Cleaning Up the Carving

[2bacarver]

Hi, I've been carving about 2-3 months now and watching woodcarving clips and dvds. They keep referring to cleaning up the carving after it's finished. What exactly is done?

[Dan S]

There are a couple of things I do. First I go over the carvin in detail looking for fuzzies or rough cuts. If you clean up as you go, this is not a big deal. Then I wash the carving with dish soap and a firm toothbrush. This removes any dirt and oil left on the carving from your hands as well as any blood that leaked from your veins...
Lastly I coat the carving in a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and thinner before painting it.

Dan

[doris]

cleaning up a carving does not imply washing it with water,,, it means as dan said, make cuts look nicer, or cut fuzzies away if some remained, and refining the shapes, cut of thin slivers of wood to make a nice surface, all these things to make a carving look good... water is not good idea on wood, afterall, we look very careful to get well perfectly dried wood so that we can be sure the carving will not crack, so why should you wash it and take risk it later cracks when drying again... its better to wash the hands frequently while carving, to remove sweat, then the carving will not become dirty, since its the sweat that makes the dirt...also, wash your hands after each sharpening, the paste on the strop makes dirt on a carving too

[BobD]

Some popular caricature instructor do wash their carvings with water to remove skin oils and dirt. Some use Simple Green, and others use a bit of dish soap. They scrub it down with a stiff brush and begin to pain in acrylic washes immediately. I've never heard of any cracking problems from those carvers.

You wouldn't want to immerse a carving in water and let it soak, but a quick wash and rinse shouldn't hurt.

That said, David Sabol, who regularly carves green pine, keeps his carvings in process in a pail of water...

Bob Duncan
Technical Editor

[doris]

well, it seems they just were lucky,,, wood is always living, and exchanges humidity, and if one washes a craving the humidity in wood increases, and later it dries out again, causing the same problems as if it were newly dried...here is an article of college of agriculture, university of kentucky, explaining that ...in a carving one may be lucky and no cracks occur, if the parts are rather thin, but why risk such on a piece one spent precious time with,,,better wash hands than carving

[BobD]

We'll have to agree to disagree, Doris; I've talked to many carvers who use this method successfully for each and every carving they do.

Besides, studies like the one you refer to try to take into account a variety of general circumstances; with a carving you could argue that the cuts you've made act as relief cuts, and the much greater surface area exposed by the carivng allows the wood to reach an equilibrium with the surrounding area easier, or that the thinned acrylic paint washes act as a sealer that slows the rate of drying...There's too many factors involved in a carving that are not addressed in that article. The people who do it every day, though, including many members of the Caricature Carvers of America, don't have that problem.

Like most things, 2bacarver, everyone has a different opinion. Experiment, have fun, and realize that a mistake isn't a bad thing; it's an opportunity to learn and grow.

Bob

[doris]

ok, i agree that we disagree, bob... i actually tried it myself, and my piece cracked... but anyway, i just wanted make aware of other side, each one chooses what seems to fit...thats fine to me.

[Iowa Carver]

I wash most my carvings with soap and water (caricature in the round which makes a big difference). It is kiln dried wood for the most part. I try to do the face last on a carving so it get the least dirty and avoid getting much water on it, not because it will crack but because if it is a small carving the has tiny detail etc, often the swelling of the wood will close up openings such as eye sockets, thin knife cuts etc. I try to dry them immediately with a paper towell. This seems to help with raising of the grain.
I can see where cracking on a relief carved piece in thinner wood along with warping would be a big problem where you have very thin wood and thicker sections and unequal drying causing all kinds of problems.

Corey

[Tom Ellis]

I agree with Doris, and think clean hands keep a clean carving. I have found that the carving gloves add a great deal of dirt to your carvings, mostly from the pencil marks while marking detail. I think people should wash their gloves regularly to help that problem.
I never cared for the wash process, as it also raises the grain of the wood somewhat, but it does help close some stop cuts with its swelling. I have only seen one cowboy hat totally split from the washing, but that is the only split I personally have seen.

Clean hands, TOM

[Tom-H]

When I read the thread title "Cleaning up the carving", I did not take it literally. I did not think it meant removing dirt. Every time I hear the phrase "clean up the carving" I think someones trying to tell me, I need to pay more attention to the "fuzzies". And like Doris may say, learn to carve "cleaner" don't have "fuzzies". Then you don't have to "clean them Up." Mean while I'll keep on searchin for the magic potion to "clean up" my "fuzzies".

Tom H