Small symbol carving, help required :-)

jpbiow · #1 06-14-2007, 06:57 AM

I'm a university student in England and I recently carved an Ohm (the Hindu sign) into an avocado stone for a close friend of mine. It is their Birthday soon and I would like to carve an Ohm into a small, round peice of wood, maybe 8-10cm in diameter? I am a complete amature, so please can you suggest a type of wood that I should use in order to create a smooth carving, and perhaps suggest the types of tools that I would need and a suitable finish so as to protect it?

Any help will be much appreciated,

good day,

James

squbrigg · #2 06-14-2007, 08:12 AM

For a small relief carving like that I would suggest a fairly hard wood, as it would be less likely to split and chip. Perhaps a nice piece of hard Mahogany, even Oak or Maple. Depends on what is available over there.

For tools, I would suggest a small set of Dockyard tools, a 10cm disk is pretty small and you want crisp, clear detail. Again, supply may be your problem, finding them locally, but Chipping Away carries them online and they aren't terribly expensive. http://www.chippingaway.com/

Good luck with your symbol.

Bob

jpbiow · #3 07-10-2007, 08:03 PM

Thanks very much for the help. I managed to get hold of a piece of Beech wood which is taking shape very nicely. The grain in it is beautiful.

I live on a small island called the Isle of Wight which is just off of the South Coast and it has proven very hard to get hold of a good peice of suitable wood, short of going out to fell a tree, most of which a protected by Tree Preservation Orders, the breach of which is a criminal offence, punishable by a gaol term! I managed to hunt down the head of a small wood carving club and he was kind enough to give me a few pieces to try.

He told me to keep the wood in a plastic bag to help keep the moisture in it to make sure that it stays workable. When the wood become stuborn, I simply place it in an open bag that is tried to the top of my towel rail (so as to keep it away from direct moisture, and leave my shower to run very hot with the bathroom door shut. A 20 minutes dose in my home made sauna seems to work a treat!

As for the tools, it turned out that my father had a nice set that I could use.

Thanks kindly,

Jamie