Calling the carvers etc...

[barclay03]

Basically I'm after some advice, and ideas lol

I've never really done anything with unprocessed wood...but wanting to learn. There is a failed beech tree just next to my house...limb etc have been stripped off but there's still 12ft or so of tree left laying there. What's best things to do with beech wood? How should it be processed etc?

Any advice appreciated

 

[Wayne]

It very much depends what yobwant to do with it.

I would carve it green. It's much easier to carve hard woods when they are fresh. If yon want to season your wood the you will need to store off the ground in a cool dry spot. Yo could paint the ends but I never bother.

You could even plank the Wood Green and allow to dry or u green to make a shave horse.

 

[Robson Valley]

What's the approximate diameter? What have you got for carving tools at the moment?
Clearly, there's more wood than you can carve at the moment.

As Wayne says, carve some green. Most wood species really tighten up as they dry. From cheese to bone.

For carving, most woods are cut and split into managable pieces, say 12" x 12" x 24" or smaller. 24" is a useful length.
This is all plenty big enough for dishes, bowls, kuksa and utensils = spoons ladles and forks.
Outdoors under cover (off the ground) and not cooked in a shed, most woods dry down to what's called the Equilibruim Moisture Content of 12% - 14%
at a rate of about 1" thickness per year. So, a 2" stick ought to be as dry as it will get in a year or so, 1" all around.

In your house, the drying rate will be faster to a lower MC that might be 5%.
This speed makes a lot of stress in the wood and splitting can be dramatic.

Can you get some slabbed to 2" or so? Might be good wood for some BC furniture in a couple of years.
You lucky dog.

 

[mr dazzler]

I have just been carving a lot of fresh beech, its my favourite to work with (apart from birch or alder)
For starters I would advise to try to not get precious with any wood, dont worry about wasting it or if you mess up when you do carvings
If you can get a chainsaw (what diameter is the trunk??) cross cut it into sections then paint the cut ends with any old gloss paint (prevents bad cracking) Its even better if you split them lenghtwise halves or quarters, then paint the ends. They will dry out, but slower and with less radial cracks. To split a log you can knock up a wood mell (maul) and 2 wedges from scrap.
I'd use some of it to make a chopping block, 2 foot length of log with 3 legs set in.....beech is ideal for that being very heavy
Beech can have a gritty feel sometimes, but it cuts beautifully with sharp tools, you can work against the grain and "come back out" of a concave cut, without a split starting (unlike eucalyptus wood LOL) Its a shame you cant get the smaller branches, they usually have zilions of decent bends and crooks going this way and that way zig zag, which are great for doing swedish style spoons
Once its dry it will take a fine burnished finish, it will take paint well, you can get sharp incised detail and crisp arrises as well, not ring porous crumbly like pine
Beech is quite stable and dense when its dried (hence why it was used for things like work benches and plane bodies) it doesnt warp badly (unlike eucalyptus wood LOL)
One thing I have been trying is carving spoons from beech, then bung them through the dish washer (60+ degreees) before they had any time to dry out....it turns the creamy white beech a lovely deep salmon pink colour, and speeds up the drying process

 

[Dan J]

What sort of carving are you planning to do?

If its small stuff, spoons etc, then you probably are safe to just go ahead and carve green as the movement will be minimal.
If you've got a bigger project in mind then splits and twists will be more of a problem as the wood dries.

If you want to season some larger pieces I'd definitely paint the ends. Beech is quite prone to splits when you first start seasoning it. Gloss is good but any old paint/stain/varnish you've got lying around will help stop the splitting.

 

[barclay03]

Thanks for the replies.

It's about 12ft long, trunk is roughly 15 inch diameter. I can get my hands on a chainsaw to section it up.

As for what I'd like to do...having no experience I'd like to start with smaller stuff like spoons, bowls etc. Was going to try keep a decentish length of it to season to maybe do something with in the future. As for carving tools...i don't have anything specific, just my trekking axe and various knives really, but was hoping to gain a few tools along the way. The way I see it is there is more than enough wood there for me to learn with. Just unsure where to begin lol

 

[Robson Valley]

Great log. Buck it up. Paint the ends. Like DanJ says = anything will do.
Local carving club?
Might as well barter some for carving lessons if you can.
Fresh is far easier to carve that air-dried.
I'd expect it to tighten up like so many others.

The carving tools vary with the carving styles.
Keeping carving sharp edges is another part of it.