Wood for hair toys.

[Julescarm]

What type of wood do you find works good for making hair toys? I've used branches but I was wondering what else since hand carve them.

[iforgotmylogin]

I dunno what woods carve good or not, but I would suspect that you'd want something light to avoid it tugging at your hair, so maybe pine, balsa, that kinda thing?

Don't forget to lacquer when you've shaped them, porosity could trap all sorts of gunk

[Milady_DeWinter]

What type of wood do you find works good for making hair toys? I've used branches but I was wondering what else since hand carve them.

I guess it won't be a problem to find almost any kind of wood -online at least. I like a lot this web, the Wood Database (http://www.wood-database.com/wood-finder/), that gives you info about colors, appearance, durability, workability and other characteristics of a lot of kinds of wood :) I hope you'll find it useful!

I love dark woods, so wenge, african blackwood and gabon ebony are some of my faves; also walnut and purpleheart.

[browneyedsusan]

I use branches sometimes. I like the twisty shapes. :)
I have limited experience: oak, lilac shrub, chopsticks from restaurant. :) Soft woods like chopsticks (bamboo is technically a grass?) tend to splinter while I'm working with them. The oak is super hard, but dowsn't splinter or shred when I sand it. You just need a knife, sandpaper, and patience.

Check out the self made hairtoys thread (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23) for ideas.

[AutobotsAttack]

I see a lot of people use Elm wood for hair sticks, and furniture as well.

From what I understand it’s easy to work with when dry and brittle. But aside from that Elm is a bit difficult to split, espeacially if you’re taking it from the tree itself, or from a particularly large chunk.

There’s always cedar wood too. A lot of workshop people say it’s very versatile as well.

Here’s a website that’s got some references and different wood categories:
https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/sorting-cedar