Cypress for bowls

[Ciaran]

I am just getting started in wood carving and am interested in carving some bowls and spoons. I’m in North Central Florida and am struggling to find a wood that is considered suitable. There are a number of types of oaks, some ceder, pine and some cherry laurel. My understanding for most of these is that they are not best to use for this application although I’m not sure about the Cherry Laurel. Is this suitable? Also I came into a stash of cypress lumber and wondered if it would be good for this project. Any help would be appreciated.

[Claude]

A lot depends on the expected use of the bowls once finished. If the bowl is just for display, oak and cypress are both good. If for containing any wet foods, oak and cypress are both fairly open grained woods and the wet stuff would tend to soak into them. If you can find any fruit woods, including citrus such as old orange or grapefruit trees, these would be great for bowls, but may require powertools for carving, as fruit woods are quite hard.

Claude

[mobjack68]

Look into tupelo? it doesn't have a great deal of character, can do a lot with it...