Carving in the round- green timber or dry it out?

[Cigarsarah]

Hi there, I'm after a bit of advice regarding a new commission that someone's asked me to do. Usually I carve house signs etc, out of seasoned oak or lime. However this project is a large carving of an owl and I have been supplied with a section of Beech tree trunk that came down in the recent storms. It's from towards the base of the tree and is a very chunky piece of wood. The carving is going to be outside anyway so is there any point in trying to dry it out for 6 months or so and then carve it? or can I start carving into the green timber now.
Knowing the British weather it's going to get rained on a lot, so I was going to put a wood preserver on to try and prevent it from rotting.

I'm concerned about it splitting when the weather heats up in the summer and the owl being covered in cracks and splits. Any advice on what's the best thing to do?? Like I said, carving in the round is fairly new to me.

many thanks

[Donsexton]

I can tell you what I do, look at the rings they may tell you what spot the large cracks will appear. That will help you to not carve the beak or eye over a potential crack. I don't ever wait on wood to dry out.

[Kelley]

I think you should go ahead and carve it. In my experience as it contracts and expands with the weather it will split and crack and there is nothing much you can do about it. Most of the time the cracks don't detract from the carving too much.
kelley

[Cigarsarah]

Thanks for your advice, I'm gonna start sawing out the basic shape this week and then crack on with the details. As it's going to be kept outside I was going to put on a general wood preserver to prevent rot and any other damage- any particular preservers that you would recommend? I've also got to do a memorial cross for a pet so will need a preserver to ensure it lasts a very long time as well. As ever any advice is appreciated x

[Hugh-P]

You might want to check out the bottom of the block, the part that will be the bottom of the Owl. If you can, drill a hole in the center,(as deep as you can get away with) removing the heart wood of the block. This helps prevent cracking, and also when the owl is finished, you can turn it over and keep it full of linseed oil or watco oil, whatever, and as it soaks into the block fill it again. This will soak into the heart of the block, and help prevent cracking and also preserve the wood. Just my $02. worth.

[Claude]

Here's some info that might help.

http://owic.oregonstate.edu/pubs/peg.pdf

Claude