Cypress knees

[ajcoholic]

In the whittling special this past summer, there was an article on carving a santa fromo a cypress knee. It looked very cool. I picked up two of the medium sized knees this week. First time i have ever seen such a thing!

I assume they carve something like basswood, ie, they are lightweight, and seem pretty uniform.

I cant find too much doing a search on this site, anyone have any advice or what to look out for?

AJC

[Ron T]

Hi Andrew,

My friend down in Louisiana sent me a couple recently. You have to use a very sharp knife or the fibers will shred.

[ajcoholic]

Originally Posted by Ron T

Hi Andrew,

My friend down in Louisiana sent me a couple recently. You have to use a very sharp knife or the fibers will shred.

By shred, do you mean compress and tear? My tools are generally very sharp, but ill make extra sure.

They certainly look very cool. Much lighter weight than i expected.

[Rustic Rick]

Woodcraft has some that are expensive. I would love to try some as well.

[Inadv]

Andrew,

I grew up in SE coastal GA. Lots, and lots of bald and pond cypress there. It is a very popular siding material and I used it to build horse barns years ago. I also did a little carving on a few knees. The fibers are very loose and yes "shred and tear" are fair descriptions of how they will react to anything except a VERY sharp blade. Detail can be very tricky and small detail almost impossible. I would think that power carving might be a more practical way to work it than hand tools, but I've not tried that yet.
Also be advised that it will get very "pithy" with age as the fibers tend to separate as it dries. Working it green and sealing it right away would probably be the most successful strategy.

L.P.

[Ron T]

Yes, Andrew, tearing. Larry said it all.

[ajcoholic]

Well, i guess i best give my tools a good honing before i begin...

Luckily the santa figure in the magazine is not too detailed. My wife really liked it so i wanted to give it a try - one for her and one for my mom. Will probably get to them soon as its into Nov. soon and almost time for holday decorations!

Will give my opinion when i start cutting..

Thanks for the info, much appreciated guys!

AJC

[carvingbarn]

Great book "Carving Cypress Knees" by Carole Jean Boyd. Great on carving and painting. She has a web site where you can see the her work.

[ajcoholic]

Well, either my knives are really sharp, or my particular cypress knee is unusually dense!

I stared carving my santa - it is quite hard, harder than basswood, and not punky or anything. Id actually prefer having two hands to work my knife, rather than holding the knee with one and knife in the other!

Should gave some progress pics tomorrow..

AJC

[big dave]

i have found that if using hand tools it works better if you soak it in water for a little while and keep it wet as you carve