Question for you carvers

[firstflight]

What do you use to carve you're decoys with hand tools or dremel ?
Whats the best type of wood ?

[Scott R]

I use a knife and a Foredom. A Foredom is light a dremel on steroids.

I power carve the bodies with the foredom and finish with sandpaper. The heads I power carve the crown then knife the rest of it.

As far as the best type of wood. That's kinda like asking a duck what the best shotgun is Everyone has their own wood they are partial to. All work well and make good decoys. I like cork and tupalo. Tupalo is a very light, soft wood that knifes easily and sands smooth. Has very little grain definition so you can knife it in any direction without "chunking" it out by catching the grain. It's also much easier for me to find tupalo in my area of the country.

Other popular woods would be white cedar, basswood, palaunia (sp ??), and sugar pine. I've messed a little with white cedar and like it a lot. I don't care for basswood unless it has been air dried. Kiln dried is hard and doesn't knife very well IMO.

You just have to see what fits your carving style and what wood you can find locally in your area.

[RickC]

I use knives, draw knives, rasp and sandpaper for it all. I do have a dremel but rarely use it. There might be a Foredom in my future but I have felt that for a beginner going to fast through wood is detrimental to the learning process of finding that head, or body in a chunk of wood. The plus side is there is less dust, the down side is it takes longer. It's all about how you want to tackle it.
I've only carved Basswood and Northern White Cedar. Of those two the cedar is a favorite. Very light, carves easily and sands nicely. The basswood I have carved was probably kiln dried as it was pretty tough carving through it. I do have a pretty good chunk of cottonwood given to me by another carver that I will probably get to this coming month and carve up a couple mallards or pintails. Tupelo is one I really want to try but gonna have to save up awhile for that stuff.

[Scott R]

Tupelo is one I really want to try but gonna have to save up awhile for that stuff.

That was one thing I forgot to mention. Tupelo is the most expensive of the bunch. Worth it if it's good stuff...but you can get screwed also if you don't have the opportunity to hand pick your boards. I've had it shipped to me when trying a new supplier and it up be harder and heavier than basswood

[RickC]

And of course you will need bandaids, super glue and or some blood clotting powder. The nail is ripped across but still on.

[Scott R]

Only carve the wood Rick...not your goober tongs!!

I hate cutting fingers. Have skinned them with knives, burrs, and even the bandsaw. Bandsaw incident scared me a little

[RickC]

Only carve the wood Rick...not your goober tongs!!

I hate cutting fingers. Have skinned them with knives, burrs, and even the bandsaw. Bandsaw incident scared me a little

Yeah thats what got me, the bandsaw. A momentary lapse in judgement ( got stupid ) and the blade went into my fingertip.