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...would you experienced guys (Dan excluded!) recommend I carve the heads from?

For keels too?

Particle board

rebelp74 wrote:Particle board

Come on Reb rich folks like you don't use particle board

Redbeard wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Particle board

Come on Reb rich folks like you don't use particle board

Solid mahogany is minimum for Reb

All because I have a boat...

Flightstopper wrote:

Redbeard wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:Particle board

Come on Reb rich folks like you don't use particle board

Solid mahogany is minimum for Reb

and leather

rebelp74 wrote:All because I have a boat...

For the heads you can go all out or low end. Basswood, Tupelo are the most used but I've seen heads carved out of 4x4 pine. The basswood and tupelo have better carving grains but the regular yellow pine can be done.
For keels just about anything can be used but a favorite among some due to its weight is composite decking material. With that you wont need any lead ballast to help self-right.

rebelp74 wrote:All because I have a boat...

No, because you have a HUGE fucking boat.

Aaron, it just dawned on me you would be looking for wood to carve heads for your foam project. On those I'd use balsa. There's a company that has some thats works well for decoys and such. I'll look up the name here in a bit and send it to you.

http://www.nationalbalsa.com/customer_pics_s/256.htm If you go to the bottom of the page you'll see a decoy made out of balsa by Bob Mithchell.

You may want to consider cedar too. Light and easy to carve. Last years traveler was made entirely of cedar. Except the keel, that was some exotic dense wood that I don't remember what I used.

JGUN wrote:You may want to consider cedar too. Light and easy to carve. Last years traveler was made entirely of cedar. Except the keel, that was some exotic dense wood that I don't remember what I used.

That was Massaranduba, pretty heavy stuff

Just picked up a 6'x6"x8" of basswood for the heads per Mean Gene. I woulda had to special order balsa. Guys at Almquist told me bass is nearly as light as balsa.

Suppose I could add a small lead ballast to the keel to help distribute weight if needed right?

Redbeard wrote:Just picked up a 6'x6"x8" of basswood for the heads per Mean Gene. I woulda had to special order balsa. Guys at Almquist told me bass is nearly as light as balsa.

Suppose I could add a small lead ballast to the keel to help distribute weight if needed right?

jr uses maple then uses lead to balance it out, tapes it on first then drills and epoxies it in when he knows how much he needs where

jehler wrote:

Redbeard wrote:Just picked up a 6'x6"x8" of basswood for the heads per Mean Gene. I woulda had to special order balsa. Guys at Almquist told me bass is nearly as light as balsa.

Suppose I could add a small lead ballast to the keel to help distribute weight if needed right?

jr uses maple then uses lead to balance it out, tapes it on first then drills and epoxies it in when he knows how much he needs where

that was exactly my plan. Got a buncha lead laying around

Yep, when you get it all ready setting the ballast wont be a big deal for you.
On the basswood weighing about the same as balsa I will have to disagree with that. Bslsa is much lighter than basswood but is designated as a hardwood.

RickC wrote:Yep, when you get it all ready setting the ballast wont be a big deal for you.
On the basswood weighing about the same as balsa I will have to disagree with that. Bslsa is much lighter than basswood but is designated as a hardwood.

ten 4

Redbeard wrote:

RickC wrote:Yep, when you get it all ready setting the ballast wont be a big deal for you.
On the basswood weighing about the same as balsa I will have to disagree with that. Bslsa is much lighter than basswood but is designated as a hardwood.

ten 4

Balsa is damn near weightless. I bet it weighs 1/10th of what basswood does.

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I exaggerated. Its actually 1/3-1/5 light depending on sap/heart

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Gotcha well I'll be adding a ballast then

Basswood is heavy as crap compared to cedar. A hollow basswood bird will weight more than a solid cedar bird. I got away from basswood because its like trying to carve steel. White cedar or pine is the way to go IMO. I do use basswood for decoratives as it holds a very sharp edge and fine details very well where cedar does not. Use cedar for both heads and bodies. I dont see any point in using a heavier material for the already heavier end of the decoy. It makes it harder to balance on the water.

Ok, I don't have any experience with carving birds, but I do have a question. My only experience with cedar is building decks, but I've found it to be very "stringy", and it doesn't seem like it would be easy to carve at all. Is this a different type of cedar, or is it not "stringy" when bought in something thicker than a 2" board? When you guys talk about carving cedar, I can't help but think "what a pain in the ass that must be".

Northern White and Jersey White cedar is typically what is used for carving. Red cedar is carved by some but can be stringy and is much harder material. Locally and in NC the white is the same as what we call Juniper. I have some NC juniper that was milled from old growth in 1984. Its the best carving wood Ive ever seen. Local cottonwood is also good for carving. I picked up a couple aged logs from one of the Wards and had them milled by a friend. Nice stuff too. I recently cut a TON of white pine which I hear is great carving wood. However, it will be two years air drying before its dry enough to carve.