[xsailer]

About a month ago I was given several 7' long, staff potential, Cypress tree limbs. About 1-2 inches in Diameter. They are approx. 1 month from being trimmed. Having not done a staff carving I don't want to waste my time by doing it wrong. Are there particulars I should observe or at least be aware of handling this wood?

Bob

[Thomp]

haven't done staff's in cypress, but have done cypress knees,

removing the bark from knees usually done for making lamps where the natural shape is used un touched,. i boiled the knee to remove the bark,
if when you peel the bark off you don't use metal tools because it makes stray nicks on the finish, i used a plastic scraper or fingernails to remove the bark and hairy sap skin,

the difference between boiling them and just using a draw knife or other tool and just scraping off the bark is the tea colored stained stain finish you get from boiling them, versus a skinned finish.. from the tools.. the sap skin will be hard to remove if its not boiled and it will get ugly quick using a block plane or draw knife if the staff has any dips or ridges..

how you could boil a staff to remove the bark might be a trick, but the natural finish would only have to be clear coated for beautiful coloring..
i worked only with bald cypress knees, and it may differ with other kinds of cypress,
as i understand the limbs have some pitch or rosin like pine, so you may need to use acetone to remove the pitch to get the finish to work right..
like when working teak...

good luck.