do i carve wet or dry wood

[joe(rookie)]

when i carver i usualy wait for dry wood and i dont know if this is necesary or not. if anyone could tell me that would be great. thanx

joe

[Clifford_Parker]

Dry wood is more stable and less prone to checking and cracking but some of us have had success carving green wood and sealing it promptly with polyurethane or acrylic finishes. A lot depends on the species of wood, how large the piece is, and what part of the tree it is from.

[Lightningbolt]

I mainly carve walking sticks and in an ideal world I prefer to carve them half green/half dry. Around these parts my sticks are usually sourwood (my favorite), maple, mountain birch, and dogwood and I like to cut them in the winter or anytime before the spring sap flow begins then allow them to air dry for about a week.

Following these guidelines I have very little checking and the knives slice quite nicely while the gouges glide with ease, then the paint and/or staining takes just fine.

Unfortunately us carvers don't live in an ideal world so I must admit that I had to stockpile most of my sticks when I had the opportunity, thus I have developed oversized hands over the years from all the extra strength needed to carve those dry beasts! :-) So, if you're carving walking sticks then I'd suggest the half green/half dry method if you can. For caricatures or relief carving I've only used dry wood. Good luck!

[squbrigg]

Joe...I suppose it depends on what you are carving. I carve mostly dry, don't want movement, twisting, cracking, or checking in what I create. Relief carving always dry, ship models always dry, figure or sculpture also dry. Don't do staffs , sticks or canes, but those could be done wet, I would think.

The thing is.....try both! Practice, see which you enjoy better. Try different forms and find your nitch! Mose of all....have fun with your carving. Good luck.

Bob

[joe(rookie)]

thanks for the tips

joe

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I carve dry, but some carve wet and put the carving in a plastic bag during lulls in carving......I have heard you can do that and then bury the finished carving in a bucket with sawdust and it will dry slowly, I have never tried it however.....

[BasketballJones]

If you carve your wood green, you will want to use an oil base finish that will soak into the wood and replenish the moisture before it cracks on you. I have several sources to cite this on in my carving notes.

[big_Wayne_P]

If I burried it
I am sure i would forget about it
and then it would be there in the ground for
some archeoligst to dig up
some time in the future
that is if it did not rot