Trying to Source Some Silver Birch logs for carving

[Treeclipper]

Hi all,(not sure If I've posted this in the correct bit ,plse move if not)

This may sound silly, but where do you normally get wood for carving(not spoons ,but cups & bowls), I don’t want to go out & cut a tree down, as that would be a waste, so was wondering where I might be able to source some logs(2ft long by about 5 to 10 inches wide).

I've had a wander round some of my local woods, but there never seems to be anything lying about, i.e. fallen trees or deadfall branches, also not much silver birch or any birch for that matter near where I stay (West Lothian).

I want to carve a couple of Kuksa's for myself & a friend & also an eating bowl for me.

What other wood's are good for carving?

I have carved a spoon (I'll post a pic later when I get home from work) from an old bit of pine, but don't fancy using that for any of my other little projects. I know the Kuksa is meant to be carved from the lumpy malformations found on the silver birch tree, but I thought I could just split a decent log & carve from either half.

I phoned a local tree surgeon to ask if he had any logs he could spare, but he just didn't get what I was talking about & was unwilling to even sell me any( Sounded like I got him at the wrong time as he was severely grumpy lol).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Tree

 

[Shewie]

Treeclipper

Dave Budd had a load of felled birch he was trying to utilise on this thread

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25375&highlight=birch

Maybe you could PM him and get some

Rich

 

[Banjobill]

Another place to look is anywhere that is selling hardwood logs for fires. If you can have a rummage around you can find some nice bits of all sorts of timbers. I've had bits of burr and other nicely figured pieces in the past, but you have to look for it

 

[mr dazzler]

I don’t want to go out & cut a tree down, as that would be a waste.

Its not neceassirly a waste, if you are cutting from a well managed woodland and you or some one else have a use for every thing thats in the felled tree (furniture parts, spoons, bowls, tool handles, kinderling, fire wood etc etc, and also support ways to replant. One reason I am considering a slight change in my furniture making activity is to make use of saplings and thinnings that 99% of the time get made into mulch pulp There is a green eco school of thought that cutting any trees is definately "bad vibes man", this is nonsense. To get wood you need to fell trees. Some methods of wood management actually improve the output of material by regular agressive cutting (ie coppicing or pollarding) so that a tree that would normally reach maturity at 150 years and die off, could live for a thousand years or more, continually producing a good source of renewable fuel and raw materail.
I have always found beech to be a pleasant timber to carve as it has a close even grain (not sinewy like ash or elm) Lime is another relatively soft timber with fine even grain, I have used it to make woodblock prints, you can keep quite fine detail with it. And of course any wood is easier to carve while it is still green (fresh)
Dont be put off by one grumpy tree surgeon, keep trying, also try fire wood dealers, I find them nearly always friendly and helpful. Try to get the wood before they split it up and dried it

 

[Eric_Methven]

Phone the local council offices and get the number for the countryside officer or one of the local rangers. Explain what you want to do and ask them if there's any felling due to be done. There's bound to be some soon, in fact as soon as the leaves drop, they'll be out tidying up their little bits of woodland. Sycamore is prolific everywhere and is classed as a weed these days, especially in areas where they are trying to restore woodlands to native species. Sycamore isn't native to Britiain so many authorities are hoping to eradicate it completely. However, it is brilliant for food use containers such as bowls, spoons, sups, mugs, water buckets etc as it has no smell or taste and won't taint food.

Eric

 

[Treeclipper]

Hi folks ,

Thanks for the advice , I'll try my local council and see if there is any felling being done in the area. My father also told me there are a couple of local woodmills I could try , he''ll show me where they are at the weekend ( so here's hoping - hehe).

On an another note , I went driving round our local area last night looking for some woodland to camp in & think I have found a spot the has old and young Birch in it, so I'll also go in there for a look at the weekend and if I have to chop a tree at least Ill be able to use it to set up a semi perm. camp there as it really looks like no one has entered this wood for a long time. Really thick growth ,but I'm sure my trusty laplander saw & parang will help me out .

I'll let you know how I got on.

Tree

 

[Eric_Methven]

Hi folks ,

Thanks for the advice , I'll try my local council and see if there is any felling being done in the area. My father also told me there are a couple of local woodmills I could try , he''ll show me where they are at the weekend ( so here's hoping - hehe).

On an another note , I went driving round our local area last night looking for some woodland to camp in & think I have found a spot the has old and young Birch in it, so I'll also go in there for a look at the weekend and if I have to chop a tree at least Ill be able to use it to set up a semi perm. camp there as it really looks like no one has entered this wood for a long time. Really thick growth ,but I'm sure my trusty laplander saw & parang will help me out .

I'll let you know how I got on.

Tree

That sounds great, but be careful chopping trees down because the land belongs to someone. What I'd recommend is you make a note of the grid reference and locate the boundaries of the woodland on a map, go to your local Land Registry office and try and find out who the owners are. Write to the owners and ask for permission to use the wood for occasional camping (don't mention fires or bushcraft at this stage). The smaller birch are in all likelyhood self seeded and you could volunteer to remove some of the self seeded birch for them. This would give the larger trees a better chance to mature. The larger trees are known as 'standards' and are the ones intended to be there, all the little ones are it's babies. For the woodland to thrive they should be thinned out. If they ask why you want the birch, tell them it's for arts and craft projects.

Eric

 

[mr dazzler]

I have often scored decent logs at the waste dispoal center's. One time I got 12 inch diam cherry from whessoe road tip, sadly the dork who felled the tree had cut it into neat little 15 inch billets, so it was good for stool leg's at least.
I was driving near Pulham the other day, there was huge piles of ash trimmings where they were refurbing some property, I intend to go back the next few days to get some of that.

 

[Dave Budd]

you're welcome to some of mine if you like, though I doubt you would really want me to post it up to you!

 

[Winston Dover]

Try to get in touch with Network Rail.

I work for them in Lancashire and we recruit staff who control the vegitation around the railways, they trim bushes etc and cut down encroaching trees.

If they have the same up near you then they usually dump the wood or give it to folk who have a need.

I se Birch around the Railway everywhere i go in my job.

If you can't get in touch let me know, I have a few friends up in the Glasgow and Ayr areas who will doubless have contacts in Edinburgh, they may be able to point us in the right direction.