woodentop

Adrian, Lime wood here in UK is the nearest equivalent to the U.S. Basswood. Most hand carvers prefer Lime as it so easy to work with. My wife bought me a piece of kiln dried 4" x 3" - 10" long from a specialist online timber dealer and paid over £10 for it ..... not incl post & package. If nobody on this sites takes you up on your offer, I would bandsaw half a dozen into 12" blanks (4"x4), photograph them and put them on eBay listed under "Lime Wood" and "Carving Timber" - put a reserve price (maybe £20) and list it for 10 days and wait and see what happens. Dont for get to weigh it though for your p&p costs. You could also list it on Gumtree free of charge. Mention in the details that it is unseasoned. ps -Not sure if you are anywhere near Croyde Bay, but if so and if you have a little space, throw a nice lump in the corner of your shed and I'll gladly pick it up when we come to Devon in July ! Richard

You can borrow the one I carved. It works a treat!!!

Thanks for the reply:001_smile: - I'm sending you a PM Richard.

I wish he lived closer to me! - I've just seen the 52cc chainsaw that was sold for £32.73 being the highest of 26 bids. Not sure which it is but its in Stihl colours

Thanks for that Hog. Mick Stockbridge is just down the road from me, so I'm going to have a look at what he's kindly offered. Without wishing to sound choosy - what sort of size are the pieces? I was hoping to attempt a full size sitting labrador dog. I had a go at carving a little one from a bit of mahogony but would love to try my new saw with a life size one

Mick, PM sent.

Thanks Mick, thats really nice of you. I will try and send you a PM (never used it before so bear with me!!!)

Hi, I'm fairly new to this forum and have recently tried a bit of chainsaw carving.((my attempt is under "electric update" in chainsaw carving section) Would any Kent (Medway area) arb members be able to supply butts about 2 feet in diameter to practise on? - If so, what sort of price would you charge? I am not too bothered about the type or quality as there is no point in paying for quality timber at my early novice stage. Up until now I have only had conifer butts about 9 inches diameter to work on. Please contact me if you can help Thanks, Richard.

A few months back I posted here asking for advice on electric chainsaws. I finally went for the Husq EL321 and have been really pleased with it so far although I have only tried a few little projects. The big benefit for me is the quietness of electric - I have to work in my garage so must keep the neighbours happy. This is an owl I tried. I got up a picture on the internet and using the 'Paint' programme, resized it to fit sideways across my laptop screen and traced over it using a clear acetone A4 sheet. I have just been shown how to link my laptop to my TV - so I can now tape a number of A4 sheets together and trace the patterns across a wide screen TV......... problem is all my wood is only laptop size. I had to use my B&D powerfile to clean up my chainsaw mishaps and small chisel to cut the beak. I know the beak and nose area look like they are drawn on but carved profile didnt show out enough so I had to burn around the detail or the face just looked like a plain flat disc from the front.

A rather strange bird has taken up residence in my nest box!

Hi. I put a post on the 'chainsaw carving' forum here asking for advice on electric saws. I finally went for the Husqvarna EL321. It was a fair bit pricier than the others but was well worth the price. I do have a petrol one for use away from home - but for me, at home, the electric is far better. PRO's - Never runs out of fuel, No excessive noise and no fumes. Nice easy see through oil level indicator. Always starts first time!! CONs - Hardly any. Runs at 15 metres per second (almost twice as fast as some of the other types which were commonly between 9 and 13 mps) I have fitted mine with a 12" carving bar and have been really happy with the results. I have done a few small pieces with it and will post them on the carving forum later.

Well I wasn't going to say in case the others who replied thought I'd just ignored their comments. But thats always the case. If you ask more than one person you're bound to get different answers - sometimes just a case of personal preference. In the end I went for the Husqvarna 321el. My reasoning was that they are always in the top two choices along with stihl in general chainsaw choice. The Stihl was quite a bit dearer on all sites. The Husq had the 2000w power I wanted and its no load speeed was 15.2metres per second, which again was the sort of speed I was looking for....and the price I paid seemed good as it included the vat and delivery. Imight have got it a few pounds cheaper if I continued searching the net but could have gone on forever like that. I didnt go for the Makita because I had read quite a few times about oiling probs, but then again, if you read reviews you normally ony see bad ones. When somebody buys something that they are happy with, they just get on with it and say nothing. When they are unhappy they want to vent their anger they stick it on the internet. I reckon Makita probably sell more leccy chainsaws than Stihl or Husq so its reasonable to assume they get more comments, Well thats my thinking. The only thing I'm a bit peed off with is that the Husq has that "front screw" chain tensioner. You know the one---the one you have to dig out to find under all the sticking damp wood debris and your knuckles catch against the bar when trying to use the screwdriver! . There no chance of it coming now before Xmas, so I will let you know how it goes........... and if its rubbish, you can all say TOLD YOU SO!!!!

Just wanted to say thanks for ALL the replies and suggestions. I have taken them all onboard and researched every one suggested. I have made my mind up and ordered it...... not going to say which for fear of looking like I've ignored others advice. I will try it out when it arrives and just hope I've made the right decision....... I will let you know. Hopefully this "quieter" option will allow me to try a few larger objects rather than my little craftknife jobbies - heres a couple (bit too small to attempt real detail) and it helps if you know what a deers face looks like.

Thanks for the advice. I'm afraid that Stihl & Husqs are a bit too expensive for me. The Makita 240v 2000w (13.3 m per minute) does look like it might suit my needs and my pocket but do Makita make their own quarter tip carving bar or is their another manufacturer whose bars would fit Makita models?

Hi Gus, Thanks for that. I was looking at the Makita's and the 5012b seems to be their weapon of choice as that particular one has a real high speed but all the 'off shelf' ones available seem to come with a standard bar and chain in the UK. The US seem to do the Makita 5012b already fitted wit carving bar but I dont want the expense or hassle of ordering from abroad in case later problems with it.