For some people, wood carving is a profession and for others, it’s a pass time. It doesn’t matter what you choose it as, however, the thing that matters is doing it well. You need to respect this art and be able to give your 100% to create carved objects that will astonish your friends, family, or the world.
Best Woods for Carving
To help you with this specific problem, we bring you a buying guide in which we shall discuss the woods that you can easily get from the market. These woods are the best for carving and optimizing the delicate points of your artwork.
Let’s begin our buying guide with the first product on the list.
1. Arteza Basswood Carving Blocks
The blocks are made up of natural Basswood, which provides an extremely smooth and consistent surface and makes it easy for you to carve. The wood is also quality checked by the company to ensure no errors or defects are passed to you (errors that might delay your artwork).
Lightweight and easy to manage, these are the qualities that make this product stand out. The lighter weight of this product will ensure that your tools easily carve the blocks and make the most out of them in any situation. It also makes them portable.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Basswood
- Size: 1 block of 4 inches x 2 inches x 2 inches and 4 of 4 inches x 1inch x 1 inch
- Product Dimensions: 4.6 inches x 4.4 inches x 2.4 inches
- Weight: 11.2 ounces
- Brand: Arteza
Pros
- Fine quality
- Durability is promised
- Lightweight
- Easy to use
- Comes in a set of 5
- Smooth Surface
- Money-back guarantee
- Quality Checked
Cons
- Limited size options
- It is not available as a single unit
- Not the best option to carve larger artwork
2. Joe Paul’s Basswood – Beginner’s Premium Carving Blocks Kit
Made out of natural Basswood, this product also ensures a fine quality. This product makes sure that it provides a surface as smooth as silk. The wood comes in a clear cream color, which makes it easier to paint and show the delicate details.
The company guarantees that its wood blocks are 100% basswood, the highest quality available on the market, and they also assure its superior quality against its competitors.
If you still are not satisfied with the quality, the company offers a 100% money return policy. This is an amazing offer for people who are reluctant to try new products.
Furthermore, this product is available in two sizes, which are mentioned in the specifications down below.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Basswood
- Size: Available in 2 Sizes ( 4 x 4 x 2 inches & 6 x 6 x 2 inches)
- Weight: 9.2 ounces
- Brand: Joe Paul’s crafts
Pros
- Offers high quality
- 100% Basswood
- Smooth surface
- Made to optimize the delicate details of your artwork
- Money-back guarantee
- Easy to paint
Cons
- Made for beginners/not the best for professionals
- Limited Sizes
3. Walnut Hollow Basswood Whittler’s Carving Blocks
The product is available in 4 different sizes and 2 different packages, one being a single unit and the other being a package of 3 or 10 blocks. However, all the options available for purchase utilize the standard wood material and quality that Walnut Hollow promises.
This product is listed as Amazon’s Choice because of its compelling features. First of all, the product is extremely flexible in fulfilling consumer needs. Secondly, it provides a heavenly smooth surface, which proves to be sublime and easy to carve upon,handling all the delicate strokes with ease.
Walnut hollow takes no chances on the quality, hence, every wooden block is kiln-dried first and then smoothed with a sand surface smoother.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Basswood
- Size: Available in 4 sizes
- Product Dimensions: 0.7 inches x 6.6 inches x 6.6 inches
- Weight: 9 ounces
- Brand: Walnut Hollow
Pros
- Fine quality
- Provides choice in size
- Available in single unit as well as a pack of 3 or 10
- Smooth surface
- Lightweight
- Portable
Cons
- Does not come with a guarantee
- Not suitable for professional work
- The wood might need care and maintenance
4. Tosnail Natural Solid Unfinished Pine Wooden Blocks Wooden Cubes
These cubes are built using the finest and top quality pinewood. The pieces do not include any knots in them, which makes them extremely even and flat. It’s the best for using carving tools upon it.
These cubes are not only specifically made for carving but for other uses as well, such as painting, decorating, and gluing.
The pinewood material gives it an exotic look, or a flare or glow that the basswood does not provide. This feature will make sure that your pinewood stands out in a wood crafting contest.
