antique repair industry we regularly carved oak, mahogany and rosewood.Very sharp tools were a necessity!😊

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Wow! Hats off to you sir!

[@ManOfSdeel]

I began today wanting to make a box, and I feel better equipped to begin!

[@simonrisley2177]

Really instructive:thank you!

[@evam.4921]

Very informative! Thank you!

[@tomstadnyk546]

Thanks for sharing your time and experience informing us about theses woods. Love the cottonwood, butternut and basswoods for carving. Plenty of birch in our area but wish I knew of a better source for the pine than old pallets. Your fellow you tube carver Kevin Coates (hope you don’t mind the shout out)uses it exclusively with good result. Again, appreciate your videos.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I will check Kevin out! Thanks for the commentn

[@johncarper3964]

Thanks for this video! Awesome demos

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks a lot John!

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Hope you’re well!

[@trravisty]

its lovely to have 2 birch tress in my back garden

[@charleslamica5123]

In northeast Washington, where I live, we have red birch (also known as water birch) which is a lovely carving wood. It grows close to water and isn't prolific, so I'm very selective about harvesting it, generally searching for trees that have been downed by wind storms or heavy snow loads. My second favorite local wood is vine maple. Close grained, light colored wood that is a joy to carve. Thank you for sharing your opinions on carving woods.

[@opethfantoo3140]

Very informative video And I learned a few things. As power carver, my 5 top woods.. 1) sycamore or spalted sycamore. 2) red cedar. 3) willow. 4) maple or box elder, or if you're lucky, flame box elder. 5) cottonwood bark. cotton wood isn't really readily accessible to me but I found a guy online that lived somewhat local a few years back that sold me a couple wheel barrels full cheap because he had a cottonwood tree he was going to make a canoe out of. Also, although harder to carve, I love mulberry because of the colors and grain once finished with oil.

[@ianbruce6515]

I was given some basswood as a kid (at least that's what I was told it was). I stained something I carved--and was astounded by the intricate grain that was revealed! Fantastic! It looked so bland before staining! And the stain showed just why it is so split resistant--the tangled interwoven grain showed right up. I'd like to try various stains on American Basswood sometime, to see if It always has that appearance. Might have to use analine dye stains. Pigment stains might be muddy. I'll find out.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Dyes are a great choice from what I hear! Good luck!

[@raintamer8121]

Well done!

[@doczoff5655]

Hi Alec, thank you for this really informative video. As a novice carver I'd be really interested to see how you adjust your carving technique for harder woods. I recently did your Christmas tree project in kiln dried birch which I found quite challenging, probably due to rooky mistakes. I suspect I was trying to take too large cuts as it became easier once I started taking much smaller cuts. I also put a lot of effort into initial shaping with the knife before eventually resorting to using a mallet and chisel, which I think was the more practical option. This project also highlighted the importance of maintaining a good edge, I have a Beavercraft knife (which doesn't seem to be generally recommended by experienced carvers) and I needed to strop very frequently, especially while I was doing that tough shaping work. Overall I suspect that these mistakes compounded to make the project much tougher for me so I'd be really interested to see you tackle a much harder wood. I did enjoy carving the Christmas tree and the hard birch resulted in a lovely finish, and more importantly I think I learned a huge amount from my mistakes! :)

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I will try some other woods in the future! Thanks!

[@tomevans4402]

I carve a lot of found wood, the birch I have is hard as heck. I carve a lot of basswood but my local wood company is having trouble getting it. I have harvested cotton wood bark but it’s thin like a inch or more thick, makes great 5 minute wizards. Don’t overlook Occt knives, very nice. Great video.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks for the occt reminder! And cottonwood wood is pretty good too!

[@sharoncollins1879]

Thankyou

[@waltjwinjo8689]

Nice video content and good camera work, another wood which is highly underrated is white spruce, common for construction in Ontario , hello from Canada

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks a bunch!

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

And thanks for the suggestion

[@Werewolfwhittles]

It's interesting, I live in the UK and buy some black walnut and it is a real pleasure to carve. I find it really soft and great for beginners... Sometimes maybe even too soft! But yours looks quite hard on the video. I don't know how to explain this :D

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Ah! I’ve heard that English walnut is much better than American for carving!

[@ianbruce6515]

Paper birch is not a protected tree. A lot of my firewood here in Maine is birch. Nice to carve green! Alaskan Yellow cedar is wonderful! Most cedars are actually Junipers.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks for sharing

[@RobertDealy-tp6ko]

Verygood

[@gabrielagabriela6560]

In my garden, I have a walnut tree, which in the summer of 2020, after the first rain, it stopped even getting leaves. I don't know what really happened. But certainly it was something that affected the tree in that rain. It's just weird. And it's planned to be put down. Greetings from Romania! And Happy New Year!

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Happy new year!

