Carving a Headboard

[Lindy]

Has anyone here carved a headboard? I thinking about trying to do one in Mahogany (Honduras of course) and any advice would be greatly appreciated. The design I have come up with is a mountainscape with a Hunter's Moon in the background and as I move forward into the foreground having the mountains fade to foothills. Well that's my basic and rather rough idea right now. :-/

Advice from anyone who has tried this type of project would be greatly appreciated. :

Lindy

I carved on one when I was a kid, and as I recall, got my bottom warmed pretty good for it....

The only adviice I can give is to read everything you can lay your hands on r.e. relief carving large panels. Warping is a problem with them, so best to bone up on methods to avoid it.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

check with Dale here on the forum, he I think has carved some and pretty sure he has carved some mantels...similar anyway!

[squbrigg]

Hi Lindy,

While not a headboard, I have relief carved many nautical scenes in Mahogany boards. Depending on the type of Mahogany used, the most common Mahogany has a trick to the grain. The board will have thin strips of grain running in the opposite direction from the rest of the board. As long as you know to expect this you can work around it, but it can surprise the heck out of you.

Best I can offer you is draw on your design, keep your tools razor sharp and take your time. Some carvers use a drill press and Forsner bits to reduce their backgrounds, then carve to finish, but I prefer to do it by hand. You get a feel for the wood that way and therefore no surprises.

Have fun with it, would love to see pictures of the finished product.

Bob