[BigDaddyO]

I have some left over cedar shingles from a shed I built a few years ago. I am wondering if I could use them to carve ornaments from?

Everyone uses basswood from what I can tell, but I have this stuff on hand and wondered if it's worth the attempt.

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Any wood can be carved. Some a lot easier than others. The only way to find out whether the cedar shingles are for you is to try one.

[rick-in-seattle]

Big D,
I doubt you would want to use cedar for ornaments, but they make excellent "Bullroarers". Here is a link to one style of Bullroarer. BULLROARER

[BigDaddyO]

Well,

I am going to try to make Claude's snowman pin today during my lunch break from a cedar shingle. I'll let you know how it works out.

Mike

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyO

Well,

I am going to try to make Claude's snowman pin today during my lunch break from a cedar shingle. I'll let you know how it works out.

Mike

I have a feeling that it will be prone to chipping and splitting. I tried some old hardwood flooring and it was only workable using a power tool with a sander.

Joggernot

[BigDaddyO]

Joggernot,

You were right, it did split. Also, the wood was kinda... squishy.
Here is a picture of my first attempt at a snowman. which just so happens to be my 2nd carving project ever.

The rim on the hat broke off on one side and was chipping off as I tried to round it over. You will notice that the left side of the belly is a little thinner. That's because I cut into it and it split a section right off.

Overall, if you take really small cuts and you kinda make a sawing action while you cut it's fairly smooth.

Mike

[Joggernot]

I like it! That was what I was using the old flooring for as well. Ended up throwing about half the wood away, and succeeding (somewhat) with the rest of it.

Joggernot

[Claude]

Good attempt, Mike. I have trouble with the hat brim breaking off when I use basswood, too. Elmer's glue works well for these mistakes. You're right about the small cuts, and using a slicing motion. When I make these little snowmen in the round for ornaments, I've found the hat brim is a real pain, so I carve it in three pieces: snowman, hat brim, hat, and glue it all together. That way I can have the snowman and hat top with the grain oriented up and down, for ease of carving, and the hat brim grain crosswise, for strength. Takes a whole lot less time that way also.

I haven't tried 3 pieces for the pin yet, so I may have to see how it goes.
Claude

[Jim-Iowa]

It does take a lot of care and selective cuts to carve cedar, but can be done with care, though it might be delicate. The soft straight grain is prone to splitting(which is why it makes good shingles. However my wife and I have done a lot of Intarsia using Western Red Cedar. It oddly enough works very well with power tools(we do a lot of shaping with our dremel and belt sander) so might be a good choice for power carving. I do like working with it and like the results, with one possible exception, the dust is somewhat toxic so dust masks are a good idea when working it with power tools and sanding.
You may not want to quit working it just adapt your methods to the nature of the wood. That's really what carving is about anyway is'nt it!

[BigDaddyO]

Thanks for the tips.

I think for my second attempt at a snowman,
I will use my fine tooth pull saw to cut out the hat, I will carve the body and face, then use my Dremel with a sanding drum to round over the hat.

Mike