advice from carvers

[srhardwoods]

Hello carvers, curiosity question for you. I have a handfull of Tupelo logs that I'm going to saw up this week. I never had the opportunity to carry Tupelo as one of our local larger mills contracted just about all of them, but I have a handufll of them to saw. What is the most common or best size for decoy carvings? Is it okay to leave the pith of the log in the pieces? I specialize in hardwoods, not Tupelo so I'm not sure. Searching online I'm finding all sorts of sizes, but is there one better than the other? I'm going to clip off the bell ends before sawing. Thanks for your help

Chris

 

[PeteM]

I don't know if we have any decoy carvers here.
You might get more input from one of the carving forums.
Here's one to get you started:
http://www.workingdecoys.net/workingdecoysforum/index.php

 

[decoycarver]

I havent been on this site in awhile but I carve decoys. It may be too late to answer this question so Ill make it short. Carvers like light and white wood so cut out the heart and for me personally I get the biggest blocks I can get. Can always resaw into a smaller block

 

[Sealeveler]

I believe the carvers around here like the bell for decoys.May be worth a call or email to the Decoy Carvers Guild in Carteret County for info.
Tony

http://decoyguild.com/

 

[srhardwoods]

Thanks Tony, I'll give them a call. I cut the bell ends off, sealed and sheltered them, cut the logs 3-6" thick, random widths and 10' long.

Chris

 

[Redfish71]

Light and white the bell end has wide growth rings which is a lighter and softer, a lot of carvers like this for there heads.