Uses for Basswood? stickers?

[etroup10]

Hey, I was just wondering what you guys do with any basswood you mill? I don't think there is too much of a market for it in my area. I was thinking it might make good stickers since it is pretty straight grained and I don't think it would stain easily?

[Bibbyman]

It's used by wood carvers to make things like duck decoys.   My son Chris traps all manor of fur bearing critters and makes drying boards out of basswood.

[ladylake]

 Works good for stickers but it doesn't take much to make a lot of stickers.  It makes really nice wall covering, T@G or board and batten.  The dark heartwood contrasts with the white outside wood real nice, also carvers love it.    Steve

[mesquite buckeye]

Another underutilized hardwood. Would be great for any kind of painted millwork not requiring strength. Takes up stain well and has a subtle figure. Some is fiddleback or curly. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[NMFP]

Fur Stretchers.  I saw alot of 5/8" baswood 9" and wider for guys to make stretchers.  Only requirement is to hold a pin and be solid.  Can have knots, pith and so on.

Probably sawn 10-12mbf over the past few years.

Tends to get stringy though on the outfeed side of the band though.

[red oaks lumber]

many many uses. we still use over 100,000 bf per yr. carving stock, wall paneling, fur boards, fillet boards, pine wood derby blocks. when all else fails i suppose you could burn them up into stickers.

[hamish]

There is a very large market for Basswood in high end custom moldings/trim.   

[etroup10]

Thanks for the replies! When we timber our property I should have about 3,000 bdft of basswood to play with. What is the best way to cut for carving stock? maybe as big of a cant as possible, store it then resaw it to whatever a customer specifies? Also, are the markets for carving stock and fur boards pretty strong? I know there is a far amount of trappers in my area but not sure about carvers.

[DaleK]

Depending how many Amish you might have locally they usually like whatever basswood you don't mill for firewood to use for summer cooking.

[mesquite buckeye]

Any pieces that have pith running through it will split. I would recommend either boxing it out or putting it between two pieces or 4 pieces, depending upon the log size.

They also use basswood to manufacture shutters. ;D

[red oaks lumber]

you sure about that buckeye? the splitting part.

[WoodenHead]

A few of the old timers around here say that basswood was often used in place of pine for covering old barns.

[mesquite buckeye]

We cut a bunch for carving wood, up to 8 X 10" by 8' pieces. pretty much every one that had the pith in it cracked. Less if it was near one edge. This was some pretty big, old stuff from S Minnesota, about 3000bf.

[Larry]

The model airplane guys use basswood.  The pros will use different cuts for different parts of the plane.  We would call it plane, rift, and quarter sawn.  They call it something else.  If one of these model guys is trying to set a world speed record they will weigh the wood and test it for strength.  Think $20/bf if you have the equipment to slice it.

Carvers will specify the size they want.  I think the most I shipped at one time was 10 pallets like these.



I had a decoy carver that wanted a certain big size of block and was willing to pay well for that size...he couldn't find it in the usual places.

Takes time to develop a market and quality is foremost.  Run a add on craigslist and you might sell a piece or two....a year.

I'm out of the basswood market since moving to Arkansas.  Plenty of basswood here, just not the good stuff.

[mesquite buckeye]

Super nice stuff, Larry. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[etroup10]

Larry, we've got some nice, tall, straight stuff up here in PA. I would bet a couple of them on our property have 4-16' logs in them.  just have to find a market I guess. Anyone ever sell any on ebay? I see it go for carving and electric guitar body blanks. Pretty good price and shipping is usually paid by the buyer. Bad thing is you have a lot of competition. But I guess there is a good chance to make connections to future customers.

[Larry]

Selling on eBay is how I got started.  I would sell 1-20 carving blocks.  Never made much money and it was a lot of work.  After about a year one of those buyers asked if I could ship him 2,000 blocks.  Within a month he placed another, bigger order.  He also gave my name to another carver.  Just a lucky break.

I also tried the guitar thing but never made it there.  If you had a cnc guy for the inletting...

[etroup10]

Yeah, I was looking at the sold listings on ebay for guitar bodies. Only 23 have been sold since June, but they ranged in prices anywhere from $15-$30 + probably $20 in shipping. I just checked out sold listings for carving blocks. Roughly 25 listings sold so far this month. Definitely seems like there is more of a market in the carving blocks.

[Ron Wenrich]

I cut some for a wood carver who was making duck and goose decoys.  He used 4x6 and 6x8 as well as 2" stock.  His big deal was it couldn't have any pith. 

[Clark]

If you've got any local carving clubs you could ask them if you could show up with some product at their next meeting. Most people would rather buy something like that local and not pay shipping on it.  A limited, local market would, I think, be easy to develop but also probably easy to saturate.  But once you are in with one club other clubs would likely hear about you.

Clark

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Basswood is a bit too soft for stickers.  If originally 3/4", they will lose 1/8" after one or two uses due to compression of the wood.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

The most important use for basswood is for Ra[ala lures.

Basswood is also used for blinds, but the key is proper drying and stress relief.

[GAB]

I was told by a forester 30+/- years ago that basswood was good for building bee hives as the basswood did not impart a taste to the honey.  I can't vouch for it.
I sawed a basswood tree a few years ago into the largest pieces I could handle.  The piece lenghts were determined by the location of the branches.  After roughly a year of air drying I put it back on the saw and resquared the pieces.
Out of the blue in the past 2 weeks I've gotten two calls for basswood.  One fellow was seeking 5" x 8" x ? pieces to carve out large birds.  I did not have any 5" x 8" stock on hand.  Gerald

[etroup10]

Gene, if you were to use basswood as stickers could you cut them a little thicker to compensate for compression? Or would they compress at different rates, which could possibly lead to one side of the stack being significantly lower than the other and not having straight boards?

[Keystone31]

I have a few Basswood trees that I have girdled, just waiting to have space on the ground before I fall them. My original intention was just cutting them into various block sizes to sell on eBay for carving. I see them going in packs of five 2x2x6" and various other sizes. Sell what's common on there, or come up with your own dimensions; someone may want something of that specific size. Here's an site that sells it for carving. $10.50/bf seems like a great deal - if you're on the selling end.

(forgive me if posting this link is a no-no)
http://www.treelineusa.com/materials/basswood