Nice soft wood for carving?

[USslugga]

I'm looking to get into whittling/carving as a hobby.  When I lived in America, I could just go outside and grab some fallen branches for good whittlin' material.  In Thailand, it's not so easy.  

 

Any ideas where I can get some cheap soft wood blocks for carving?

[sometimewoodworker]

38 minutes ago, USslugga said:

I'm looking to get into whittling/carving as a hobby.  When I lived in America, I could just go outside and grab some fallen branches for good whittlin' material.  In Thailand, it's not so easy.  

 

Any ideas where I can get some cheap soft wood blocks for carving?

Softwood in Thailand isn't cheap as it's not native. You don't say where you are or what size of material you are looking for. 

 

In our area you can buy young (2~3 year old eucalyptus for about 100 Baht from the land owner, there are many places selling cut lengths, often for building props.

 

You can go to a building site and see if they will trade fo a bottle of LaoKao,

 

If you want small green wood then find someone who's pruning their garden trees.

 

if you happened to be near me I have a couple of tons of seasoned eucalyptus that I'm working my way through, everything from twig sizes up to small trees. A reasonable amount would probably be free, or minimal trade.

 

this is some I cut yesterday 

[bankruatsteve]

Don't know if mango tree is good for carving but the wood seems "soft".  ??

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, bankruatsteve said:

Don't know if mango tree is good for carving but the wood seems "soft".  ??

Not very unless it's green though it is softer than eucalyptus at about 1,420

Quote

Being a hard wood, mango's hardness is measured to be 1,070 pounds per foot (4,780 Newtons) on the Janka Hardness Scale, making it between Mahogany and Oak in terms of hardness.

https://www.bellforestproducts.com/info/janka-hardness/ for more information 

 

rubberwood is at 960, some mango is the same.

 

Of course if you can get Balsa it is the softest hardwood at 100

Edited September 17, 2019 by sometimewoodworker

[bankruatsteve]

There must be 100's of mango spieces, the 3 in my yard each different.  Just from pruning, those are no where near oak in hardness.  Maybe your guide is for northern parts with sturdier mangoes? 

[sometimewoodworker]

5 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

There must be 100's of mango spieces, the 3 in my yard each different.  Just from pruning, those are no where near oak in hardness.  Maybe your guide is for northern parts with sturdier mangoes? 

The scale usually relates to seasoned heart wood and your pruning will be green wood and probably all sapwood.

 

Quote

Scientific Name: Mangifera indica

Distribution: Tropical Asia and Oceania

Janka Hardness: 1,070 lb_f (4,780 N)

 

[eyecatcher]

3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Softwood in Thailand isn't cheap as it's not native. You don't say where you are or what size of material you are looking for. 

 

In our area you can buy young (2~3 year old eucalyptus for about 100 Baht from the land owner, there are many places selling cut lengths, often for building props.

 

You can go to a building site and see if they will trade fo a bottle of LaoKao,

 

If you want small green wood then find someone who's pruning their garden trees.

 

if you happened to be near me I have a couple of tons of seasoned eucalyptus that I'm working my way through, everything from twig sizes up to small trees. A reasonable amount would probably be free, or minimal trade.

 

this is some I cut yesterday 

Eucalyptus is beautiful, and my neighbour has built his 10k bt house from it.

After 4years I can see its much better as a termite resister than regular hardwood.

What are you planning todo with those cut planks?

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, eyecatcher said:

Eucalyptus is beautiful, and my neighbour has built his 10k bt house from it.

After 4years I can see its much better as a termite resister than regular hardwood.

What are you planning todo with those cut planks?

I don't have any project in mind at the moment but if they go through the thicknesser with no problem and don't potato chip they will probably be about the correct size for a small box or two. 

 

I do have a lot more but as they just dried as logs many of them have shrinkage cracks, but as they were free I'm not going to throw them out. I may even find some more that are in as good condition as the one I cut yesterday.

 

the majority of eucalyptus around here is either pulped, there's a paper mill nearby, or used for concrete props.

 

As to termites they seem to love the thin stuff.