There were some interesting responses to last week's topic on wood preparation. One of them was especially intriguing to me. Here's the email:
Read your email and was quite interested to see
the comments about hard/brittle wood. I understand the desire to make perfect cuts and all that but . . .
I would encourage carvers to execute some carvings in woods other than basswood. Yeah it carves well and holds details and edges well. And it’s plenty bland enough to not hide or over-power our designs. However, I think we can get spoiled easily by the quality basswood we have available. By
chip carving pine, walnut, cherry or even oak we get a renewed appreciation for bass when we get back to it.
The fickleness of bass becomes insignificant after spending some time decorating the lid of a solid topped cigar box. My daughter wanted a toilet paper roll holder for her guest bathroom.
I was silly enough that ask “What kind of wood?” Kind of stuck when she said oak! Never again I say now but I made and carved the holder. Yeah there are errors but she’ll never find them!
My in-laws were approaching their 50th wedding anniversary and my wife suggested that carve something. Found a really nice teak plate and drew up and carved a commemorative design to personalize the
plate/gift.
Thank you for keeping up the weekly email. And putting up with my mini-rant.
Scott
A couple things came to mind:
I don't think it's a rant at all - it's a
valid thought.
Errors? There aren't any errors, just character.😉
Note to self: Always give options for the type of wood to be carved 😂
The email made me think of the different woods I've chip carved. The very first chip carving I did was a cross made out of soft maple. I'd only read a bit about chip carving and hadn't
been introduced to basswood, yet. I don't think I've chip carved anything in soft maple since, even though it wasn't a bad experience. Looking back at that cross I somehow managed to combine traditional and old-world style chips without even knowing what they were!
After gaining more experience with chip carving I received a carving blank made out of white pine. The result was fine, but I didn't particularly enjoy the experience, which gets back to Scott's whole point "...we get a renewed appreciation for bass when we get back to it."
Another email asked:
What wood could you suggest that might work well as a cutting board as
well as be reasonable for a new carver like myself. Thank you.
I responded that basswood wouldn't hold up very well to cutting board activities due to its softness, however, walnut or cherry could be options. I've never chip-carved walnut, but I have done some enjoyable relief carvings with it. I don't know which wood the reader used, but it led me back to Scott's email on trying other types of wood and that there are times when it makes sense to do
so.
What other woods have you carved? Would you do another project with any of them?
The most frequently referred-to sandpaper grit, when it comes to preparing and finishing wood, seems to be 220. It's also not uncommon to have 220 or 320 suggested.
I've come to prefer 320, because it's less aggressive when sanding between finish coats, or when removing leftover pattern marks, but I want to
use what's actually best.
Is 220 better for surface preparation (as in providing better finish or pattern adherence), or is it just matter of personal preference?
Would love your input.
Thanks!
Jon
Thanks for the question Jon! I use the 220 grit before applying the pattern. I then use 320 or higher when finishing for the same reasons you mentioned.
holder for her guest bathroom.
I was silly enough that ask “What kind of wood?” Kind of stuck when she said oak! Never again I say now but I made and carved the holder. Yeah there are errors but she’ll never find them!
