Hi Gang,
I just thought I would share this little idea I picked up one time at a carving show. This gentleman had some really funky looking santa's and spirit faces. I asked him what kind of wood he carved them out of because it was rock hard. He smiled at me and said 'Yams' of course my reply was 'YAMS'? You know sweet potatoes. He explained to me to take all the peal off of the yams and then to carve the faces into them. He then told me to take them and hang them by a nail or hook and let them dry. Make sure that none of the yam touches anything. Leave them dry all summer or until they are hard as rocks. As they dry the faces distort and make for some really interesting carvings. Once they are dry you can paint them and seal them. One word of caution though when you have finished the carving make sure you wipe off your tools and give them a light coat of oil otherwise if you dont they will rust. Give it a try the material is inexpensive and you might be suprised at the result. For any of you trying carving for the first time it is an excellent way to start and you dont need a lot of tools. Since then people have told me you can do the same with apples although I havent tried that as yet. Any how just thought I would share that with you.
Colin

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

yeh, we did that in school, in fact me, moses, and noah all called them LOL

I think someone talked about this once before on this board. Interesting idea, but I don't remember any pics. Does anyone have pics of these carved yams?

Teri

I tried yam carving a few years ago and have some grainy old pictures. The first one is carved but still fresh, the second is completely dry. I only did the two, and it was fun and easy. The only bad thing is after they were dried and sealed, some kind of creature started boring out of them, creating tiny holes and leaving a trail of sawdust like stuff. I cleaned them up and sealed them both again, but after a few months it happened again with the long skinny one, so I threw it out. I still have the other one and it is pest free. I think if you get a good solid finish on it right after it dries you might not have that problem.
http://people.delphiforums.com/pyrogite/yam1.jpg
http://people.delphiforums.com/pyrogite/yam2.jpg

Donna

oops, that wasn't very clear was it LOL?

'The first one is carved but still fresh, the second is completely dry. '

This should have said the first Picture and the second picture.

Thanks, Donna - those are pretty cool. Might be fun to try one of these days :-)

Teri

Thanks for sharing the pictures Donna they look like some of the ones I carved only mine dried a little lighter. As for the bugs I didnt get any I hung mine by fish hooks in the garage.
Colin