[CAS14]

Okay boys and girls, I am now officially an old fart, even though I still get paid for thinking about rocks all day. Why? Because I have decided to take up whittling, otherwise known as wood carving.

This past weekend I attended the annual trade show that the Northeast Oklahoma Wood Carvers Association (EOWA) sponsors. I spent 30 minutes whittling a boot out of a small piece of basswood. I paid the $25 fee to join the EOWA and I am committed to (try to) attend at least one of their weekly Thursday evening meetings per month. My wife of 42 years, who tolerates my every whim, only smiled as I spent over $200 on gear at the trade show.

Maybe I will even take Mr. Larry Green's class this October, depending on work and family commitments.

http://woodcarving.indiemade.com/content/home

And so, of course there is a problem. Stick makers prefer hard wood. Carvers prefer soft wood. Knotty woods pose problems for stick makers, but they sure look great when the stick is finished. Knots are problematic for carvers.

Of course the wood spirit that so many like to carve on a stick is a goal of mine. I met a guy who carves them, not with the traditional scary face, but with a whimsical face that has a big smile. I think I'll try to draw and then carve something more along those lines. I need to begin working on the oaken stick in the garage that my son likes. Some carving is in order.

As time goes on, we ought to report our successes and failures when we attempt carving on various kinds of wood.

 

[CAS14]

Thanks guys! At the woodcarver's show, I was fortunate to have some beginner's guidance. I worked on a cowboy boot of basswood that had already been roughed out with a scroll saw, long axis parallel to the grain. Then Larry Green said he prefers to work cross grain and he demonstrated why. He gave me one of his boots and a very different wood spirit that I liked.

Yes, I did pick up a glove, after the instructor described his visit to the ER.

I have plenty of basswood to practice on. I plan to attend an occassional Thursday evening "carve-in" to pick up pointers.

On the Janka scale, basswood is ony 410 and white oak is 1360. This suggests that I will have a difficult time caeving a wood spirit or anything into the oak stick that my son selected from the collection on the garage wall. I have plenty of oak to test that, but it will likely harden as it cures. Maybe the week of soaking in Pentacryl will help that.

 

[CAS14]

I have an oak owl I have been working on for years now Harndness to me is usualy irrelevant, you still make small chips its just sometimes you have to use a mallet

Oh nooooo! Not sure how many years I halve left. But I'll give it a try after some practice. After six months of curing, the bark I left on the grip has not separated at all. It might be interesting, if at all possible, to try to incorporate that bark into some carving, for example as a beard of sorts, or in another way. This will definitely require some practice, and since no two pieces of wood are exactly the same it won't be a controlled experiment.

In any case, I'll practice first on some basswood or other soft wood.

 

[CAS14]

Now you done got me to wanting to carve something again!

Good Lewey, show us how it's done!

The EOWA holds it's weekly "carve-ins" on Thursdays, 6-9 pm, at a community center near downtown where I work. I have too much going on to attend regularly, but I plan to attend my first tonight. I'll take a couple of basswood blocks, a roughed out oak cane, and an almost finished very hard oak slingshot, and practice as well as seek advice. I'm interested to see what sort of group this is. Hopefully not too much talk about politics, religion, and all the sorts of stuff that get people upset at one another. Everyone I have met so far has had a very positive disposition.

 

[CAS14]

I carve these things in about 3 hours with a few half round gouges, a v-tool, and a long thin knife. Here is a sample (from my website):

Holy cow! I won't live long enough to do something like that. Those are incredible!

Thank you very much for the tips. Right now, I'm practicing on basswood. I will follow your advice when my skill level has improved 1000%, and attack a stick.

Regards

 

[CAS14]

Have mallet, will carve! Thanks Shawn!

 

[CAS14]

I started carving with knives about 5 years ago and took to it quite naturally. I then started carving walking sticks and had the same problem, hard wood is better for sticks but not better on knives. I would suggest keeping the knives for other carvings and use power tools for walking sticks. I know it is not as romantic but it saves a lot of time sharpening and sharpening and sharpening while carving an ozark mountain hickory.

Thanks for the timely response. I just bought a Dremel with a detail attachment, but I bought it to cut some stone to embed. I will try to learn how to use it to carve on the very hard woods, expecially since my stock is not green.