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<DIV>I find aspen to be a very soft carving wood, so much so that I recommend it
to my carvers because you can't get any basswood around my part of NYC. It
carves beautifully with sharp tools. Perhaps its a bit more grainy than
basswood but tends to crush less also. My carvers report back to me and
say they really like the aspen. I have a man who chips aspen all the time
and doesn't seem to have any problems doing it. Perhaps you got a bad
piece or two or it is a different type of aspen in your part of the
country. I dunno, go figure.</DIV>
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<P align=center><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10">Maura Carving in NYC<BR><A
href="http://www.carvinginnyc.com/">www.carvinginnyc.com</A><U><BR><A
href="http://mycarvingclub.com/mauramacaluso">http://mycarvingclub.com/mauramacaluso</A><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></U></P></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">It's only a deal if it's where <I>you</I> want to go. Find your travel deal <A title="http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047" href="http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047" target="_blank"><B>here</B></A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>