Help with relief carving

[knotsofast]

How do you get the background(deepest level) level? I'm using a dremel with sort of an egg shaped burr, but I can't seem to get all of the background evened up. Also, the pattern is a Celtic knot and I would appreciate any advice on cleaning up the very tiny crevices. I'm using red oak, hoping to use the board for a crosspiece on a piece of furniture. Thanks.

[cut up]

The only way that I would know how to level the background would be to use a depth gauge. You can make one with a 1/2" square piece of wood that's long enough to span the carving plus about 6". Drill a hole in the center and thread a screw in to touch the deepest part of your carving. Use that to help determine how much wood you need to remove from other parts of the carving. I hope this explanation makes sense and is a help.
Michael

[Speeronline]

I have used an carbide inverted cone to do some cleaning work and then use a green stone to sand it down..
It is very hard to get a perfectly flat area in the tiny spots so I just try to make the Celtic work look REALLY good so you don't have to work so hard on the background. I have been putting a slight pattern into the back to give it more interest and it keeps me from having to get it perfect.

[knotsofast]

Thanks for the replies! It's my first relief carving, so it's going to be a good learning experience.

[Robson Valley]

In the "Cleaning Out Corners" thread, several suggestions came up to deal with the "fuzzies.".
1. Very pointy knife and a dental pick.
2. Small diameter punches made from nails.
3. Some sort of a handle with a 1/16" (or smaller) drill bit in the end.

I tried them all. For me, the drill bit suggestion worked the best in Western Red Cedar. The fuzzies are soft and hard to take a bite out of. Some Dremel kits have small diameter drill bits.