Carving tree branches

[jillsy]

Anyone ever carve a tree branch? I mean, just go outside, get yourself a branch you find interesting and start carving? I've seen books and articles on this and it seems fun, especially when someone forms a caricature (like Santa) based on the flow of the branch.

Opinions? Difficulty level? Would you need to clean & dry the wood first? Any specific type of tree to use or NOT use? There seems to be a good variety of wood here in PA.

I'm guessing the colonists just went out and started carving whatever was available.

[GaryMc]

Hello Jillsy,
Most of what I carve theses days is branches, driftwood, and other found wood. I love carving branches, but I must warn you they are a lot harder that say Basswood. I get them and carve them green if I can. I like to use Sycamore, maple, ect, most any wood will work but scymore is my favorite at the moment. It is not bad about splitting.
One thing I do is cut the branch to the carving length I want then put them in a jar of boiled linseed oil for a few minutes, wipe them off and let them dry for a day or so. This helps keep them from splitting. I do mostly santa busts, spirit faces and now Indians.
You can see them in my Gallery here on this site (see link below). Also I have posted some lately in the Works in Progress catagory in the Message board.
They are harder to carve and take longer than basswood, but I really enjoy doing them and best of all the wood is Free!
Give it a try!
GaryMc Talking

[jillsy]

Amazing carvings Gary! I do like the part about the wood being free! If it's alot tougher than basswood though, I should probably wait til I'm more experienced.

Do you carve them the same way you would basswood? I hear linseed oil isn't safe? Do you clean the wood of all in case there's bugs, or is that what the oil does?

[GaryMc]

Hello Jillsy,
Yes I do carve them just like basswood. Linseed oil is about as safe as any finishing product that I know of. I don't worry about bugs much if they are in the wood the linseed oil would probably kill them.
GaryMc

[AlArchie]

Jill, I've never heard of any major "chemical threat" from using linseed oil, although I wouldn't recomend it at a mixer for your afternoon tonic!

The major danger is that of combustability. Rags that have been used for application, if not properly disposed of are highly likely to spontaneously combust. ANY drying oil will create heat while curing and if folded up so the heat is contained, will produce temperatures high enough to initiate combustion.

Rags should either be washed out after use and hung to dry, spread flat on a non combustible surface (preferably outside), hung outside to dry, burned in a safe area, or stored in an air tight metal container for future use.

Any of those drying oils, linseed, tung, walnut, etc, don't just dry by evaporating, but actually cure chemically, and that's the process that produces heat.

If you need a good tangible example of heat produced by chemical cureing, mix up a small batch of one of those two part "wood hardeners", like marine Git-Rot, or the window sill restorer material. This stuff will actually get too hot to safely touch while it cures. Great products, but nasty to handle!

Al

[brushpilecarvings]

I do alot of branch carving, that's how I got into carving. Chris Lubkeman has written a few really good books on branch carving. My website (link in my signature) has pictures of my work.

[jillsy]

AL, thanks for clearing that up. I remember there was something about linseed oil that scared me and it was just what you described.

Terry, fun projects! I cant believe you did them all from branches!

[whitecree]

Carve them while green, if possible. Many woods get much harder as they season.

[LeatherWood]

I enjoy working with Japanese Maple, the bark is beautiful and the wood keeps a nice white tone, doesn't turn yellow brown. The wood is tough and good for beautiful decorative designs. I'll post some picks of my latest.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Jillsy I only work with found wood and that includes Branches I carved them green and dry what ever comes my way and what my head spinns out I want to do, but I only work with power that may make a difference,
I do use Linseed oil in different forms ,straight or mixed making my own wipe on varnish ,straight ,I leave it for 30 minutes and then wipe it off maybe repeat it if needed below are some of them
Alice