[Irishman]

I see that chainsaw carvers use a torch to bring out various parts of their large carvings. I was wondering if a person could use a small butane torch to give a burned effect to a small carving...such as a mountain man. I have not seen any carvers on this site take this approach with small carvings...other than use a woodburning tool. Is there a site that demonstrates this technique? I would like to try using my small torch on one of my small carvings but don't know where to start.
Patrick

[Ashbys]

Hi Patrick ,

You can, but be careful there is a difference in the wood being used. Chainsaw carvers carve green wood. Meaning the water content is much higher than a typical carving here. But it is used for effect and to clean the fuzzys .


Ash

[Pyrographer]

I use a mini torch for some of my burnings done on kiln dried wood but you need to be very careful, not becuse it's dry but because of the inability to really control the width of the flame in tight spots. You cannot get into close spots with a torch like you can with a burner. When I do use a torch it is used in the "wide open spaces" where there is no detail work nearby to get messed up by the torch. I would suggest you try it on a piece of wood to get the feel for it and see just what you can do with it before you do it on anything good.

Nedra

[Irishman]

Thanks Ash and Nedra. Before I oiled the carving I recently posted, I was wondering about torching the mustache and beard. Poplar is such a pale wood and doesn't take oil really well. I'll be doing other large pieces like the woodspirit with the pearly smile so I might try the small torch. I guess if I mess up, I can always remove the wood.

Patrick