A Prime N.C. Tupelo block in a size suitable for carving any of the larger diver ducks such as Canvasback, Redhead, Goldeneye or Greater Scaup in a standard decoy type pose.____________________________________________________________ The Reasons I Prefer Tupelo to Basswood: I carve and burn very fine detail in decorative floating waterfowl and I find that I cannot burn as fine on basswood as I can on tupelo. I believe the reason for that is because tupelo has no resin in it and the lack of it makes a more narrow cut with my very sharp burning pen. The heat from a burning tool mixed with the resin in the basswood makes a wider cut than the same cut made in tupelo. This translates into being able to put more lines per inch in tupelo than in basswood. Also I carve a lot of floating decoys and I find that I had rather add weight to a bird to make it float correctly than be required to hollow it to get the bouyancy right. More often than not, one has to hollow a basswood decoy out for proper floatation, especially on the larger ones. I often have to add weight to the tupelo decoy, but that is very easy to do. Sometimes the tupelo decoy floats almost perfect without any additional weight to bring it down into the water. Just a small amount to adjust minor listing is usually all that is required. I also find that tupelo dust is less irritating should you inadvertingly breath it in. It seems that the tupelo fibers are softer and are handled better by the sinuses and lungs. Tupelo is as available to me as basswood and much lighter to ship, saving some on shipping charges but often is more per board foot than basswood. A few bucks more for a $3500.- $5000. carving is no big deal for carvers that get this for their work however. Tupelo is also available in much larger thicknesses for those fancy poses and large birds without having to glue two or three blocks together as with basswood.. Tupelo wood seals deeply and is suitable for either oil paints or acrylics. Tupelo does not split as easily as basswood and therefore you can carve anatomical features much thinner and with more detail without fear of them breaking as easy. One still has to take into consideration the direction of grain however with both species of wood. I like carving with my tupelo knife and I can carve in any direction smoothly with tupelo without fear of splitting or digging in. The fuzzing of basswood when sanding or power carving is not a problem with tupelo though the fuzzing of basswood can be taken care of with one or two extra steps. Overall, I find that tupelo is preferred by most of the world champion wildfowl carvers in the U.S. and in Canada; both for floating decorative decoys and for all categories of wildfowl carvings. I am sure their preferences are for the same reasons I have mentioned here. ----- Vic Kirkman

Manufacturer: N/A
SKU:	W-03