Woodworking: Massive quantities of thick wood

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dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Hi guys. I've been working with wood/lino block printing a bunch, and after seeing a wood carving exhibit, my wife said to me "why don't you make wood carvings?". So to demonstrate to her the foolishness of saying something like that to me, what should I look for for a decent carving tool set? I'd love to use my current tools but I'm not sure they're cut out for much wood carving, at least beyond small details. I assume basswood would be a good place to start practicing on?

# ¿ Sep 13, 2017 18:31

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 02:05

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

For a potential carving project I will need a block of wood about 8"x11"x3". In the likely outcome that I'll have to glue pieces together, is there a preferred direction to glue? That is, is it better -- however you want to define better -- to stack two or three 8x11 planks, or a few 3" blanks?

fwiw, I'm looking for walnut but will settle for basswood if I have to (or some wood between them)

# ¿ Sep 27, 2017 18:21

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Crotch Fruit posted:

Is it really absurd to expect a saw mill, which is likely already scanning every board with a laser, to reject the really crappy ones? Or maybe they already try to but some poo poo still manages to make it through.

I cant complain too much, I would buy all my lumber at Home Depot since I almost never seen bent boards there. But I am limited by trunk size and a desire to not track down a worker to cut my wood first, so I go to the Menards value lumber section where it's already cut down to lengths usually up to about 4ft. Most of the time, the defect is a small crack, large knot, or gnarly saw marks, all poo poo I can usually deal with. But the price used to be 59 cents per piece and it's now a dollar a board, it's getting pretty hard to justify sorting through all of the trash (and I mean 90% of it is trash in the value lumber section) instead of just tracking down someone to cut the board at home depot. Hell, I'm a little tempted to buy a cordless circular saw just so I can buy full boards and then cut them at the trunk of my car, or I might just attempt to take my cordless sawzall someday but then my cut would look like poo poo.

It is undoubtedly cheaper to account for getting a few absolute duds and tossing them (either at the site or at the lumber yard) than it would be to define at the manufacturer what it means to be an absolute dud (just because not everyone could use a board doesn't mean that nobody can) and interrupt the lines to do inspection. If you absolutely have to have perfect boards, then you're not getting them from the clearance section of Wood-R-Us, and are willing to pay the extra money it requires.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2017 18:43

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Finished my first full-on carving project

Any reason I can�t just toss the chips in the forest? It�s plain old walnut.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2017 22:59

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Balsa isn�t really cut out for carving, check out basswood. It�s similarly soft but the grain is friendly.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2017 23:05

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Newbie woodworking question, how would you finish this piece?

Walnut. Purely for show so it doesn't need a hard coating. I don't think I want it to be particularly glossy, so maybe simply oil of some type? It's natural patina is nice, too, but is there any concern with leaving it unfinished?

# ¿ Dec 7, 2017 23:23

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Also remember that the reason the traditional Japanese forging is so meticulous (katanas et al had the same hard-soft construction) is because, historically, their steel wasn't that great so they had no choice but to go through all the trouble, otherwise everything would immediately break. Contemporary Western steel was better so didn't require as much care, and modern steel can do it all without any of the fuss.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2018 14:52

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

yeah I eat rear end posted:

I did get gloves, that was one of the first things I put in my amazon basket because I am clumsy as hell and would definitely slice an artery or two without them.

Thanks for the suggestion (also the other people who responded). I know basswood is the best starting wood but I like challenges so I want to try a bunch of different kinds and figure things out.

Walnut is real good if a bit pricey

# ¿ Feb 3, 2018 01:06

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

yeah I eat rear end posted:

I did and appreciated it. Anyway here we go:

it'll probably take me a ton of trial and error to figure out what each tool is supposed to do (e: also how to sharpen them properly), but I guess that's part of the fun.

Quick cheat sheet:

- U-gouges will be your workhorse, deep for rough shaping, shallow to smooth
- V-gouge for small details
- Flat chisel for edge shaping and maybe final smoothing, although approach flat surfaces with caution. Flat chisels are fine for making mortises and tendons and such, but they won't be useful for removing large amounts of wood when carving.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2018 17:25

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Mr. Mambold posted:

Even easier with a router and a straight-edge.....why loving bring CNC even into it?

YouTube tells me that when you have a CNC, it�s hard to not see every problem as a CNC solution

# ¿ Jul 22, 2018 16:36

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

What�s a good sharpening stone grit for routine maintenance? I have a 1000 grit wet stone and after using it a few times, it seems like it�s a bit aggressive. This is for small gouges, if it makes a difference.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 01:59

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Black walnut is kind of the gold standard of carving woods, but it�s pretty hard so it probably wouldn�t be good for knife carving (really need a mallet for it). Basswood is a good and cheap option, but you don�t want to cheap out too much. If you�re in Japan you might be able to find cherry pretty easily as it�s the traditional wood for block printing (although again it might be too hard for knife carving). I�ve also heard good things about shinwa plywood for printing, but I don�t know if it�s sold other than plywood; it carves similar to basswood, maybe a little smoother.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2018 02:47

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I remember thinking the first time I saw this, how much is this them showing off, and how much is it actual practical techniques that were historically used? It's pretty nuts, to me, to imagine going to this much time and effort to join two beams end-to-end. There's got to be simpler solutions that just use more material, right? Like, sister two shorter beams on either side which are fastened to the original beams with wedge tenons. This isn't one of those cases where you need complex joinery to avoid having to use nails on a metal-poor island.

