[Ashbys]

You know ,

Gotta love this board !

Or you can try some straight Jack Daniels or better yet some Cutty Sark. No, not on the wood, 2 fingers in a glass. The wood will seem a lot softer and more compliant!

Thanks Al! now I have to ask, would "West Virginia spring water " be good enough to replace the rubbing alchohol. That way one product for both jobs =)

hic...

Ash

[AlArchie]

If that's anything like that "Rocky Top Corn from a Jar", it'd probably do the trick!

Al

[Ashbys]

I would say real close realitives

200 proof sweet water =)

Ash

[Kenny_S]

Once when I was in my younger years and dumb, We fellows(group of friends), visited an local elderly backwoods hill genteman known for his expertise in makeing the spirits sort of speaking. Yes we have hills and some pretty tall ones in this part of Kansas.Now this stuff was clearer than water but when ya took the lid off of the mason jar, WOW, Worse than southern Comfort when you had to much. Ya know, the pick up up and slams you face down when you had a little to much.
Now we all pitch together and came up with enough money to buy a couple of gallons of this watery looking stuff, thinking we could handle it and have ourselves a great time. Well, being young, happy and a little on the dumb side, we didn't get it all drank before we were dumber and happier. Had a few mason jars left over and not wanting to waste it, we poured it in my old two door hard top '53 Ford Crown Vic, flathead v8.

Ya know what, that car never ran any better than when it had some of that hootch in it!!

Well, when I got home the next day, my father was waiting on me and he was a smart one for sure, Knew how I got out of the car, that I had partook in a little to much of the spirits. But being young, happy and dumb, I just smiled and shook my head up and down. Wasn't any use in telling a lie as the punishment was worse if caught in a lie with Dad.
He was an understanding father also and it was about 2 months before I got that car back.
Ah the little lessons one learn while growing up. Well, the ones I could remember.

Ya see, I didn't remember driving home.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Don't put the "shine" on your woodcarving.....it will scorch it! lol

[Thomp]

Originally Posted by [LEFT

whitecree[/left]]I don't

reccommend

this as it makes carving toxic as all get out, but if you want to soften wood, get some pure, waterless ammonia and soak the wood for a couple of hours. Turns wood into silly putty, then when the ammonia

evapourates

it returns to being wood.

Yeah, water or a 50/50 mix with

inchohol

.

Not intending to hijack the topic but as a side note on this subject of ammonia,

I ran into a really stressed out one of a kind cypress knee with root attached that was hacked out of the ground.. with a shovel, it's crown was whacked off and lots of damage even though the gnarly thing has got me intrigued i want to carve it as a soldier-Airman

with one hand in the air holding a airplaine and the other down kinda by his side arms as wings,
another chunk of wood will have to be made for an attachable head, but I'm calling him wing nut, never the less there is several places i cant carve due to loose or torn out sections of wood. and a hand & arm on the other side will have to be added.

i never heard of the ammonia thing, whitetree I.m. me or start another topic on the use of this stuff,,, if you would..

Sounds like magic to me.

[SchreiberBike]

You guys are much better carvers than I, but I have some experience working with ammonia in an industrial refrigeration setting. In its "pure waterless" or anhydrous form, it is very hazardous stuff.

Farmers use it on their fields and are constantly getting eye injuries. In some concentrations, it is also explosive. When our crew worked with it directly, they wore full protective suits, there were specific ventilation requirements and had backup personnel on hand for rescue.

Household ammonia is something like 5% ammonia and 95% water and even that is irritating for many people. Perhaps what you were referring to above is undiluted household ammonia. That is very different from waterless ammonia. I’d hate for somebody to try the wrong stuff and be injured.

[Thomp]

I surely don't think for a second whitecree was speaking of industrial grade anhydrous ammonia,
Way back when were involved in the Vietnam ERA i was in the service and had to handle that junk a sredout of (my career field, cryogenics and fuels), filling hound dog missiles. wearing Scott air packs like firemen,
A defignant 2 man operation, one to do the work, and the other in case of accident, to haul him out and call the morgue.., no way would you want that in your shop,,, it would kill the neighborhood and livestock,,

but i was thinking along the lines of like cleaning pots and pans where you put the ammonia in a big seal able bag with a skill it, it eats off all the carbon....and burnt on grease on the outside..

if it makes wood like silly puddy i see a use for it,,,

[BasketballJones]

You don't really need to use anything but straight water. David Sabol emerses many of his carvings in water. I've tried that with mixed results, but he's the pro and I'm not.

Another carver friend keeps his carvings in a plastic bag in the refrigerator sometimes the freezer. Not good if you raid the refrigerator at night half asleep and think it's meatloaf.

This method taught to me by a carver/cabinet maker acquaintanence is cool. Spray water using a water bottle on the section you are working on. Like Sabol's method the water causes the wood fiber to expand. Regardless of how sharp the tools are you'll get the fuzzies because the wood dries, which is what I understand the reason why some add the 50% alcohol mix; to help speedup the drying and make it more uniform.

Paul doesn't care about the fuzzies because he is only using it as rough up process. He removes the fuzzies, which were wet loose fibers, when they dry. Often they are just the end curls if the tool is extremely sharp, depending on hand or power tool. I believe the underlying wood fibers, that are not cut, actually tighten.

He does two other things related with water which others here do. Before he paints his carvings he goes over it with a paintbrush and a mixture of alcohol and water without totally saturating it. He seals it the next day and paints a day or two later.

His tools are always sharp and he frequently sprays WD 40 on one rag (never on the tool) while carving wet, then wipes off the tool with a dry rag, and immediately goes to the strop. In fact he strops every 15 minutes. Does it with his router bits as well. Says it makes them last longer and keeps the carbon buildup down. Personal experience with the router and dremel bits, the water does keep the bit cooler, less heat friction.

[Thomp]

BasketballJones,

white cree said something about turning wood into silly puddy, man wouldnt it be nice to take a section of wood and mold it into the shape you wanted before carving,
like the little dude im currently doing, is the cypress knee section close to the ground with a couple roots attached that made the torso...
one arm goes into the table, the other broken off raggid at about the elbow, which will hold a carved toy aeroplain
i have to carve and fit the forarm hand and airplane out of another section,
it surely would be nice to get the arm to fit the existing raggid end, by molding it in there...
i didnt know how plyable the ammonia woul make the wood,, its hard to believe it would be soft enough to form like clay... without drawbacks...