Learn tips and techniques to make wood carve like butter. I will tell you the basic steps necessary. Enjoy If you want to check out products from this and my other videos you can find them with this link... www.huntersmak...
Sir this was a great video. I am 63 yrs old newbie at carving but have started having problems with hand strength. This info will help a lot. Thanks. .
Hello fellow carvers. I am an 84 year old "semi-newbie". I appreciate your tips very much. I realize I have been trying to carve wood that is too hard. I carved a mountain man out of cedar. I carved a Santa Clause using a wooden egg. After cuts and frustration, now I will start again. Thank you much!
I wonder if keeping your carving in a plastic bag in between carrying sessions. Use the water and alcohol spray. But store your work piece in a plastic bag.
Thanks for this. I use mineral oil after carving and before painting. Will have to try soaking wood before carving and see how my knife responds. Nicely done! 40:33
Nice video. I store basswood blocks in a homemade humidor. I use a plastic food storage container and double backed tape a sandwich baggie with holes on the inside lid. Then I place damp to moist paper towels in the baggie. Give the block a couple squirts of water, just to jump start the process, and let sit a couple days before carving.
Thank you for watching and passing on the tip. What has your experience been with how much the moisture penetrates the wood? Is your process to let it sit in there for a few days, carve for a while and then place the unfinished piece back in for a while? I have thought about this as an option a few times but never pursued it. Thanks again!
@@S.Hunter I haven't had any problems with to much moisture. Just leaves the wood kind of soft. I return the piece back into the box between carving sessions. I also keep several blanks in it, just in case an inspiration smacks me in the forehead.
Thank you for watching! I have been oiling my carvings prior to painting them with acrylic paints for quite awhile now, and it works out well. There are several oils that I have heard of people using. I used to use boiled linseed oil, but there can be a safety concern if don't properly dispose of any paper towels or rags that you use. I have been using an oil, and have shown it in several of my videos called TERRA NOVA NATUROIL and have found it to work nicely. While Naturoil works great it does cost more than mineral oil which is why for this video I used baby oil for my testing, it is cheap and easy to find.
Hi Steve, The Urban Woodsman uses a salve made from beeswax melted over heat mixed with mineral oil on all his carvings. the wax could be adjusted to suit the wood. Thanks for your videos.
Thank you for watching and commenting. I have a mixture of bees wax and mineral oil that I use on some of my carvings. It is a purchased product called Bee's Oil made by Holland Bowl Mill. It works well.
You say that the alcohol and water makes your hands sting... Consider wearing a pair of latex examination gloves under your safety gloves. Also, here's an oil to try - castor oil. If you have slightly sore hands after a hard days carving try castor oil on your hands. Then use your oily hands to oil your work. Castor Oil is amazing for joint soreness.
Hi Steve. Thanks for the great & helpful videos. By mistake I found that cheese wax works great. Run blade through a piece I keep in the frig. ( ok don’t laugh) it seems to be working for me. Maybe lubricants the blade helps…. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Thank you for watching! That is an interesting idea. As I mentioned in the video, I think the lubrication aspect of the process is as helpful as the softening of the wood.
Thank you so much for this, I was looking for something like this. Recently while I was carving, I experienced that the wood split easily... Did the wood get too dry? Unfortunately, it is summer here and we get up to 40 degrees Celsius. The power goes off regularly, thus keeping anything temperature controlled is challenging - especially for wood to carve! Is it necessary to prevent the wood from drying out to much before carving? Do you have any suggestions I might use?
Thank you for watching and commenting. I love hearing from people from different places. It is hard to give you a solution without knowing what you might have available to you in your area. You could try experimenting with different sprays or soaking. I have learned that if you are using something that is water based, you don't want to soak it very long. If your soaking or spraying solution only penetrates into the outer layer of the wood and you carve it away, there isn't much risk of it cracking or splitting your wood.
Thank you for watching! As part of my painting process I apply a layer of oil and let that soak in awhile before painting, but you don't have to do that if you are concerned about using oil. I would recommend using either nice clean cuts or wood burning to define areas where you don't want your paint colors to mix then wetting your carving with water from a spay bottle prior to painting. Once your carving is completely dry you can use poly sealer to seal it up and keep it looking nice. You can choose the sheen of that sealer depending on your tastes, I prefer a flat or matte finish and avoid the shine. Hope that helps.
Thank you very much for this video. No one has ever told me this, never seen this on any carving video. I mixed 50/50 water and alcohol in a spray bottle and it worked great. You have my Sub.
Thank you for watching! If I have the right one in mind, the one with a slightly tapered light colored handle with a slightly darker bit of wood just before the blade, that is one of my Helvie detail knives. I really like the look of it, and being a Helvie, it works great! When I ordered that one, I ordered it with a Dave Stetson handle in what they refer to as an economy wood. If that isn't the knife you are asking about, let me know and I will try again.
It would have been helpful to measure the wood moisture level before you started. I live in Colorado at about 5200 feet and low humidity. I have experienced significant splitting when the moisture is too low.
That's a good point. It didn't occur to me to do so. I suppose that could be another reason to soak or spray the wood prior to carving. Thank you for watching and the conversation, much appreciated.
Thanks for this! I have been using alcohol and water spray for years, but I have wondered about trying different solutions. Looks like I will stick with my spray bottle. Thanks again.
Thank you for watching and the comment. This topic is one that I have heard about in various places over the years and finally, curiosity got the best of me. I had to try them out.
Just watched on a whim and finally figured out why my woodcarving grandfather always had logs sitting in 5 gallon buckets of liquid, filled to the top. My grandmother said it was turpentine Awesome!
I'm just curious if you have tried different concentrations of alcohol to know if it makes a significant difference. In the video, I was using a mixture that I wasn't sure of the ratio. I vaguely remember mixing it up for another purpose, and I think it was approximately 25% alcohol. Thanks.