[@toonybrain]

I find Basswood is not good.for detail, but I t’s a great basic carving wood for gnomes and flat-plane work. I came across Buttonwood down here in Florida and find it to be a nice wood to carve and turn. The Boxwood shrub has wonderful carving wood, but they’re slow-growers. Landscapers here in Florida regularly change out landscape plants around gated communities, so if they’re pulling them out to replace them, ask to take their discards. Up north (in the US), any fruitwood is wonderful, but oh, how I love Cherrywood - for whittling, carving, or lathe. My dream wood. The color is beautiful. There’s also Tulip Poplar which is very nice, but more bland in color. Maple is great for detail: spritz your wood with water/alcohol mix to soften as you go. A hard but very nice wood.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Good points! Depends on the basswood too! Love birch for higher detail too!

[@christinehill2782]

I think catulpa wood is also nice to carve, just a little stringy.

[@MessickGreg]

I live in Alabama and there is so much water oak and poplar here so if ya need any I've got abig tree in the backyard. Hard to carve though splits easy

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Poplar is nice to carve too!

[@fembotheather3785]

Another good one is poplar. It's very stable, similar hardness to paper birch and it is easy to find.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

That’s a great one!!

[@beigenectarine555]

Quick Question: does low grain presence mean that carving against the grain isn't very hard to do?

[@stephenmccreery6511]

Red alder is a good 1 2carve as well

[@attakazim3439]

Wao nice workking iam diziner good wark

[@paulsedgwick7060]

Hi, Alec. Thanks for the video! Great information, and your personality shines through. I notice the cuff in your left pant leg. I do that also. Right leg longer than your left?

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thanks so much Paul! I think it was just uncuffed and went unnoticed! One's probably shorter than the other, who knows!

[@digocr]

1.Basswood 2.Birch (why advertise protected wood?) 3.Butternut (protected too) 4.Pine 5.Cedar Shown: Pine, Cedar, Birch, Willow, Walnut, Butternut, Basswood, Cottonwood bark. Thanks for the video It’s so curious to see a Helvie cutting easy like that. I like my Beavercraft but it looks like a whole different hobby.

[@migueltorres6471]

Happy new year 23

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Happy new year!

[@dougmiller9198]

I once had some mahogany... woodcrafter .. Miserably HARD. BUT it made for incredible detail. I did this with some walnut. A WONDER I EVER continued to carve... LOL

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Lol!! Honduran mahogany is one of the best too!

[@terrygwilson9628]

Good video. Thank you. I noticed that you didn’t mention Magnolia. I know why to I just bet you . Too hard. Sure makes for some pretty tiny little mushrooms. 12years est time to do a large one with Magnolia. New subscriber & liker, here.

[@per-olovskogsberg4220]

In Sweden birch is actually the most commonly sold firewood.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Interesting! It makes sense! When I visited Sweden I stayed at a wood stove heated farmhouse and their firewood pile was mostly birch! I actually made a nice carving for the hosts with a piece of it while there! Excellent wood indeed!

[@NorAlb_Chainsaw_Carver]

Paper birch grows like a weed in almost all of Canada and is not protected. Also, cottonwood bark is very similar to balsam poplar bark which grows prolific throughout most of Canada.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Oh cool! Thanks for the info!

[@hughtempleton8640]

We also have birch tree's in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I also think That there protected as well .

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Interesting!

[@carmeserret1516]

Es una lástima que no entienda el inglés por que seguro que sus explicaciones son muy interesantes. De todas maneras gracias.

[@isaacbates6563]

Here in the southwest. The Hopi Native American tribe carve their kachina dolls out of the root of a cottonwood tree. There is cultural reasoning behind why they use the root for their kachina dolls but I have whittled some little things that are not that and the root of the cottonwood carves really nice also.

[@cyclewithsteve6202]

We had some cedar blow over in a storm about four months ago and I cut the trunks into about three foot lengths just to get it out of the way. It’s currently still stacked beside the driveway. Would it be suitable for carving or should it be cut down more first? I tried to use some about six weeks ago and it was still a bit too wet and sappy.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Cedar is pretty stable, you can leave them whole. Just be sure to keep the end grain sealed!

[@elkmeat3151]

dude wrinkled my brain. thank you sir.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Awesome!!

[@gladiator22666]

Hello Alec , love the videos . What is the best sealer to use after painting with acrylic ?

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I use polycrylic!

[@gladiator22666]

@@AlecLaCasseArt thanks Alec 👍

[@craigdudley9739]

in the basswood category you have basswood and lind aka linden. basswood looks more like poplar with the spring summer rings being more obvious than in the lind which visually has little or no grain difference. basswood is a bit more yellow than the lind which is almost white. a hundred years ago they made artificial limbs from lind. the leaves on the tree of both are virtually the same with size being the main difference in that while both are heart shaped with a fuzzy underside the lind leaves are smaller. i prefer the lind when i can get it and since i cut my own firewood, when i encounter a lind with several trunks i gradually reduce the number of trunks saving what i cut that is of sufficient size to carve. the bark of lind can easily be mistaken for poplar.

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Interesting!

[@craigdudley9739]

been carving since i was twelve but though i've got a piece in a coffee table book and have been in several invitational events, i haven't been able to meet your skill level. for point of reference i'm now seventy six and still working. right now i'm working on a bowl in black oak that is about two foot diameter. love your site. @@AlecLaCasseArt

[@donaldmcdaniel1773]

interesting

[@taildragger7355]

Hmm...What about lacewood, or bubinga or snakewood? While hard, the beauty of the product with very sharp tools seems justified and if the product is the destination, easy. ..i'm thinking too hard..ain't i...