I think it�s a mix of observation bias with everyone wanting to show off the real cool stuff, and practical concerns of all the different joints being used in different places based on what the loads are. iirc they didn�t use nails because wood joints are much more durable under seismic stress than nails are.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2018 02:33

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Could you make a jig that circularizes or rectangularizes it so straps or clamps can grip? Or add a cap to make a full hexagon?

# ¿ Aug 27, 2018 02:32

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

If I'm regularly getting sheets of thin plywood (no more than 1/2") that I need to cut down -- but buying a power saw isn't feasible -- what can I do to reliably make hand cuts? Cuts wouldn't have to be perfect, and I wouldn't be working with anything bigger than 24x30 max. Or do I just do bulk cutting sessions and make friends with someone with a table saw?

# ¿ Sep 7, 2018 20:19

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

That was my first thought but I'm not sure they sell the real good stuff (does Woodcraft do cuts for you?) and/or I might be getting it online

# ¿ Sep 7, 2018 20:34

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Harry Potter on Ice posted:

What are you using it for?

Making blanks for woodblock printing

I may be able to sell the wife on a cheap circular saw since it should be cheaper than buying the pre-made blocks I've been getting...

# ¿ Sep 7, 2018 21:15

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

I carved myself a sign out of cherry. What would be a good thing to rub on it? It's going to live inside and won't be in the line of fire, so it doesn't need to be durable.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2018 20:50

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

My continuing adventures is carving is taking me down a path requiring some mild jointing so I'm looking at baby's first plane. What's a good size to get if I'll be working with boards around one or two feet long, .5-.75" thick?

quote:

about cherry

Thanks for the chat, I'm going to leave it in a window for a while and see what happens.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2018 16:11

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Nobody seems to want mahogany any more which is a shame. It�s my favorite wood to work with, to finish, and to look at by far. I can�t wait until all this industrial/minimal/Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware/shabby poo poo goes out of style and traditional neo-classical revival Good Taste returns and I can get back to making 4-poster beds all day.

My local woodcraft had a pile of mystery off cuts for sale at $2 a pound and I got a couple to see how they would carve. Cut like butter, pretty sure they're mahogany. So now I have three 3/4" ~5x20 toys that I may not do anything with, and need to go back and buy them out.

tldr if mahogany wants to stay cheap I'm cool with that

# ¿ Dec 20, 2018 15:01

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

It's a trait shared among all creative endeavors

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 16:03

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Seconding the pfeil tools, they�re legit. I practically sleep with my 3mm #9

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Kick-rear end stuff

V-gouge the silhouette, shallow gouge the ripples, more-or-less?

# ¿ Apr 9, 2019 02:24

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Yes basically. What've you been carving with that #9?

I�ve carved a mask and a little bust, but mostly blocks for printmaking. I�ve got a couple of blocks of mahogany (probably) ready to sculpt when I find the time though

# ¿ Apr 10, 2019 02:48

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

What�s the difference between Baltic and Finnish birch plywood? Is it something that would be noticeable for carving?

# ¿ May 10, 2019 14:02

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Finnish birch is a Baltic birch product, it�s just (as I understand it) usually a bit higher grade (and price) and is available much thinner. What I usually get comes from Russia (or at least it has Cyrillic on the crate) and it�s very good as well. If you�re carving it are you doing wood cuts or something? I think either would work fine as both have thick (1/16�?) face veneers. Stay away from Chinese birch. It is some poo poo and the face veneers are really thin.

Yeah. I�ve used baltic, then saw Finnish on woodcraft for more and wondered.

# ¿ May 10, 2019 19:26

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Any tips or tricks for hand-sharpening a tiny v-gouge? The concept is pretty easy, but it's a 2mm tool and I think I'm struggling with not having feeling for things that would be more obvious on a bigger tool (like keeping the bevel flat)

# ¿ Jul 19, 2019 15:49

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

IMO they are the hardest damned tool to sharpen except a macaroni tool-there's not an easy way.

What do you use to sharpen? Unless it's really dull, a few strokes on a strop with green compound or green stuff on a buffing wheel is all I do. Even big V chisels are hard to sharpen and I try not to have to do it often. Stay away from the grinder because you will gently caress things up in a hurry-even with stones it is easy to get one wing of the V at an angle or have the two sides not meet exactly right at the angle. I try to think of them as 2 straight chisels connected by a tiny gouge-you have basically 3 faces/tools to deal with on the outside and then knock the burr/wire edge off the inside by buffing/stropping or tiny V shaped slipstones. Carving tools aren't usually super sensitive about having slightly rounded bevels in my experience, so it doesn't have to be super perfect. It might also be easier to hold the tool up in front of you and rub the stone on it instead of trying to bring the tool to the stone where it's hard to see what's really going on.

