Wood For Carving

We supply wood for carving in the following species: Basswood, Jelutong, Butternut and Tupelo.

One of the most popular woods for bird, fish and animal carvers because of cost and carvability. It can be easily worked with power tools, too. All of our Basswood is top quality Kiln-dried Northern wood. Available in thicknesses from 2-5"; random widths up to 8 or 9". Basswood in 5" thickness is subject to availability. Available on our online store.

A favorite of wood pattern makers, Jelutong is very even-tempered and carves beautifully with hand or power tools. It sands very easily, too. It is slightly more open-grained than Bass or Tupelo, making it ideal for natural finish carvings as well as birds, animals, and habitat. A member of the rubber tree family, Jelutong will occasionally have small latex "canals" inside the wood which can result in a small void (generally around 1/16"x1/4") that can easily be filled with a small wedge or chip of jelutong. All of our Jelutong is premium grade, between 2x6" and 4x12" in any length you want up to 10 feet. Available on our online store.

A very beautiful wood, easily carved by hand or power tool. Butternut is a member of the Walnut family. It has gorgeous grain, making it very popular for natural finish carvings. Butternut is now listed as endangered and is at high risk of extinction in Canada due to the impact and potential impact of a fungus disease that infects and kills Butternut trees. We sometimes have a small quantity of Butternut available when a tree needs to be removed under permit.

Tupelo is the wood of choice for most competitive carvers. While it can be worked with hand tools, it is best worked with power tools. It is light weight, sands very smooth, and takes very fine detail well. Our Tupelo is hand selected to our specifications and sold in blocks of 3, 4, 5, or 6 board feet. Tupelo has been difficult to get recently

Wood is sold by the measured board foot (MBF). One MBF is equivalent to a piece of wood 12"x12"x1" thick, or 144 cubic inches. To establish the MBF of a piece of wood, you multiply the length x width x thickness and divide by 144. For example, a piece of wood 4"x6"x14" = 336 cubic inches divided by 144 equals 2.333MBF. At 5.65/MBF, a piece of Basswood this size would cost $13.18.

Because most of the wood we stock is pre-cut, we may not be able to get the exact measurements you need but we will come as close as we can. Please call or e-mail us for availability of other sizes and varieties.

We sell select dimensions of Basswood and Jelutong online in increments of 1 inch with a minimum length of 12". The price includes shipping and the shipping is separate from any other items you purchase. Maximum length we will ship is 60 inches (5 feet), if you order more than 5 feet we will contact you before cutting into shippable lengths.

The Prairie Canada Carving club from Winnipeg has been actively promoting carving for over 25 years. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their show they have published this pattern book with over 30 original patterns by award-winning carvers. The patterns cover a wide range of subjects from birds and animals to chip carving, relief carving and intarsia.

The Maxima 80 offers an upgraded power supply for unmatched torque control. It’s unique torque adjustment allows you to increase or decrease torque as desired. The all-metal case and heavier control circuit/transformer are designed to give you many years of service even with extensive use.

Download the latest Razertip Pyrographic Tools Catalogue #R19.