Breakage prevention

[Central Point Bob]

Does anyone have ideas for preventing parts of a project from breaking or cracking, when the grain is running parallel for the body of the project. e.g.: an arm, ear, or leg......?

[Inadv]

Bob,

As it happens I am currently working on just such a project. It is a group of humpback whales which have very long pectoral fins. Also I am carving them from pine which is a cantankerous wood to begin with. Rather than take a chance on the wood breaking, I am carving the fins from separate pieces of wood and orienting the grain exactly the opposite of how it would be if carved all in one piece. They will be glued in place when the roughout work is complete. I hope to be able to blend the joint well enough so that it isn't obvious.

Many carvers employ this tactic, and it certainly is nothing new. For some really fine tutorials on doing this with human body parts check out Lynn's website. He has a current post on carving a Viking Warrior, and there will be a link to the Out West Wood Carving page there.

L.P.

[AlArchie]

I agree with the last suggestion, if your carving is something that can have seperate pieces attached without being too obvious. Care in making the parts and extreme care at the attachment points can work wonders.

If your carving is one that makes that approach unlikely, you may simply have to rely on being very cautious as you work around those "tender" spots.

Another tip would be to leave a second area attached to support the suceptible piece untill you are almost finished, then carefully remove the support. If that support is in an inconspicuoius area you may even be able to leave it in place to prevent breakage when the piece is being handled.

Al

[Tom-H]

I might offer two things that I have done, with success when carving small pieces that are to be painted. First is to carefully carve the area, then saturate it with liquid supper glue. The second thing that I do is to notice precisely where the weakness is, and make it two pieces, then super glue the two pieces back together. The above are suggestions for small carvings.

Tom H

[Claude]

If you have a Dremel or other rotary tool, you can use a fine burr to slowly grind away the excess wood. You have to make sure the direction of rotation is such that the burr is trying to move away from the body. If the burr turns so that the direction of rotation is toward the foot, hand, etc., it is quite likely to break off the end, just like a knife will do.

You can also use a thin detail knife and do all cutting towards the body, not towards the extremity...and then thinner the better for the blade. A knife works as a wedge, so when it cuts into the wood, it's pushing the wood parts apart. This is what causes breakoffs. So, taking very thin chips off and using a slicing motion (like carving a ham) will give you the least breakoffs.

As the others have stated, it's often better to use a separate piece of wood glued in place. Much stronger, and often takes less time in the long run.

Oh - if you do decide to carve it, hold your hands over a workbench or table so if the piece does break off, you can easily find it to glue it back on.

Claude

[Robson Valley]

Western Red Cedar must be the absolute worst for this.
a) I leave a thick web of wood and carefully do the "skinny" parts last, just before sanding, if any.
b) leave that part "chunky", eg fish fins, before carving.

For example, in my little Raven project, posted in the Animal/Bird forum, I left a thick web between the beak and the body, taking that out with the bandsaw after most of the rest of the body & head was finished. In the wall hanging, the grain of the beak runs the length of the beak, it was added with the sun/cabochon as 3 pieces, after painting.