Prepare and Carve Green Wood

[CuttinUp]

I have recently come into some green cherry and poplar. I have split away the bark and sectioned into workable sizes. I have read that it should dry before carving but also have read about people carving green wood...Which is better? It seems that carving green would allow for splitting later...How would you prevent that? I have treated the ends of my "blanks" with wax to help keep from checking, but how would you treat carved green wood?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[dnstehly]

I carve a lot of green wood, especially a lot of tulip poplar. Put it in a plastic bag between carving sessions. Wood checks because of moisture escaping too quickly and this will serve to retard the drying process. It's best to take it out of the bag for short periods of time every day even if you are not going to carve on it. Leaving it in the bag for too long a time will develope mold. The piece you see in my avatar was done in this way and started just 2 weeks after harvesting the tree.

[CuttinUp]

Thanks David!!! Love those sticks!

[Mitchell]

Pentacryl.



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