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

No, if you have the patience for those woods, by all means carve them!

[@wardbrown4876]

Alec we also use birch for firewood but it is my favourite to carve!!!! Check out Paul BEBEE carving knives from I think upsala Ontario, they are Awesome

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

It's on my online school here:www.aleclacasse.com/online-woodcarving-school

[@lisamcqueen8509]

Give catalpa and pawpaw, a try! Steve

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Love catalpa, haven't tried pawpaw

[@Juhani139]

I'm in South Africa. It's not a big hobby here from what I can tell. Having a heck of a time finding wood. I've used pine mostly and those awful growth rings are hell on my hands. It's like cutting through rock. I'm still looking for a comfortable wood that I don't have to import 😑 I am a woman with small, delicate hands. Is a dremel is better option?

[@Because223]

Old timer trapper and the three bladed rooster tail

[@canadianpatriot9566]

Northern ontario near my cabin lots of white and silver birch

[@dogscratchedoor]

I'm off to find s healthy wood carving knife!

[@leonmorgans4250]

Is white pine construction timber,?

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Yellow, white, and red pine are used as construction timber!

[@jorgeurubatao9413]

Aonde comprar essas facas q vc trabalha. Obrigado.

[@digocr]

Se chama Helvie (EUA), previsão de entrega 16 meses. Se souber uma boa assim no Brasil me conta. :)

[@adamguinnmusic5871]

I didn't know Birch was protected is that all over the country? I live in New York state and there's Birch everywhere

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I don't know! I would give It a google!

[@jimwyatt4294]

Is tupeplo and sycamore a good carving medium?

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Yes!

[@thomasverser2899]

What about palonia? Not sure if I spelled it correctly.

[@katiedotson704]

I was wondering the same. It was brought in the south as a cash crop then proved to be invasive. If you look ip the uses for Pawlonia wood, it’s quite interesting.

[@kelrunner]

I have never bought wood to carve. I use found wood that I gather, so I treasure even small bits of wood and to watch him use wood in such a cavalier way, just chipping wood for examples on his vid...well, I want those small pieces.

[@sharoncollins1879]

What about Alder, or poplar?

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Both really nice carving woods!

[@johnduffy6546]

Yellow pine will make you swear and test your sharpening skills

[@arthurclaymore4995]

Just a note/warning: the way woods are named can be misleading. On the West Coast we have a lot of Douglas Fir. If the Douglas Fir was shipped to the East it was called "Oregon Pine". Common names can cause confusion. Sadly, I don't think we can convince wood sellers to use the Latin names like Pseudotsuga menziesii Lol

[@silentthunder7855]

I carve trees out of 1 X 12 plank… I’ve tried bass, pine and poplar… the branches break too easily and pine has those harder fibers . What’s best for delicate work?

[@saleemaghulam8929]

Sir you are from which country

[@antiphet3696]

Carvehartt

[@supercommando440]

What is a best/recommended wood, offering best balance of carveable but is strong. We want to make a wooden sword (2' long max). We don't want too hard of a wood that will make it hard to cut/sand. HOWEVER, we don't want the wood to be too soft, where the sword will be easy to break. One piece sword... not multiple pieces.. a simple project for 12 yr old

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Hmm, you could get away with using poplar!

[@supercommando440]

@@AlecLaCasseArt where does poplar fall in the range of wood strength? Harder or Softer or mid somewhere?

[@benscoble7346]

Yeah birch isn’t a relative of Aspen/Pop etc. Also Western Red Cedar…it isn’t actually a Cedar, it’s a Conifer called Thuja. None of this really matters. Interesting seeing the US common woods, thank you for your vids

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

You’re totally right! Aspen and poplar are part of the populus family not the aspen family, my mistake! And western red cedar is the colloquial term for juniper! Learned that after I made this video! Appreciate you brining it up! And of course!

[@miguelangelhernandezburgos2428]

😫

[@miguelangelhernandezburgos2428]

... cuáles son...??😢

[@valeriearellano3746]

You are so freakin funny

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

Thank you!!

[@docinparadise]

4 big birch trees just toppled over the riverbank out my back door. As soon as the rain stops I’m going down with my chainsaw 👍🏻

[@miguelangelhernandezburgos2428]

...y en español..😢

[@vendrawks]

Morakniv or nothing.

[@user-ny7wh3gi3j]

To much babbling ✌🏽🌱

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I wouldn’t doubt it

[@jeremiahbacon3651]

sorry i dont trust men that wear crocks especially ones with charms. lol

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

I agree with that statement

[@jeremiahbacon3651]

just giving u shit lol@@AlecLaCasseArt

[@AlecLaCasseArt]

@@jeremiahbacon3651 I appreciate a good roast now and again!

[@Pmm14492]

You are are the walnut, it's quite a hard wood, but you do get nice sharp edges with it

[@Pmm14492]

I would like to show you what I've done out of walnut