What to do when basswood is too soft

[CS Chipmaker]

I am working with some basswood that a friend gave me. I air dryed the logs for over a year in my attic. bandsawed it into blanks, and started carving. there seems to be a vein of very soft wood running through some of these logs, and it won't hold any detail, almost crumbles. I posted a front view of Rubezahl (my first figurine, and second carving ever) in the image gallery. The area around the moustach, eyes, nose and top of hat shows this problem. I think the wood grew very fast in this band (large ring) and the cells are maybe too loose for good carving. I wondered about making a glue or shellach solution to firm it up. It seems too porous for painting, so I will likely just stain and varnish this one. I'm getting ready to start my next project, and will probably use a commercial blank that is kiln dried. This one was carved without a pattern, and that may have been too advanced for me, but it sure was fun!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

50/50 alcohol/water mix in a spray bottle. Works every time!

[Dan S]

I'd try Lynn's idea. If for some reason that doesn't work, super glue can rurn any baswood into a hard plastic like substance. I use it for realy fine detail. Don't use it if you are not going to paint the piece. It changes the color.

Dan

[R-OLDS]

Hmmmmm soft wood that doesn't hold detail, I have read some place about how to cut up basswood and I believe some say to not use certain parts of the log, as I remember it is the center part which was recommended to be discarded. From my own experience I have only air dried my basswood and have not had any soft wood not holding detail (punky) some call it, or dry rotted. My two cents.. I have carved my share of ruffOUTS that were from Wisconsin and MN that were tooooooo soft and didn't hold detail..

[Mitchell]

I looked at the picture (link here: Ruebezahl - Wood Carving Illustrated Photo Gallery)
and it does appear to be a bad spot in the wood at the base.....can't tell if it runs up into the area that you're having trouble with. but it does appear to run in that direction. Lynn's suggestion is a good one. Make sure that your tools are SHARP.

You may want to cut out the bad areas (if you know where they are located) on the remainder of your wood so you don't have that trouble later (again). I recently carved a man sitting on a bench that had a dark stain running into his hands and face. It didn't carve differently, just looks different. I didn't know the spot was there until I got the blank roughed out. Decided to finish it any way just for the learning process.