Seasoning for first time

[heartkore]

Hello,

I have dabbled with wood carving in the past and have never really put much thought into seasoning. I recently cut a very beautiful piece of what I think is oak. It is green, but I do not want to wait for years before starting to carve. I have two questions:

1) Can I just carve it green and lacquer it afterwards, or would it "spoil" underneath the lacquer. I want to provide a clear durable coat of something at least.

2) If not, is there an easier, quicker way? I have no kiln or fancy workshop, but I also don't want it to crack to where it is unusable (its going to be a walking stick) but it would be okay aesthetically, as long as it didn't destroy t's overall strength.

Thank you for any help, and nice to meet you guys (new member)

-Kelley Theisen

[Al_Hillis]

Hi Kelly Welcome to the forum, as for your question I will give you my humble opinion ,to me it would depend on how big the stick is . if its over 1 1/2 inches in dia. I would seal the ends with wax and leave it for 6 months to dry a little. If it is smaller then that clean the bark off seal the ends with wax and carve away to your hearts content. I would still wait 3months anyway before i put the laquer on

[Clifford_Parker]

Kelly,

How thick is the piece you have? If it is a branch or sapling 1 1/2" - 2" dia. it should be ok to carve in less than a year.

I would seal the ends and let it dry for at least 6 months since, in my experience, oak is prone to checking if it dries too fast. On the other hand if you let it sit too long you could have some very hard wood to carve depending on the species/sub-species you have.

[Ron T]

Hello and welcome, Kelly. It's nice to have another stick maker here with us.

[heartkore]

Hey,

Thanks for such quick informative responses you guys.

Well, it looks as bad news considering the "stick" is actually 3 - 2 1/2 inches in diameter throughout and is about 5 foot long. I suppose there wouldn't be any alternatives to start carving sooner, as I would imagine they would have already been posted?

I will take a picture of the piece and post it soon maybe. It really is already a work of art I think.

--Kelley

[heartkore]

Here is the specimen I'm talking about...:

[heartkore]

Sorry for the quality and size of the image, I was having trouble with image shack for some reason and my camera isn't that great. That was a shot before I asked it's permission and cut it down. It resembles having a snake head towards the bottom, and looks as if it disconnected towards the top, but it is one piece of wood. Thanks for any further suggestions y'all.

-kelley

[Robby]

Very interesting stick there. Personally, I would seal the ends and let it sit for awhile, but you never really know with a piece of wood like that. It could still split at one of those bulges. Very interesting find.

[Al_Hillis]

Now that I see the stick I would definetly seal the ends and leave it sit for a year . that is a great find, would be a shame to lose it by not waiting

[AlArchie]

Kelly, that is indeed an interesting piece. It's actually TWO woods. The main stalk may be any type of wood and if you think it's oak, it may well be. That "twist" is probably a honysuckle vine that has grown into the main stalk.

I haven't done any that size, but have finished quite a few smaller ones; aspen with wild grape and honysuckle. Unless you plan on finishing that piece with the bark on, I'd start by very carefully peeling the bark away from the primary stalk, and the "vine" portion should strip away with quite a bit of difficulty, as it is actually "ingrown".

Once stripped set it aside for six months or so to dry. If you put on a varniosh finish, the surface will crack or checker as the wood dries and shrinks. You could put on an oil finish that would move with the wood as it dries.

It looks like you have this either cut or waiting to be cut in winter, so there will be little or no sap in the stalk, making the wood far less likely to split or check, but also a lot harder to strip the bark off.

If it is oak, it is more prone to splitting as it dries, but the good thing is that it really won't loose any strength if it does, and those splits and checks in oak really add to the rugged appearance.

I carved one of these with a full vine that I was able to "unwrap" after removing the bark. I then cleaned up both pieces, sanded and stasined each in a slighly different shade, then wrapped the vine back in and held it in with several well placed and hidden brads, leaving the vine looking sort of loose in the spiral.

Here's a finished one. I carved a flowered vine into the top portion. There is also a cherry wood insert fitted to the shaft. There are two parts of the carved vine one over and one "under" the cherry disc. Lots of options with a piece like you have.



Al