Mounting Woodcarvings...

[Iowa Carver]

Questions for you veteran carvers out there. I know some of you use dowels and mount your carvings that way. Do you use epoxy or white glue for this. Also what about very small carvings like little dogs etc. that don't have much room on the paws. Can you white glue or epoxy them straight to the base and will they stay. Same for small caricatures you just want on a simple base.

Appreciate any info..

Happy 4th and I am off to the family 4th cook out and going to do a little whittling while I am there.

Corey

[Cottonwood]

I would think that small carvings with small paws etc. would be fine with epoxy.
However, the person that you need to consult is Lynn O. Doughty. He puts almost as much thought into mounting his carvings as in carving them and the results he gets by doing that is head and shoulders above most of us.

[Kenny_S]

Bamboo Skewers are fairly small. I have used them on smaller pieces in a scene. I will agree with Millard that epoxy would work.

[Iowa Carver]

Thanks guys for the information! I appreciate it.

Corey

[Mottles]

Hi Cory, I don't fit into the vetern carver discription, but my hubby mounts my Kachina Dolls (small feet) using small nails. He drills holes in the underside of the shoes and into the top side of the base to match-up.
Runs a small amount of glue into the base holes and drops the doll into place.
Hope this helps,
Kathy

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Thanks for the compliment Millard. I use dowels for just about everything. The smaller the object the smaller the dowel. For a standard 10-14 inch figure I use 1/8", next down the line would be the wooden skewers you can find in the cooking section. I wouldn't suggest using bamboo as it is too slick to really offer a good grab for the glue. Finally, for the little things like dogs. etc., toothpicks. You really couldn't count on gluing something directly to a mount without a dowel. Wooden dowels are the best way to go as if you ever have to repair a figure and you will over time you can generally just break the carving free of the mount with only the dowels breaking or slide a razor saw under the figure to remove it. I've done it numerous times over the years and it's always worked for me.

As for the glue to use I'd stick with the carpenters glue. I drill my holes, put a good drop of glue on the hold then blow it down into the hold prior to inserting the dowel. Once the figure is in place you can use a wet brush to wipe away any glue that squeezes out. You can't do that with epoxy without making a mess.

[Iowa Carver]

Thanks Kathy, some one else told me they use little tiny brads.

Lynn, thanks for the good info. I appreciate it. Makes sense on the epoxy.

Corey