basswood fuzzing

[Walt]

could someone tell me what I can use to stop the wood from fuzzing when I'm using my power tool when shaping my figures? your help would be appreciated.

[BobD]

Basswood is notorious for fuzzing when you carve it with power. One way to deal with it is to apply a sanding sealer, which will stiffen up the fibers and let you sand them off. Another option would be to chuck several chunks of a scotch brite pad in a mandrel and run that against the wood. It does a great job of removing that fuzz.

That is why many power carvers use Tupelo, which doesn't fuzz like that. I've also heard great things about jelutong.

Bob

[bbeery]

Thanks for the suggestion Bob. May switch to Tupelo, it grows native in my backyard. Basswood fuzzing is starting to drive me crazy!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Tupelo is the way to go if you power-carve. However, forget it if you want to use a knife.

[Doug Ridley]

Amen to the Tupelo for power carving. I do a LOT of power carving and prefer Tupelo to anything else. If you cut your own, just be sure to cut it from the part of the stump that grew in standing water. The upper part of the tree is much like Basswood although it won't fuzz as badly. As Lynn says it is not much fun to carve with edge tools but it can be done.

[susieq]

Yep, basswood fuzzes....I resigned myself to that long ago. I have a lot of basswood to use up before I start buying tupelo but I love power carving with tupelo. Jelutong is nice but it has draw backs. What ever you do, do not let it get wet. If it does get wet, throw it away. You can carve with power or gouges on jelutong and I love it for Christmas tree ornaments because it is light weight. If you are carving fine detail in it, try not to handle it too much as you can mash the fine detail with finger pressure on jelutong. Not a problem with tupelo.

Regarding putting a sand n seal on the basswood to keep it from fuzzing.....you might wind up gumming up your carving bits and have to soak them in some kind of solvent to clean them. I just carve it and then sand it. It does add to the over all time spent on the piece.....

When I finally use up all the basswood and jelutong I have in stock, I will buy nothing but tupelo for power carving. One of my friends who uses only tupelo, told me to never buy anything that was higher than six feet up on the trunk. I understand that the wood that grows higher up in the tree, is popular with furniture makers....
cheers.
susieq

[Tom-H]

Any of you experts at power carving ever use Redwood? I use it all the time. Never any fuzzies. Course all the literature says it's toxic. Tom H

[BobD]

I wouldn't apply the sanding sealer until you are totally done, and use it for sanding only.

To be honest, though, when you are creating fine dust by power carving ANY wood, you need to use protection (dust mask, dust collector, etc.) Some people are more sensitive to certian woods than others. Personally, I can hand-carve black walnut all day long, but if I cut it on my scroll saw without wearing my dust mask, I know I'm going to get a sinus infection!


Several people are allergic to jelutong. It is technically the "rubber tree", so people with latex allergies can be very sensitive to it.

Bob

[Kenny_S]

A cheap way to take the Fuzzies off of basswood is to use a waded up piece of brown paper sack and rub it. You be surprised at how well it works and no sanding marks. I prefer a lighter weight brown paper sack. Like the sandwich ones. It takes power to use a knife.