Suitable Aussie timbers for Chip Carving

[Sebastiaan56]

Ive been dabbling in a bit of chip carving, no great skill level yet but some nice blisters.

What do poeple use for chip carving here? Huon Pine seems good but is expensive to have a lot of learning experiences on. Radiata is tough and has uneven grain. So what do people use, Western Red Cedar?

Thanks,

[Frank&Earnest]

This question was asked just a few weeks ago and, to the surprise of some, I reported that meranti (philippine mahogany) is a good timber to learn with. I personally do not like the timber and would not use it for something I would like to keep for myself, but this is the source I am quoting:

Charles Marshall Sayers, The Book of Wood Carving, Caxton Printers, Caldwell Idaho, 1942 (a text for teaching carving in American tech schools which I find actually clear and useful)

Incised Carving
First Lesson

For the first lesson, work on a panel 1" x 10" x 14" is recommended. This may be one of several woods, but Philippine Mahogany is very suitable, being comparatively soft, and yet having enough decided grain to compel careful cutting in the correct directions, and to teach control.

Do with it as you wish.

[Sebastiaan56]

Thanks F&E, I guess that it is widely available.....

What about WRC?

[Frank&Earnest]

what about wrc?

nfi

[Scally]

I thought you were building a work bench?

You knowledge of timber will point you in the right direction and you note what the other carvers are using.

My experience is limited but here are a few timbers that I have used and find good to carve:

Huon - a sharp chisel slices through it easely and cleanly
Red cedar - soft to carve but can tear if you aren't careful or tools aren't sharp
Queensland Maple - a harder timber but carves clean.

I carved my rocking chair seat out of Jarrah - easy with an Arbotec - it might be testing with a carving knife.
My NAF is Rosewood - I was surprised how easily and cleanly it worked with planes and spokeshaves. Again it might be a bit hard to work with a knife.

I agree with your comments about Radiata. The big difference in hardness of the growth rings would be tricky.


Meranti, I guess the coarse grain would soon teach you how to carve with the grain. Plus it is cheap and readily available.
Palounia might be good to practice with. I have never used it but it is light and I have seen some that has finished well.

What are you planing on carving?
Do you plan to decorate your instruments with chip carvings?

[RufflyRustic]

what about Camphor laurel? so long as you are not allergic to it.

cheers
Wendy

[Frank&Earnest]

Yes, CL is very nice to carve. Golden Cypress (C macrocarpa) is another one. But really, with sharp chisels any wood will carve, some take more effort than others. My last one was a knotty piece of rock hard Gidgee. Doubt it would be anybody's first choice, but it carves very cleanly. You need muscles, though.

[Whittling]

Ive been dabbling in a bit of chip carving, no great skill level yet but some nice blisters.

What do poeple use for chip carving here? Huon Pine seems good but is expensive to have a lot of learning experiences on. Radiata is tough and has uneven grain. So what do people use, Western Red Cedar?

Thanks,

If its practice you want I don't think you can go past Jelutong. Its easy to carve, has a tight but not tough grain. Comparable in many ways to English Lime or American Bass wood. Its not particularly colourful, but then you don't want a strong grain pattern to distract from the chip carving too much do you. I use it a lot in whittling all kinds of faces and figurines. It is readily available at most reputable timber merchants. If you can't find it where you are let me know and I'll give you some suppiers.

I just thought of two more that work ok, though not as good as Jelutong perhaps, they may be easier to find as they grow here in Australia but are not native and are therefore considered noxious weeds by many councils. They are poplar and willow.

I've attached some carvings I've done using all three woods to give you an idea of how they hold detail. I've not done a lot of chip carving but the carving I do is done with an ordinary pocket knife as my principle tool. I can't see why any of these woods wouldn't work admirably for chip carving. The River Boat Captain is Jelutong, the Dragon is Poplar and the 17th century Gentleman is Willow. (Both the poplar and willow I cut myself with permission of the owners).

[Sebastiaan56]

Thanks for all the responses.

Scally, yes, I have a workbench planned it will live on the verandah. Some requirements; vise, storage for power tools, electricity, water tight etc, etc.

I expect Im not alone but I actually have a bunch of other projects underway, eight tissue boxes for chrissie presents, a cookie tin banjo, and some more instruments (Tassie Rose Myrtle for backs ), rebuild wind chimes, some hand planes, an OWT, a box in the woodturning challenge, etc. But Ive wanted to do some carving for years and finally buckled to the inevitable. I started on a stick face last night out of NG Walnut from our old lounge, it is nice to carve. I'll post some piccies when its daylight. Chip carving interests me for the discipline required and the possibilities of repetitive designs particularly for Saxon and Celtic type patterns.

Thanks for all of the tips on timbers folks. I will chase them down. Gidgee Frank, wow... Nice sticks Whittling, have you done any larger faces?

[Scally]

I am impressed with those walking stick.
I tried to carve a lion's head on the end of a kora neck but it was very crude.

You make me fell a bit better about my 'too long' list of projects Seb.
There are just too many interesting things to try.

Just to add to the challenge.....I did my final inspection of the new house yesterday. A smaller double garage and only ONE powerpoint.
I suggested using the loungeroom as a temporary workshop but didn't get a very good response.
Guess I am calling an electrician today.
Riggsy sent me a couple of those fiddleback blackwood boards but I don't know when I will get to making a guitar now.
Does anyone have a good shed/studio plan??

Enjoy your carving. I love the Celtic carvings.

[Sebastiaan56]

So here was last nights effort. It was great fun, very much WIP but Im going to do more of this....

[Whittling]

So here was last nights effort. It was great fun, very much WIP but Im going to do more of this....

Very good effort. You're right about it being fun... and versitile too. You can put this sort of thing on almost anything from furniture legs, to garden stakes to walking sticks. I get a real chuckle when people do a 'double take' when they first notice the face peeting out at them from unexpected places. It works well with small figuines too, like mice. You can carve these separately and just place them inconspicuosly about the house on book shelves or window sills etc. (a couple examples attached)

I don't do much large stuff anymore for two reasons. Whittling is defined as holding your work rather than having it clamped or bolted. Once its past a certain size you can't hold onto it anymore and different techniques are required. The other reason is I'm flat chat just keeping up with demand on the stuff I do make.

But you're right... I need to make time to get into some larger pieces. They are much harder to sell because the increase in time to make them, makes them more expensive than the little nic-nacs I can whittle quickly.

Its like I tell my students... you can whittle for money or love, but rarely both. If you don't care about selling... take all the time you want!

[schaf]

Hi Whittling,
Would it be possible for you to do a WIP on your golf ball carving.

Terry

[Whittling]

Hi Terry,

It takes between 1 and 2 hours to carve each ball, depending on the complexity of the expression you're after. I would be happy to show you but I'm not sure that this is the venue to try it. It takes forever to upload a half a dozen photos and I think the process would demand at least 30 or 40. Do you live anywhere near Victor Harbor in SA?