Thread: help please

There are some great books on sign and letter carving also some DVDs. For out door I would use cedar, cypress or red wood. They can take the weather and are easy to finish with oils. Or use a oil base boat varnish.

thank you very much for getting back to me i have been looking about on the net for a while now and i think i am going to go with obeche wood ....if you had any objections or comment i would like to hear back from you
thanks
lee

Can't understand the reasons to go from a rather striking tigerwood to an utterly plain, non durable yellow pine, and getting it out of Africa of all places, but, whatever floats your boat...

I am I do not know obeche wood. But Frank & Earnest describe it as a pine. If it is like the pine we have it can be hard to work with for a new carver.

I don't know if it helps you or not, but here is one I did recently for our property entrance. It is cypress with about 6 coats of marine spar varnish to keep the weather out (We live in a coastal environment). I think CV3 is right about cypress being good for this type of work.

One word of caution about mounting it... depending on its size, don't rely on screwed in hooks to hold the weight indefinately. Either mount it on a solid surface like a wall by boring holes in the back of the sign and hanging on projections out of the wall, or mount it in a frame from the sides, like I have in the photo. Anything else will pull out over time.

Originally Posted by CV3

I am I do not know obeche wood. But Frank & Earnest describe it as a pine. If it is like the pine we have it can be hard to work with for a new carver.

For carving it would be OK, CV3, it is quite soft. Would not stand the weather, though.

I agree with you and our country squire Whittling that cypress (I assume you both talk about cupressus macrocarpa, Monterey cypress) is a better choice, provided you get rid of the sapwood, which rots quickly.

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

For carving it would be OK, CV3, it is quite soft. Would not stand the weather, though.
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The pine here in the southern US can very in its density. And it well chip out easy when carving if your tools are not real sharp. Just not easy to work with. And it also would not stand up to out door use.

thanks for your help it really has been appreciated.i still havent decided what wood im going to go for but if it is a light coloured wood ive been told i could get an oil dye for it and varnish over it. many thanks to you all ill let you know how i get on and post some pictures when i finnish

Where is irvine? Do you want a particular colour? Cypress is stable with low expansion and shrinkage so it it less likly than many to crack. It's also easy to get depending on where you are.

irvine is on the west of scotland ....i know a guy that works for the scottish wildlife trust who is going to look out some wood for me as he has some lying around the yard i was hoping to have it by now and have it started and half way through by now but just waiting on this guy sourcing me a good piece of wood. If all goes well and im confident about doing this again i think i will buy that tiger wood i was talking about and doing the same plaque im just not sure about paying money for good wood and the delivery cost just to make a mess of it.

If you don't mind doing the work twice, then it makes sence to do the first one on the local wood and work out all the 'bugs'. Then do it for real on the expensive piece. I guess that's what they call 'practice'.

Originally Posted by tantrum

irvine is on the west of scotland ....i know a guy that works for the scottish wildlife trust who is going to look out some wood for me as he has some lying around the yard i was hoping to have it by now and have it started and half way through by now but just waiting on this guy sourcing me a good piece of wood. If all goes well and im confident about doing this again i think i will buy that tiger wood i was talking about and doing the same plaque im just not sure about paying money for good wood and the delivery cost just to make a mess of it.

Sorry Lee, I had not realised you were in Scotland. Why don't you use Silver Birch (Betula pendula) then? It is a native of your area and it is excellent for carving. Some has nice swirling grain, some is plain, so you can suit yourself from that point of view also.