Has anyone tried carving with arbutus wood? I found this little kitchen utensil made from arbutus and was thinking of trying a little carving.
I've not carved it, but I have handled it as firewood and would advise you to find and work green wood as the dried wood gets iron hard. Ralph
My husband hand carves spoons, and he has made them from madrone in the past (bought a chunk from his favorite woodstore). He said it was hard, but not that much different from good quality maple- his favorite. He usually finishes his carvings with a food grade mineral oil, and the madrone seemed not to absorb much oil in that process.
Re: Carving Arbutus Wood Have a look at this website featuring Vancouver carver Frederick Kay. Almost all of his sculptures are done in arbutus wood. Beautiful work!! Might inspire you to move on to bigger and better things when you get that spoon carved. http://mypage.direct.ca/f/fkay/
