Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. About basswood Basswood is a commonly used carving wood, because it is relatively soft. It grows in North America, moreso in the North-eastern U.S. It has a fairly light color.
How to Buy Basswood can be bought either by the pound, or in board feet. Some stores sell specific sizes, e.g. 2"x4"x8", but since trees are not evenly sized, this may cause some waste. If you find a distributor with randomly sized pieces, this may consequently be a better price, although the differing units make it harder to compare prices.
If it is sold by the board foot, you are buying by volume. One board foot is 12"x12"x1". This is probably before any milling, so keep that in mind if you require planing.
The drying process
Lumber from a tree has a lot of water- it has to be dried properly to be used. When it dries, it shrinks. Air-drying (leaving it out) will reduce the water content of the wood, but not enough to be used in woodworking. Wood used for these purposes is dried further in a kiln, where it shrinks further. Carving woods are thicker than most woods, and consequently harder to dry. Water leaves the outside of the wood first, creating an uneven dampness- the drier of your wood will know how to dry it properly, preventing stress inside the wood, that could be dangerous later on.
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