This product also offers a cheap price, which might attract a lot of people towards it. It’s also a good option for gifting it to your kids or someone who is interested in wood crafting or DIY.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Pine Wood
- Size: Includes blocks sized 1-½ inches x 1-½ inches x 1-½ inches
- ProductDimensions: 13 inches x 9 inches x 2 inches
- Weight: 34.24 ounces
- Brand: Tosnail
Pros
- Fine pinewood material
- Large quantity
- Smooth and knot free surface
- Multiple uses
- Paintable, glueable, decorateable
- Cheap
Cons
- This product offers a limited size
- This might not be a good option for specific wood carving projects
- The product is not lightweight
5. MAMAR Natural Basswood Carving Blocks
Keeping in mind the thing that we mentioned in the start of this guide, that every wood whittler needs a good quality wood to perform well in this craft, this company also goes by the same message, hence, it promises to offer the best basswood available on the market.
Whether you are a beginner or an expert at carving wood, these blocks will make sure that your artwork is nourished and comes out looking prime. The smooth basswood will ensure easy carving on the surface.
Not only usable for carving needs, these wooden blocks are also multifunctional, and can be used for any kind of wooden DIY projects or crafts.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Basswood
- Size: 1 inch x 1 inch x 4 inches
- Product Dimensions: 5.31 inches x 4.33 inches x 2.36 inches
- Weight: 12 ounces
- Brand: Mamar
Pros
- Best quality basswood
- Smooth surface
- Elegant finishing
- Amazon’s Choice
- Multi-purpose
- Cheap
Cons
- Only offers one size
- It is not available as a single unit
- It does not provide a guarantee
6. Sustainable Things Solid HardWood Blocks
First and foremost, we need to appreciate this brand for producing products that are in line with CSR (corporate social responsibility). The company manufactures goods that are eco-friendly and sustainable. This might be the biggest unique selling proposition of this company.
Moving on to the product itself, it comes in a package of 3 blocks, sized 10 ¾ inches x 2 inches x 2 inches, however, the blocks are built using hardwood which proves to be an excellent choice for the carving craft.
The wood provides a sublime finish with some amazing color shades to provide it with an aesthetic vintage look. The wood is also easily paintable and the surface merges each and every stroke within itself with comfort and ease.
Specifications
- Wood Type: Hardwood
- Size: 10 ¾ inches x 2 inches
- Product Dimensions: 10.75 inches x 2 inches x 2 inches
- Weight: 8 ounces
- Brand: Sustainable Things
Pros
- Eco-friendly/sustainable for environment
- Uses fine quality hardwood
- Paintable
- Easy to use
- Good for carving needs
Cons
- Available in 1 size
- Does not provide a single unit
- Does not come with a guarantee
Buying Guide— Pick Your Special One
After analysing all the products in our list, we are going to pick 3 products that we think might be right for the most common users of carving woods. Please keep in mind that these recommendations by no means reflect “award positions” (first, second, third, etc.) but will simply help our readers decide which one is the best pick for them!
The Beginners — Joe Paul’s Carving Kit
Every beginner must start from somewhere and in this case, we think starting with Joe Paul’s carving kit might be the best idea. The kit offers premium quality basswood with which you can easily manage to learn and strengthen your carving skills. With the amazing money back guarantee, it’s a low risk investment for any beginner!
The Environmental Lovers — Sustainable Things Wood Blocks
We all should learn to care and love the environment in order to sustain it for the next generation. This brand also works on this principle, for all the environmental and sustainability conscious people, this might be the right fit.
Producing products with 100% eco-friendly and sustainable material, this company is giving its competitors moral competition in the market.
The DIY Lovers — Tosnail Wooden Cubes
For anyone who loves to decorate their house for parties or spend their time doing different kinds of DIY projects, this might be the product to buy.
It comes with 40 wooden cubes at such a cheap price, you can surely make the best out of them by painting, decorating, and setting them in your house.
Conclusion
As a profession, wood carving needs extreme skills and practice. As a hobby it also requires many hours of input in order to create something that will please the eyes. To do so, you will need the right products and the right materials.
Everyone who loves to carve wood and make elegant objects out of it, knows very well that if the wood quality is not quite up to the mark, no matter how hard you try, your artwork will never be able to stand out.
We sincerely hope that this guide has proved to be of a benefit to you in order to make a sound purchasing decision regarding the best woods for carving available in the market, we wish you all the best in your wood carving journey!