I�ve got a small diamond stone, a couple of Japanese stones (400 and 1000 iirc), and one of those flexcut stropping thingies. I think the long edges are fine, but the corner seems off.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2019 23:10

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Leperflesh posted:

CA glue was originally invented for wound closure on the battlefield, it doesn't burn your skin... especially not to a blackened crisp, as with a 3rd degree burn. Is part of this story missing?

CA glue exothermically reacts to a number of fibrous materials, so the story tracks. The glue wasn't burning the finger, the heat generated from the glue mixing with the towel burned the finger.

efb

# ¿ Jul 30, 2019 18:40

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

I bought a couple blocks of wood for carving that are covered in wax. It looks like the wax will scrape off the surface well enough with a chisel, but does anyone know a more effective way or removing it?

# ¿ Aug 17, 2019 17:21

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Ambrose Burnside posted:

if it fits in your freezer, chilling it and then chipping the wax away will prolly separate cleanly and leave much less residue

Hmm, freezer might be a tight fit but maybe cold spray would work...

JEEVES420 posted:

You bought turning blocks, answer is you need to get a lathe

They�re weird for turning blocks, though. Around 10� square and 2� thick. Plus I�m not interested in turning

# ¿ Aug 18, 2019 21:12

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

JEEVES420 posted:

Not at all, sounds like a shallow bowl blank. Common for turning fruit bowls, center trays, shallow dishes. Which way does the grain go?

I�m pretty sure along one of the long edges, but it�s hard to tell with the wax. But they were (to me) surprisingly cheap for such big chunks for walnut and cherry � the walnut looks like its part live edge � so I may be in for a surprise.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2019 01:58

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Jaded Burnout posted:

Reticulating pines

# ¿ Aug 21, 2019 19:07

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Anyone have experience with sound dampening a workbench?

My current setup is 1/2" MDF on a 2x4 frame, and seems to amplify the noise of carving with a mallet. My first thought is to hang some heavy blankets from the sides to muffle any reverb, but what else could I do? Attach some weight to the underside of the MDF to dampen vibrations?

# ¿ Oct 21, 2019 21:25

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Huxley posted:

It sounds like you've literally build yourself a drum to carve on. Maybe increase the number of crossbars under your benchtop and secure your top to them to cut down on vibrations. If you've got 2-3 already going along the depth, add some going along the length, as well?

A thicker top (when it comes time to replace it) will help, too. Maybe use proper ply over MDF (or even slabs of 1.5 construction timber).

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

A thicker top, more 2x4 bracing, really anything to make it bounce less. My plywood/2x4 bench is loud as hell when you bang on stuff, but the big thick workbench just is a dull thump. The less stuff that can vibrate/the less it vibrates the whiter it will be. You might could screw 3/4” homasote/celotex to the underside between the 2x but it would probably be best between the mdf and 2x? But it might just get squished there.

Cool cool. I've been thinking about beefing it up and making it more of a real bench, so here's a good excuse!

# ¿ Oct 22, 2019 14:02

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

cakesmith handyman posted:

Sacrilegious comedy option: eBay some cheap hairpin legs.

Why not just use some flipped slats at that point?

# ¿ Nov 9, 2019 18:56

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

There are people that make for the process and there are people that make for the result, and you can tell which one you are buy your preference(*) of hand or power tools.

(*)excluding complications like time restrictions, or things that only really can be done with one or the other (like, I wouldn't include lathes)

# ¿ Feb 6, 2020 15:55

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

JEEVES420 posted:

Going to disagree here. You can very much "make for the process" on power tools. No matter how you are making if you are not doing it for the process then why are you doing it?

There is a place for both hand and power tools in the shop, sticking to one way or another is just limiting your capabilities IMO.

Sure I'm being overly reductive, but I know plenty of people that value the result much more than getting there, whereas I definitely prefer making the things over having made the things.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2020 17:17

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Is there a pencil that reliably marks on wood but is also amenable to being erased? I've tried using my collection of graphite and pastel and charcoal which only really maybe works if there's some tooth to grab on to

# ¿ Feb 14, 2020 15:30

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

Jaded Burnout posted:

I use graphite or wax depending if I want precision & erasability or visibility. Your graphite pencils aren't erasing?

Erasing is good enough, it's getting it to mark reliably if the surface is too smooth (these are like turning blocks or offcuts). Tho maybe I've been trying non-conventional too much and need to hit up plain old graphite again...

# ¿ Feb 14, 2020 16:03

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 02:05

dupersaurus: Aug 1, 2012; Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

JEEVES420 posted:

Turning blocks that are waxed over? Use a marking knife or dig in with your pencil. Is this just to mark the centers or for drawing on marking lines when your turning?

Drawing pictures to carve in. The general problem is that I'm getting pieces that have been sawed, and depending on how smooth that cut surface is or what direction the grain is going, the pencil will either mark or not. Like last night I had a plank of walnut with some wild grain, drew a line right down its length and every few inches it'd switch between marking and not for ~reasons~. I eventually got all the lines I needed but it took a lot of scratching over and over spots

# ¿ Feb 14, 2020 17:11

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Woodworking: Massive quantities of thick wood

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