preping bass wood?

christian brown

christian brown

New member
i know a guy who does a lot of tree service on the side, and he's getting ready to cut a linden tree down which is about 70 ft and is still very alive. he approached me about buying it. i've always used bass wood for my heads but have never had to do the prep work for it to dry. i'm wondering if this is something that i should mess with or if its going to be a pain? if anyone has any advice i would love to be able to stock pile a bunch of it!
 
If you know of someone who can mill it for you and you have a space to sticker and dry the boards, then I say go for it. Just make sure you seal the ends good. If not, then it may be more of a pain for you.

When you say Linden, do you mean American basswood or one of the street trees? At 70 feet tall, I imagine it’s an American. Just wondering because I’m not sure of the carving qualities of the other Linden species.
 
Chris
I've cut basswood in my woods into blocks, covered them for 2 years and ended up with wood that isn't even good for a wood fire. You might have them planked with sticks and dried inside but I found I can purchase basswood from a mill for little money and save the time and hazzle. Just my 2 cents.
wis boz
 
My experience with basswood is that first, I'm not a big fan of it for working decoys especially for bodies, and second that when sawing up a tree the yield of good usable wood is low. Lots of variations in density even in the good wood. Everything from rock hard to almost balsa. A yard tree that doesn't have to compete with other trees for light, nutrients etc will yield a much lower quality wood than a forest tree due to its rapid growth. In the event you decide to have it sawn, avoid both the heart wood and stay clear of the sap wood, anchor seal the ends, sticker it and have it kiln dried.
 
In the event you decide to have it sawn, avoid both the heart wood and stay clear of the sap wood, anchor seal the ends, sticker it and have it kiln dried.
Click to expand...

Other than the heart and sap wood, what's left?

Mike
 
Thanks Mike, I did misspeak

The words I should have used were sap wood and pith, What I meant by heartwood was actually the pith.
 
Christian

My $.02 would be that life is too short to carve wood, especially for heads, that you have to struggle with. Finding nice light soft Basswood that doesn't fuzz is a challenge sometimes. That's getting it from sources that think it's the cream of the crop that they are selling. I would guess that if you cut your own it may be very heavy and hard.

Now I know it will cost money, maybe a couple dollars a head, but using good carving wood for heads is a joy. It beats fighting harder woods and getting fruststrated. Getting your carving to look the way you want is part skill, but it is also a product of the right tools, and the right materials...
 
well it seems that this is would be quite a project, expecially since i really dont have any free time right now! the guy said he would give me some of the wood for free now, so i think i'm going to stick a littlle of it away just to try it. anyone who knows me knows i hate throwing stuff away, but at the same time just like you said it isnt really worth it to fight things if not necessary. thanks for all the advice guys, maybe il get lucky and the stuff i do keep will turn out ok!
 
I'll take basswood over cedar any day of the week.

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