Two of the most often asked questions are what woods can I use and is this timber suitable for wood carving? So I have decided to answer this in a little more depth than normal.
The selection of timber for carving is based on a number of criteria.
Availability and ease of working being the two most important, but we can also consider density, grain and colour.
Popular woods for carving are usually of a low to medium density because of the ease with which they can be worked, such as, English lime and American butternut; however, as always there are exceptions to the rule. I.e.Boxwood; hard, very dense, but excepts extremely fine detail; some woods have a natural oiliness which aids in there ability to be worked with hand tools, like Australian White beech.
A popular misconception is that sculptors will use timbers with very little figure and that timbers with a highly figured grain and colour are only for wood turners.
This is absolute nonsense; a conspiracy perpetuated on to the world by wood turners in order to keep the best timbers in the world to themselves. I personally prefer to work in highly decorative timbers from all around the world; the only thing is with the very difficult timbers, I tend to do a larger amount of the heavy work with a rotary carver. (Welcome to the 21st century)The timbers that fall into this category are normally the burls and some roots, though sometimes wildly figured grains are easier to work if you use the rotary carver as well.
Basically the selection of timber all comes down to the experience and adaptability of the carver; any wood can be carved, all you have to do is decide whether or not it will be worth the effort or cost in time.
I found this log; or my friend has said I can have his tree!
These questions or statements usually preclude to the next statement; can I carve it.!Who knows! Because there are so many questions that need asking before any answer can be even considered, but the most important should be is it worth keeping, and moisture content, and what is it?
The moisture content of green wood is far too high normally for any use. But, you can use this rule of thumb; for every inch of thickness, it takes approximately one year to dry, depending on the species. And as for, what should the moisture content be; it depends on where you live, and can vary from 10% to 15% or in dry areas 9% to 12%. As for; is it worth drying your self,well! I would ask the following questions.
One:- is the tree unusual hard to obtain or rare?
Two:- can I put it some where out of the weather with good air circulation for the length of time it needs to dry?
Three:- does the tree have some unusual shape or characteristic that makes it worth keeping.
If you can honestly answer yes too all then go ahead and keep it; if not use it for fire wood or give it to someone who can use it.
Hard wood is usually a term applied to broad leaf trees such as Oak, Walnut and Balsa wood. What!, Balsa wood is soft I hear you say. It is indeed very soft, it is also from a broad leafed tree and therfore a hard wood. Some pines produce timber harder than many broad leaf or hard wood trees. For the purpose of sculptors though you will look at the grain of the timber to find out how suitable it is for your work. As a general rule the closer and finer a grain the better it will hold detail. The following timbers are a small selection of the ones that I choose to carve and have no real problems with. Myrtle Burl, Myrtle, Ripple Jarrah, Australian wild Olive, Australian Blackwood, Mallee root, Australian Gold field Burls, African Black wood, Lacewood, Sweetchestnut, Boxwood, Hawthorn, Walnut, Walnut root, Camphor, Cedar of Lebanon, Plum, Cherry, Apple, Lime, English Burlwood, Spalted Beech, Holly. And the list could go on.
A Tip When starting a new hobby there is always the urge to try something a little beyond our capabilities and this is perfectly natural as it is the only way we can improve, but when carving wood if you try to work with some of the more difficult timbers before you are capable all you are going to do is become frustrated and waste your time and timber. So some of the timbers you should at first avoid are, Burls you really need to be confident to carve one of these, the grain constantly changes direction and texture. Heavily spalted timber. Spalting in timber is coursed by a fungus which changes the colour and texture of the timber sometimes making some areas to soft to carve with any chisels Timber with wildly excentric grain This still leave's you with a large choice of timber to start with so choose wisely and if in doubt ask!!
A TIP You can stabilize the soft areas in some timbers by applying thinned shellac to it the wood will harden as it drys and cuts smoothly when treated so. Note When planing your work leave nothing to chance a little extra timber can always be removed it is harder to add some or
"Its best not to count a Dragon out of your plans if there happens to be one living nearby "
Square cut and board timber
Timber that has been dimensioned like this Musk wood gives you a good all round view of the grain and is usually dried to a specific moisture content, and you will know the usable surface. The only drawbacks are that as it has been prepared it will not normally come more than six inches thick and the thicker it gets the more you pay You will find this type of timber more than suitable for carving, and of course it is readilly available, and can be used with little preparation. If you buy this timber as a carving block it will be sealed at the ends with wax, this is to help prevent spliting and the absorption of moisture
A TIP All timber is going to react to climatic changes this can be as simple as moving your timber from the workshop to your centrally heated house, or from a damp area to a dry one so take care and acclimatize your timber to its new home. The same can go for when your are working on your timber if you are worried it might check or split as you work on it, pop it into a plastic bag at the end of your carving session with the waste wood and shavings you have created, or put a damp towel or rag into the bag with it.This should help
A nice piece of squared Muskwood
LOG WOOD Okay its a piece of tree and only part seasoned
This Hawthorn is an unusual find due to its age and it has a substantial size and had about 12 large roots coming together at the bowl end which by the looks of the cut ends is going to give some very wild and colourful grain. I have had this, and another piece drying now for about 5 years. If you can find unusual timbers like this either green or air dried from maintance work you can usually get them for little or no cost. I do not suggest you save any old timber from the fire wood pile but if the wood is unusual, rare, or you can see potential in the shape then by all means go for it. Lumber yards on the other hand often have log ends and large branches that have been air dried usually sold to turners. But if you are willing to take the risk of splits etc or can keep them for a while longer to dry out further these can be had in substantial sizes for a lot less than the dimensioned timber. . Most of my work is done with this type of timber When carving timber that is only part seasoned you have to take care to prevent it splitting. There are many ways you can do this one way is to keep all the shavings and off cuts you make and put them in a plastic bag with your sculpture tying up the top or you can oil your work when you leave it I apply oil to all the cut areas of my sculptures and have had little or no problems with splitting. A TIP I have had great results in preventing splitting by coating the sculpture in oil at the end of each carving session. You will also find that part seasoned timber is no where near as hard to carve as fully seasond timber.
An English Hawthorn stump
Now for the exotic THE WOOD TURNING CONSPIRACY
Some timbers are considered the sole provence of the turner; do not believe it! It's a conspiracy by the turning fraternity to keep the worlds most beautiful timbers to themselves. You can, if you take the time and patience sculpt any timber, such modern tools as the rotary carver and other powered cutting tools have made all timbers suitable for the sculptor. Okay, design permiting and taking into account the limitations of the timbers grain structure. But what the hell! its the challenge and the fantastic results that make every thing worth while. I might suggest you wait untill you have some experience working with the different grain found in timber and feel confident in giving what can be very expensive timber your artistic administrations. You see; being a burl or a highly figured timber you get all sorts of problems like brittle areas, holes, soft timber, timber so hard you could ruin the edges of your chisels on it, grain that changes direction, width and structure by the inch. But when you do sculpt it and triumph, the finished article can be truly breath taking. A tip To give delicate areas the best chance of survival you should work with the grain that is you should aim to have the grain running the length of the piece this will give it the most strength. With burls or wildly grained timbers this is sumtimes an impossible task so you should alter your design to support the at risk areas . When sculpting a burl you will need to use power tools. Some burls will have to be sculpted soley with power tools.
A TIP If you find the timber you are working on is to hard to carve the detail you would like in it, then you can soften the wood with alcohol! NO you are not going to have a Jack Daniels flavoured sculpture. Sorry the alcohol to use is de-natured alcohol. It will soften most normal hard timbers and will not course the grain to raise, but has little or no effect on burls so give it a go.
