Which cuts of wood?

[eclectic]

Hi. New here so hihi.
I Have been asked to supply a local charity which is running some woodworking classes for disadvantaged kids with some wood. I am an arborist and our yard at work has a couple hundred ton of wood in various forms lying around.

I don't know what will be best. A selection box is fine but I don't really know what bits of tree. Some elm and walnut blanks for bowls I have looked out. What else would be fun to work with?

Cheers for any advice.
Peace

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Probably softwoods as they're easier to work with.

Although maybe walnut or quartersawn oak for it's attractive look.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

I guess it largely depends on what they're going to make.....bird boxes? Any turning involved or is it going to be simple projects like the bird box type thing?

I would suggest if they're going to be turning then any nice hardwoods you have like oak, beech, ash, sycamore and certainly walnut which is gorgeous. If they're going to be doing basic joinery then a softwood will, as Tets has said be much easier to use, easier on the tools etc.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

As Bob says, it rather depends what they have in mind, and the equipment they have. A chat might be in order.

One thing often used for getting outright beginners going is spoon-carving, for which pieces of food-safe timbers (Sycamore and Beech are the traditional ones) would be ideal.

 

[dickm]

Very much depends on what they might want to make with the timber. That will affect both the most desirable species, and the form in which the material is presented. Can you process the timber into planks, which will obviously give much more choice, or is it just balks? If you can process, then maybe beech as a pretty forgiving hardwood and larch as a reasonably durable softwood for popular things like bird boxes/tables?