Bird number: 57
Date: April 5, 2012
Wood: Catalpa (Catalpa)
Source: Trade

Catalpa is a genus of flowering trees common in the warm temperate regions of the U.S., Caribbean, and East Asia. There are at least two dozen different species, and I don’t know which one this piece of wood came from.

It’s a fairly popular carving wood because it’s soft and easy to work. Had I not been carving several birds assembly line style that day, I would have set this one aside to carve with a knife. It fuzzed up under my carbide bit, but not nearly as bad as the Sumac did.

I don’t have much to say about catalpa. It’s fine to work with and finished up nice. It’s kind of like a lighter Chestnut. I suspect that, like Chestnut, it wouldn’t hold fine detail. The wood really does have a slightly gold hint to it, although not as much as these pictures would lead you to believe.

I hope I run across catalpa again. I’d like to try carving it with a knife, and the color would be perfect for a figure I have in mind.