I always carve green wood. The walnut sounds very hard and dry when you’re carving. I’ve always been hesitant to do that due to the stress on the tools, but having seen you do it effortlessly and fearlessly, I think I am inspired to try some hard pieces I’ve had laying around. 👍🏻
@@carvingwithjohn No, that is fine if you speed up some ever-lasting tasks once you show what you are doing. No-one likes to watch sanding for 10 minutes in real-time or watch paint drying. Some other woodworkers play the entire video in 2x or 3x speed and that is just stupid.
That's a misconception. He could have made it a lot harder than it has to be. Presumably because he doesn't know how to use handtools "properly" (in a way that makes the work enjoyable and relatively easy). The number one rule when working with hand tools is to use work holding. Why because it requires about 4 times less effort and makes most tasks easy and enjoyable. The next thing he did wrong was that he used a dull saw and didn't lubricate it. You can see how the saw catches all the time and that's just not a very enjoyable or ergonomic way to saw anything. He could have also made his life easier if he had just used the hook-knife to finish the inside of the bowl. It would have been easier to remove the material in the hole with something else like a straight or a curved chisel and a mallet. That would obviously had required some kind of work holding, which doesn't have to be complicated or something you have to buy. It can be as easy as something you tie your piece of wood to or something some kind of wall that you can work against. The important thing is to remember to always use work holding. I can't overemphasize how much of a difference this makes when working with hand tools. It's a mistake to look at a novice and conclude that working with hand tools is hard. Look at a person like Paul Sellers and you see that it can actually be quite easy and enjoyable.
Well done, but I imagine you had to sharpen your carving tools a lot working on black walnut? And your bandages reminds me how Roy Underhill (Woodwright’s Shop) would occasionally cut himself, but continue working because he did his shows all in one take.
@carvingwithjohn Not if you know what you're doing. First, be sure to split the log through the pith, which ensures that each ring is cut in two places; wood cracks because it shrinks at different rates in different directions, so a lot of pressure is relieved, if each growth ring is cut. Second, keep it wet, until you have it carved down to nearly your finished size; the thinner the piece, the less likely it is to crack while drying. Third, let it dry at a natural rate- no excessive heat, no setting it in the sun or by a fire. Follow those guidelines, and you'll be fine. I mostly throw shuriken, as far as youtube is concerned, but I have one piece of footage up, which shows a spoon I've carved... I'm no keyboard warrior. 😉 I'm almost as passionate about spoon carving as I am about martial arts. 👍👍
@@TheShurikenZone Okay nice. I am more into dry wood because of all the drying steps and precautions greenwoodwork implies but still, very interesting, especially if it makes work easier. I’ll have a look at your video. Thanks for the explanation
@carvingwithjohn Good deal, man. Aye, the working of greenwood is very much its own entity, and I know that it's not for everyone. Come to carving spoons, though, it's the only game in town. You wouldn't believe how much easier it makes the process; once you learn the rules, they become automaitc- You don't even think about them anymore. 👍👍
