Carving Standing Timber

[Steamboat Don]

I have a friend who has a dead pine tree in his back yard. He topped it then trimmed off all the branches. He now has a 12' tall pine stick which is about 7" in diameter at the top. He asked me if I'd be interested in carving some gnomes in it. It is still sappy and looks like it'd be a nice challenge and fun to do. However, I have never carved a standing pine stick and I really don't like carving pine. I don't use chain saws since I'm accident prone and don't wish to be limb-less. 1. Is it possible to carve this with chisels? 2. Should I wait to let it dry out some more or carve it now? (It's been standing like this for about a year now.) 3. Any books or articles out there for me to reference for guidance? or, 4. Should I just "walk away"?

Thanks for any replies.

Steamboat Don

[Donsexton]

You can carve that tree with mallet and gouge one of our members carves trees with a mallet and gouge no chainsaw. I hope he will read your post. That pine tree wouldn't last long in my part of the country fermosa termites love pine.

[Steamboat Don]

Thanks Don for your response. As you can see nobody else knows, either. So guess I'll try it and see what happens. I think I'll debark it first and let it dry out some more. I'll keep you posted.

Steamboat Don

[Bill102M]

I have carved green pine and other conifers for years. I have found with pine the sooner you get some of the surface off the less checking you will have to deal with. Checking is the major consideration when carving logs. There are a million opinions on how to reduce this from happening , but in my experience there is no fool proof way of achieving this result
Carve away and have fun.

Bill102M

[Steamboat Don]

Thanks, Bill