Rosewood

[WoodenHokie]

I'm new at carving and was wondering if anyone had any tips for working with hard, dense woods like Rosewood and Hard Maple.

Thanks!

[Lonewolfcarver]

If you're using hand tools keep them sharp and strop them often.

[WoodenHokie]

Thanks for the tip Shawn! I will be using a small hand-knife, but, what does it mean to "Strop them often?"

[Kenny_S]

A lot of carvers change the bevel of their tools for hard woods. A thicker or wilder bevel. Much more than for softwoods like basswoods.

Stropping is where you have a piece of leather say 1 1/2 to 2 inchs wide and 8 or more inchs long mounted on a piece of wood, Charge it with compound( rub it on and in to the leather) and run your knife back and forth several times on each side. Can do the same with wet/dry sandpaper, 600 to 2000 grit mounted or laying on a piece of hard material like glass or marble and do the same. Ensure that you pick up your tool at the end of the stropping stride so as not to round off/over the cut edge. There is a thread that talks about stropping in more detail.

Look abovt the post at the green bar(green on my monitor and find search and click on that and it will bring up another window where you can type in Strop or stropping in it and it should take you to that thread ot threads.

Hope this has helped.

[WoodenHokie]

Wow! Thanks for the response! I've been using a fine diamond stone to re-sharpen the edge of my knife, but I will definitely try that!!

Interestingly enough, opposite their texture, Basswood and Balsa are classified as Hardwoods! Whereas Canadian Red Pine is as dense or denser than species like Maple!

[mobjack68]

WoodenHokie....first off....VT fan in DE??

AND the rosewood thing, because it is so hard it carves very well with power cutters, rotary burrs and such. Not sure a lot of folks are aware...pool cues are sometimes made with a rosewood or ebony bottom (the big end) extra weight because of the wood density. Old bent sticks are popular at yard sales...

[WoodenHokie]

Yes, Mobjack68, I just graduated from VT with a BS in Wood Science and Forest Products, and have just moved to DE. Go figure....

But thanks for the advice! I do have a rotary tool that I've been able to use some, but I will definitely try to use this on my next projects!

Thanks for the help!!
GO HOKIES!

[WoodenHokie]

One thing I'm finding, is that Rosewoods fibers are much longer than most other species, which is causing long strips to be shaved off with each pass instead of normal-sized chips or flakes.

This is only proving difficult with the finer details and smaller portions but is working wonders for the areas where I need to take off large chunks!