Old dry wood

[Bob Hardesty]

Hello Carvers,
I did some carving about 20 years ago and I am trying to get back into carving again. I have some old roughouts and a pretty good supply of Basswood that appears to have dried out considerably. I tried carving on a couple of small roughouts and the wood splintered instead of cutting clean. (Knife was really sharp.)

Does any body have any suggestions on how to safely restore a little moisture back into the wood that I have?

Thanks,

Bob Hardesty

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

I use on dry wood a mixture of 50% water and 50% alcohol in a spray bottle. You could spray the wood and put it in a ziplock bag overnight, or spray let soak in and try to carve. Hope this helps !

Dave

[aulddiy]

i'VE A LIMP OF DRIED OUT LIMEWOOD. i'VE TAKEN IT OUT SIDE FOR THE WINTER. hOPE THAT THIS WORKS.

[therenow]

I have some 4 X 4 x 12 basswoood that has been laying around the garage for about 20 years...I soaked one in a bucket of water for a couple of hours and let it sand until it dried...about a day...then I cut away using tha alcohol/water spray when needed. Ended up with a caricature caring that if you stand away a bit and squint your eyes, it kinda looks like a cowboy.


Ed

[Bob Hardesty]

Thanks to all of you for your responses and ideas. I'll try them all and no doubt have success.

Bob Hardesty