Beiträge von Brian Thair

Can you make any kind of a saw cut to the center of the log, for the entire length?

This might prevent many cracks from beginning on their own.

People here try so very hard to prevent cracking. The First Nations native carvers can ignore cracks most times.

If pieces break off from cracks, I glue them back on and come back tomorrow to carve.

If my translator is behaving properly, I suggest that the washbasin be a separate piece of wood.

That way, you can replace it if it cracks and keep the wash stand.

It will look beautiful. Very hot wax will soak into the wood and seal it very well.

I believe that you should do it. Many people will say "no." Leave them behind and build it.

Only one question: how much use does the vanity get in a year?

Maybe your materials will wear down too much.

Outdoor sheds with the door shut become very hot inside (+50C and warmer.)

The concept is to have the wood moisture evaporate from all surfaces at a slow rate.

This reduces the stress as the wood shrinks.

So really, any place which does not see much sun. Dry and cool.

A house is usually very dry and the wood will dry far too fast and then lots of cracks.

I harvested a dozen pieces of alder log (Alnus rubra) maybe 60 cm x 20 cm.

When I first started carving 25 years ago and knew nothing about wood.

Brought them all into my shop and put them in a corner. Bark on, no end sealer.

Many, many cracks from end to end after less than 6 months. Complete loss.

The other thing that you can do is to cut a section out of the ugly side of the log, radius all the way to the center of the log.

This is how many western red cedar logs are prepared for totem pole carving. The back is always cut out as the pole

is only to be seen from one side.

Your English is probably better than my German which I have not used for 55 years.

I use Microsoft Translator with quite good results

Welcome from 53N x 120W in the Rockies. Your carvings are very good and well finished. Good variety.

Some of my carvings and my tools are in the Showcase Forum here.

Make fresh cuts to clean up the ends of the log. Paint them with any paint or glue to seal the ends.

Remove all the bark (drawknife?) as some beetles like to feed under the bark.

Now, the rate of water loss from the ends is slowed down and the sides are speeded up a little.

Outdoors, under cover and not cooked in a shed, you can expect the wood to dry to an equilibrium moisture content

of 12% - 14% at a speed of about 25mm thickness per year.

for example: the little piece. Maybe 10cm thick? Should be dried in 2+ years.

It finished very well.

My first choice of tools would be a 1S/12 skew. Narex or Pfeil, something like that.

Next would be a very small straight knife PacNW First Nations style.

Symmetry. I am surprised how lop-sided my own face is. And it is easier to see each year.

In a mask however, that is artificial and very good symmetry looks proper.

The edges, where parts join, need cleaning with much sharper tools.

The left and right symmetry is very good, something that I still find very hard to do.

I like masks. They are very important parts of ceremony and legendary presentation dances

to our First Nations here in the Pacific Northwest. Many masks transform.

They open and close to reveal a second face inside.

Excellent. The surface decorated with tool marks looks correct. Great effort.

I like the face. This looks like one of our barn owls, in the rafters above the horses and cows.

Chainsaw carving is very popular here. I have bought a few pieces. I like to use a chainsaw (petrol or electric)

to make the basic shape to save time with the gouges and adzes.

Welcome from 53N x 120W. You can see some of my things in the Showcase.

Welcome from 53N x 120W.

If you insist on holding the carving, consider a pair of cut resistant Kevlar gloves.

The alternative would be a stainless steel mesh glove such as butchers and fishers wear.

They don't work so well for puncture cuts but will stop nearly all slicing cuts.

Any leather glove is better than nothing.

Aren't you just the brightest candle on the table today!

Do you think of carving with cut-resistant gloves? Kevlar?

I wear gloves because my shop is cold, to keep my carvings clean and insulate from vibration.

Many times, I use a crooked carving knife in a pull cut, towards my chest.

Several times, the knife broke out of the wood and hit me in the chest.

3 things happened: my expensive shirt gets cut, my chest gets cut and it hurts.

I made myself a very heavy canvas apron which comes up to my neck.

It has saved me many times since.

Razor sharp is not yet "carving sharp". Color the bevels with black felt marker to watch progress.

Possibly the sharpening process is incomplete?

The other possibility is that the bevel edge is too thin. It is damaged when you test in end grain.

What is the bevel angle of the tool? Gouges should be 20 degrees, no less.

My crooked knives are all 12-15 degrees but the cuts are very thin with the grain.

I use several brands: Stevenson, Binney, daVinci, Grumbacher and Windsor&Newton.

I am painting on dark brown western red cedar ( Thuja plicata ).

You can look at some of my carvings in the Showcase Section.

The colors do not show brightly over the dark wood.

So, I do a complete under painting with titanium white to mask the wood color.

Then the colors go over top of that. I do not need underpainting under the black.

I create edges to stop paint and stain in my cedar carvings.

I use a Moor Large chip carving knife to drag a cut along the edge of the area.

Then I apply paint or stain which runs to the cut and stops.

Later when it is dry, I burnish the cut closed = invisible.

I would not offer maple (Acer sp) to a beginner. Just a little too hard.

When you are very proficient at sharpening the tools, then shallow cuts will work.

Instead, I would give you Linden (Tilia) or Birch (Betula). I like birch much more than Poplar (Populus).

I use poplar for relief carvings for wood cut printings.

Conifer wood splits easily but anything in the range of 15 - 40 growth rings per 25mm is nice to carve.

Welcome from 53N x 120W. This is a great group for skills and experience.

Contains quite a number of mistakes in the wood categories.

The words "hardwood" and "soft wood" refer to angiosperm woods and gymnosperm woods, respectively.

If your interest is comparative hardness then you should note the values of Janka Hardness as found in the Wood Data Base.

Of the gymnosperms, the conifers are most commonly encountered for carving. The great carvings of the entire Pacific Northwest are made principally in two conifer woods: western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and yellow cedar (Chamycyparis nootkatensis). I carve in both of those provided that the growth rings are 15 - 40 per 25mm thickness.

For beginners, I'll suggest linden (basswood), poplar and birch.

Conifer woods all split very easily so much time is spent "learning the wood."

No wood is the "wrong wood" for carving. Some are easier than others.

Fresh wet wood is normally much softer than mature, dry seasoned wood.

Buy a coconut. Drain the juice and pry out all the meat. The shell is easy to carve when fresh!!!!!!

Which species of wood ?

For western red cedar, the best is a first underpainting of titanium white.

Next might be an underpainting with the contrasting color to the final surface color.

I will paint greens when the final colors will be reds.