Tips & Advice

Storing your wood blanks

When you receive your order, you may want to store the blanks before using them. You may have seen wood that has split over time and want to avoid that happening to your wood.

As wood dries out it shrinks. If it dries out too quickly and unevenly, stress multiply within the wood to the point where it splits. It is important to store your wood in an unheated, dry environment out of direct sun light or any heat source.

All our woodturning blanks are supplied with a coating of wax covering the end grain. This seals the wood at the point where moisture most easily escapes. It helps maintain a constant moisture level within the blank and this significantly reduces the chance of splitting. Stored correctly, your wood will last indefinitely.

  

What’s the best wood for carving?

Most experienced wood carvers favour Lime. It’s also known as Basswood or Linden Wood. (Tilia americana). The growing tree produces few knots and the dry timber is light weight, stable and relatively soft. This, along with its pale, constant colour makes it ideal for carving.

We are now one of the largest suppliers of individually cut Lime wood carving blanks in the UK and offer wood carvers the opportunity try out different carving woods with our ever popular Wood Carvers Selection Box

When it comes to spoon carving, many carvers like to try other wood species. We offer a wide selection of species in our Spoon Carving Blanks Selection Boxes,  often selecting from as many as 20 different species.