Basswood vs Limewood

[shortgrass]

I am in the process of getting ready top plank the HM William, but unfortunately have discovered that I am a little short on Limewood for the first planking.  Can I use Basswood in conjunction with the LImewood or is it a totallyt different wood ?

[Jack12477]

They are the same. See following

https://forum.woodcarvingillustrated.com/forum/woodcarving-illustrated/woodcarving/carving-wood-materials/26746-limewood-vs-basswood 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia#Romantic_symbol

[druxey]

Not quite. Lime wood is tilia and basswood is tilia americana. I've used boih and the European tilia is a little harder and somewhat less 'fuzzy'.

[Carlos Reira]

They're related, same genus Tilia, but not the same. To say they are is misleading. The eminent European limewood has a history of being used for amazing carvings. Artists like Tilman Riemenschneider in the Gothic period and Grinling Gibbons in the Baroque did things with limewood that would be nearly impossible to do in American basswood. Basswood is no slouch, it being the wood used by most American carousel carvers, but the hardness and workability of limewood is superior, especially in smaller scale. They are both called "linden" sometimes but they are no more the same than butternut is walnut. There are at least two species of European lime, the small-leaved lime and the large-leaved lime, and it's possible one of them is better than the others. The Midwest company has done an amazing PR job for American basswood lumber. It was not much used historically.

[Carlos Reira]

Some photos of historical limewood carving and Daniel Mueller carousel horse in American basswood.

[Carlos Reira]

Here is the work in limewood of UK sculptor David Esterly. I don't think basswood could be worked to such delicacy.