cypress knees

[deb]

Hi,
I am new to this as some of you know. I have mainly carved, only actually, cottonwood bark. I got a few cypress knees and was wondering if they are going to be really hard wood or easy. I can't seem to find much on the internet about them other than a couple books to buy. I was wondering how many of you carve them and what you think.
thanks
debbie

[Ron T]

Hi Debbie,

I have a couple of cypress knees but haven't carved them yet. The friend who gave them to me said your knife has to be very sharp because the knees are soft. Good luck.

[Thomp]

cypress knees takes a really sharp knife, the wood is more like carving Styrofoam it chirps and squeaks as you carve it, dont expect to make big chips most knees have wild grain in the wood... but its good to carve if you have a good local supply

[Jim Arnold]

Yep...sharp knife a must.

Enjoyed your site photo gallery too. Nice work on the sticks!!!

Look forward to seeing what you've done with the knees.

Jim

[Paul_Guraedy]

Carving a cypress knee takes a sharp knife because it is a soft wood which makes it hard to carve. Still it is a lot of fun and those shapes can add a lot of interest to a carving.

[tnartist05]

Deb I carved two,Id bought them in a yard sale,the man told me he'd had them least 25yrs when he moved here from Fla. They both had the bark on them,it was super hard carving them even when I finally carved through the bark. Course after I had carved mine,I read where they should have been boiled in water for least 3 hrs which makes them softer and the bark falls off them. If you have the ones with the smooth shiney outside and thoses are easy to carve.

Heres one I did.

Hope this helps you some.

Forrest

[tnartist05]

Thomp,is there cypress roots? The two I carve was hard as a brick,I call them knees or could they been roots??

Thks' Forrest

Originally Posted by Thomp

cypress knees takes a really sharp knife, the wood is more like carving Styrofoam it chirps and squeaks as you carve it, dont expect to make big chips most knees have wild grain in the wood... but its good to carve if you have a good local supply

[deb]

thanks everyone, i will keep the knives SHARP! I will let you know how they turn out. the first one is going to be a father Christmas (as usual .

[Woody1961]

Deb,

My Mom lived in the greater New Orleans area, and I have carved a couple of these. The best one that I did was for my Mom and I carved a silhouette of Jesus in the Garden (kneeling behind a rock). I hollowed out a spot in the back and put a little light behind it. I was kind of neat.

It is very soft wood at the source, but it generally won't rot.

Forrest,

A cypress "knee" is the root. The cypress tree grows really well in swampy areas. They grow at the edge or right in the swamp and I have heard that the root projects above the ground to allow the tree to get oxygen because the rest of the root system is under water. I don't think that anyone knows why they are there, but they are fun to carve because of their shape (though they do NOT take much detail because they are so soft).

[tnartist05]

Phil thanks!! The other one I carved was hard also and I got several details in it. I dont really like a soft wood cause they dont hold details. Theses will be the only two knees I carve.

Thanks again Phil.

Forrest