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What wood is easiest to carve?

Basswood blanks Basswood blanks can be found easily and are a great wood to start learning to carve on, since it is malleable and inexpensive. Aspen is another white wood that is quite popular among woodworkers. It's stronger than basswood but is still quite soft, so it is fairly easy to use for carving.

hardwooddistributors.org - Top Hardwoods for Carving
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What is the best wood for carving?

Wood comes in many species and it is important to know each woods’ individual characteristics. Each wood has different texture and wood qualities that dictate how the wood will respond to wood carving. Wood carving can be an incredibly rewarding and positive hobby, and it eventually can even become a career. It is one of the oldest crafts in the world and is both functional and artistically beautiful. Nearly every wood on earth can be used for carving, which gives the craft a huge abundance to choose from, and at times that can be overwhelming.

BASSWOOD

Basswood is the most popular choice wood for beginners. This is a white wood grows throughout Europe and the Americas. It’s been used in woodworking for centuries. Basswood has almost no grain and is very soft, making it ideal for new woodworkers. It is also popular in lower cost musical instruments, making up the bodies of some woodwinds, and electric basses and guitars. Basswood blanks can be found easily and are a great wood to start learning to carve on, since it is malleable and inexpensive.

ASPEN

Aspen is another white wood that is quite popular among woodworkers. It’s stronger than basswood but is still quite soft, so it is fairly easy to use for carving. Aspen is readily available and inexpensive.

BUTTERNUT

Butternut is another good wood for beginner wood carving. It is browner than basswood or aspen and has a nice grain. It is related to walnut but is lighter in color and can be carved easier. Like black walnut, butternut polishes quite nicely, and is also a good choice for furniture. It is a much softer wood, so this wood is also friendly for beginners. Be prepared for wormholes when working with butternut.

BLACK WALNUT

Black walnut is a popular choice. It is more expensive than basswood, aspen and basswood. It should be carved using sharp tools and a mallet for the best results. Walnut has a rich color and grain that has made it popular for a wide range of products, including furniture and gunstocks.

OAK

Oak is also a popular wood for carving, with a range of features that make it almost ideal. It is a strong and sturdy wood. The grain of oak is very defined and is also a favorite woods used for making furniture. The type of carving you do will influence the type of wood which is best to use. A power carver will often use different wood than a hand tool carver. With power you can more easily carve a hard wood and get great detail while the same hard wood might be very frustrating for a hand carver. So choose accordingly.

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How many ground rods do you need for a detached garage?

You need 2 grounding rods at least 10' apart. Do not use a 60A panel in the garage; they have too few spaces in them to be useful.

Yes, you will need grounding rods in addition to a wired ground wire in the feeder.

You need 2 grounding rods at least 10' apart.

Do not use a 60A panel in the garage; they have too few spaces in them to be useful. Use a panel with at least 16 spaces; it costs very little more and you'll want the spaces later. The size of the main breaker in the garage panel does not matter, since the 60A breaker at the far end will decide the matter. You need some size of main breaker, because you need a local disconnect switch - and that's the cheapest way to do it. As far as going 120V instead of 240V, I think that's false economy. You still need to run hot, neutral and ground. The other hot is only one more wire - but doubles your capacity. So crimping yourself down to 120V is false economy. Speaking of false economy, nothing busts me up more than seeing someone scrimp on a tiny panel or bring out only 120V service "on the logic of saving money", and then turn around and spend a fortune on copper wire because they heard aluminum was ooga-booga. All that's wrong. What you should do is get a big panel, run 240V and use aluminum wire to save money. Aluminum at these large sizes is fine, and always has been. The lugs are aluminum, for Pete's sake.

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