non chip wood

[rickm]

lately i have been trying to carve some spoons, and some of the patterns are intrucate and delicate, and i have been using cherry. im finding the cherry doesnt do detail well, it tends to chip off when getting too fine. what is a better wood for detail. of course i might be too much of a klutz or the wood is too dry or something. i want to do something besides basswood as that is too bland. i have tried black walnut and it holds detail well but is sooo hard

[northwood bob]

Most of the hardwoods are a bit difficult ot carve but really hold a detail. First, make sure your tools are sharp and honed well. If you spray an alchol/water mixture on the wood, it will carve more like green wood. Also, the bottom of the spoon area is always extremely difficult to complete without chipping. I usually get this area as good as I can get it with a scorp or gouge and complete with sandpaper. The handle and the remainder of the spoon are left with tool marks.

Give that a try
Bob

[Claude]

Cherry and walnut are almost equally hard. The key to detail is having your knives/gouges very sharp, and only take off very thin shavings. Carve toward the bulk of the wood...for example, to carve a nose, carve from the tip towards the cheek, not from the cheek toward the tip.

Claude

[mobjack68]

Cherry is a weird wood to carve.....period.
Neat wood, once you become "one" with the grain patterns. As stated above, it is hard. The grain sometimes runs up and down rather than along the lines, there just seems to be a certain amount of interlocking going on. It is manageable, but you really need to pay attention to how the chips are coming loose.

Walnut is equally as hard as cherry but the grain is much more predictable. I highly encourage everybody that carves to try walnut once or twice. Walnut carves with a "crispness" that is very pleasing and clean.
As always, even within the walnut and cherry families there will be be a certain variation with regards to hardness. I have carved pieces of walnut that were more like basswood than walnut. I have a piece of walnut driftwood in process that is as hard as a mother-in-law's heart...you don't know until you try!!

[Steve Reed]

You might try butternut. It will chip out occasionally depending on the piece, but is nice to work with. Spanish cedar also carves well.
Steve