Carving wood

[DWM II]

I cut down a black gum yesterday and I recall hearing that they were used as carving stock. Does anyone have any experience with this? wanting to know what size is common, is the sap wood desirable or does it need to be just heart wood? As usual any and all advice will be utilized! Also so us your carving pictures!

[Tom]

I got caught up in that about 15 years ago or so.  I had a friend, since deseased, who carved birds.  He asked me for Tupelo.  The carving wood is Water Tupelo, as it turns out.  He just said Tupelo and explained that it had to be the wood from the swollen butt of logs grown in a wet spot.   I told him that I had Black gum swollen butts by the truckload and would give him some.  I took him a heaping pickup load of them.

As it turned out, Black gum was the wrong tree.  Black gum is quite hard and Water tupelo butts are soft.
He burned the black gum in his wood stove untill it was gone.

I've used Black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) for stuff since and it makes some pretty good beams if used inside, but it's difficult to dry straight. It's also used for the inside structure of cheap cabinets.  I even had a friend that discovered that it worked (green) as good concrete forms for serphantine walkways, etc., because it was so limber.

But, for carving, the wood is Water Tupelo butts (Nyssa aquatica). 

[ARKANSAWYER]

  There are some who carve black gum.  It is one of the most requested woods for those who carve ducks and they make the reeds and grass blades from it.  It is a little harder then the water tupelo.  Both are hard to split and weight about the same and look the same.  The leaf of the water tupelo has slight sclups to the edges and the berries are more grape shaped.  The black gum leaf is smooth and the fruit is round.  I have found the growing side by side in the same water and on ridges
  The black gum will spalt and is softer to carve then.

[SwampDonkey]

So how's the decoy carving coming along?  ;)

[DWM II]

I dont think youd want me to carve any of it, I'm afraid all youd end up with is a bunch of shavings! But I do a friend who will get it to fool around with. ;)