Anyone here carve decoys?

There's a group of bird carvers at the Houston Area Woodcarvers Guild. If your in the area you should stop by. Houston Area Woodcarvers Guild

That would be cool, unfortunately im in the Baton Rouge area. And amazon did have some good books and cheap too! Appreciate the responses fellas

I have carved a few they all look like hell but I made them so I like them.

I would suggest carving your heads of Tupelo and a your first few bodies out of cork it's easier to work with. Then go to Tupelo all the way once you have the idea.

Been interested in doing this too. I have some big 8"x8"x48" blocks of cedar. Any advice on using or not using cedar?

I know a few carvers very well, though I haven't done it myself. all carve both decoys and fish and they come out beautiful.

they generally use tupelo gum wood and actually go out and fell trees to get the wood.

in order to do it, they generally have a knife, a stone to sharpen it, a dremmel tool, a wood burner, a set of calipers, reference books that contain life size patterns, and a variety of paints.

most areas of the south have carving groups, so look for those folks...they can teach you more in a month than you will figure out in a year by yourself.

if you can't find the carving group in your area, look for the nearest decoy show and attend that...there will be a lot of enthusiasts there to guide you.

Awesome advice gents. Thanks!

Of the woods I've used I prefer cedar for carving. It's super easy to work with, will sand very smooth (balsa and some other woods will not sand smooth and are always rough). Cedar floats very well, takes paint good and will hold a screw like nobody's business.

Is northern white pine decent for carving? also what size slabs?