Large wood panel carving. HELP!!

[fingercuttinbad]

Hi all! I have only been carving for a few weeks and I am HOOKED! I am mostly interested in relief carving and I have a very ambitious project in mind and I need all the help I can get, so here goes. ( sorry for the length of this post)

I have a large area in my ceiling that has some water damage and I would like to make a large relief panel to fill the spot in instead of doing just a drywall and plaster fix. It is in a spot where it would look appropriate ( in the ceiling above my bar ) but I have a couple of problems.

1) Is it possible to find a large wood panel (3' x 7' x 3/4") made of basswood or another wood suitable for carving? If so, where?

2) I want to carve tradition designs but I'm not sure where to get patterns for such a large project. I'm thinking designs like you would see in a large headboard. I found an internet site that sells patterns with the type of carvings I would like but how do I blow them up to such large proportions? I did some painted sign work in the past and we used an overhead projector to trace the design onto a piece of plywood and it worked well, but does anyone have a better solution?

These are just the initial hurdles that I need to overcome before I embark on this project and I was hoping for some help from all you great people!

Thank you all in advance!

Brian

P.S. I have finished a couple of my first projects and have taken pictures, but they are on an ol' 35mm and I'm waiting for them to be developed before I can post them.

[pallin]

Brian, It sounds like an ambitious project. You will not be able to buy carving wood in the dimensions you noted, so you will have to "build-up" the wood by gluing a number of boards together. In order to keep the piece from warping, you may need to put strips across the back at right angles to the grain. I have enlarged patterns by scanning them into my computer and printing them in pieces, but for a pattern as large as you're doing the projection method might be better. One of my pieces is 4' x 7' x 1-1/2" in redwood.

[Just Carving]

For the board you will need to do a glue-up. There is a way to do it so the board will not warp once you begin carving. Pallin has touched upon that. I think you'll find more about that here on the forum.

The pattern need not be in one piece--as Pallin has pointed out. But you can take a drawing to Kinko's or a reprographic place that will scan it--if you don't have a digital image--and then enlarge it to fit the dimensions you desire.

For example, if you have a paper drawing that's 18"x42", then it would be enlarged 200% and printed out as 36"x84", i.e. 3'X7'

You could just take a half size drawing (18"x42"), draw a grid on it--say lines 1/2 inch apart, and then transfer the pattern to a 36"x84" board with a grid of lines spaced 1 inch apart drawn on it using the same points of intersection of the linework and the 1/2" grid on the drawing to enlarge the image and transfer it.

BTW--I would still do the drywall, taping and plastering. The drywall is an inherent part of fire protection in a building. You'd be surprised how many buildings are destroyed by a fire that started out small because of there was a hole in the ceiling or a wall. And a 3/4" piece of wood will not last long against heat and flames.

Bob L

[fingercuttinbad]

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies! So I guess my next problem is the type of wood to use. I'm trying to keep the cost down so any suggestions as to what to look for? I have seen on certain web sites that white pine is decent. Is that true? I assume I will have to find a cabinet maker or other carpenter to glue up the size of material I will need. I have seen large pine panels at Lowes but they are made of pine and in my short experience working with it have been less than fun. I believe " glutton for punishment" are the words used by a few people in my carving club.

As to your point of fire safty, I think i will place a thin piece of drywall under the carving to address that. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[Dan S]

IF you are going to take all the time to carve a panel on the scale you are proposing, you really don't want to cut corners on materials. The real value of a carving is not in the wood but the skill that went into producing it. Poor quality materials will produce a poor quality finished product. Call Heinicke and get your wood there. You won't regret it.


Good luck,
Dan

[fingercuttinbad]

Thanks Dan! I think I may have a winner! Thank God for this community.