Wild Grain in carving

[John Saxton]

To allay Ricks concerns about the indolence of the carving forum I have a poser for Neil if he can spare the time to reply.

Neil,A question about wild grain in small and fine detail,how does one deal with it assuming that you are in the possession of sharp chisels?
You would have no doubt come across this many times so for the sake of those of us attempting to cut across wild grain can you explain your methods?
Cheers http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

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Johnno

[ubeaut]

Sorry about the delay in answering this one. Poor old carvers forum, even I don't get round to checking it very often.

The wild grain can usually be countered by cutting across the grain with sharp tools for most initial carving. And cutting finely across the grain with a very sharp tool and a slicing action for final cuts.

The other option is to remove as much waste as possible with a router or some other form of mechanical carving tool (Dremel, etc) then try the final slicing cuts.

The best idea is to avoid the use of wild grained timbers in the first place. Usually it is the carving that you want to show off when the work is done, and a wild grained timber can overpower a carving, so much so that in some instances it can even make the carving seem to disappear altogether. http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/frown.gif

As a rule of thumb the plainer the timber the better the carving will be. Not just in the ease of working the wood but also the final appearance of the piece.

If you wish to use a wild grained timber or a timber with bold contrasting grain patterns it is best to use it for sculptural or free form stylised type work, where the carving will not be overshadowed by the grain but will actually be done in sympathy with the grain to highlight and enhance it.

Hope this is of some help even if it is a little belated.

Cheers - Neil http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

[John Saxton]

Thanks Neil,for the enlightenment.I have on occasion come across the odd tree crotch with some wild grain in it that behoves the question of what to do with it hence the question.
As I source a lot of my timber from natural resources, I have thought to try a better means of implementing rather than wasting the featured
grain that would ordinarily be thrown on the wood pile.
Cheers http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif


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Johnno