As chip carvers, we’ve all experienced issues of chip out, or cuts not being as clean as we’d like them to be. It might be caused by a dull knife, dry wood, or even carving end grain. Recently, I've received a few emails mentioning difficulties with carving because of dry wood. It can lead to brittle carvings and make carving more
frustrating. So, I thought today would be a good time to review a few tips on the topic!
One effective method to soften dry wood before carving is to spray the wood with rubbing alcohol or a 50/50 mix of water and rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol or 50/50 mix helps temporarily soften the wood and makes your carving experience smoother. This tip can also be used on end grain! An important note: Don’t use water only because it will raise the grain and leave a rough surface.
Rubbing alcohol evaporates faster than water, which avoids raising the grain as much as water.
If you're looking for a more permanent solution, consider building a humidity box that keeps your carving blanks at the ideal moisture level. There's a great discussion on the My Chip Carving Community forums about this topic, and it provides detailed steps on how to make your own humidity box. Check it out here and join the conversation with fellow carvers.
Do you have any other tips on working with dry wood?
I recently decided to carve a plate from MCC with an applied pattern that I had been putting off until "the right time." In the process of carving it, two things happened:
- I learned "again" the importance of moistening the wood when you start having chip out due to the wood being too dry.
- I had the idea to make the plate into a
clock.
From a distance, the carving looks okay, but on closer inspection it's easy to see the result of dry wood (and not practicing the pattern on a separate board before diving into it).
I also still struggle with keeping the border lines parallel, especially when the wood is too dry.
Overall, it turned out pretty well, but I definitely re-learned some valuable
lessons.
Jon
Good to hear from you, Jon! I think it came out well, too.👍 Even when I zoom in, I don't see any of the chip out that I was expecting to find when you mentioned dry wood. It's a good reminder that I need to be a bit more observant myself when it comes to dry wood.
I think making it a clock was a fantastic idea!.
You need to stay hydrated too!
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