Hand Carved Corbels

When you begin your shopping for corbels, you will likely notice that there are two different genres of corbels. There are the ready made, usually polyurethane, that are generally cheaper and able to be mass-produced. These are very lovely and great for any kind of corbel project that you have in mind. However, if you want to have something a little more custom and a little more special, you should be looking at the custom hand carved corbels. They are generally more expensive because of the amount of labor involved, but it is worth the cost for the craftsmanship alone.

As with most things that you think of when something being carved, hand carved corbels are primarily wood. Occasionally you will find them available in different resins, but wood is easier to work with and therefore most often used. The three woods that are most commonly seen are maple, cherry, and oak. This is probably due to a few factors. One is that these woods are very popular. They will obviously be very popular with decorative corbels since these woods are so popular in all aspects of home design. Second is that these woods are typically easy to work with, which keeps the labor costs down as much as possible. These woods also have the unique quality of really showcasing the minute details that are placed into it.

One of the best ways to find carved decorative corbels is to locate your local carpenters. Since this is a custom job, you will want the very best working on it. Nobody knows more about custom carving than a carpenter so you should definitely shop around with them first. Of course there are many carpenters who advertise their company’s hand carving services online and they may be even more affordable because of the nature of selling on the Internet. But you need to be sure that they are a reputable company that you can trust. Be sure that you do your research and that the company can provide references for their services.

If all of these measures to find a reputable carpenter fail then contact other contracting companies that sell decorative corbels. They may or may not offer hand-carving services, but some might. If they do, be sure to ask exactly what their process is for doing so and who will be doing the actual carving. Ask for examples of their work if you can.