Freshly felled wood.

[Zingmo]

I have got some field maple and some other wood that I think may be cherry. So how should I treat this wood I've got so as to be able to create marvelous spoons and maybe work up to a kuksa?

I worried I'll spend hours on something that'll just split. I tried a spoon from seasoned oak but I spent as much time sharpening as whittling. (If I don't do anything with it the wood will end up on the woodburner.)

Z

 

[MattF]

Hi Zingmo
I'm new here to there is plenty of info on here and some very knowledgeable people what i have worked out from the advice available is when you have finished let it dry out slowly and then oil the finished piece of work to stop it cracking I hope this helps if I have got any thing wrong I'm sure I will be corrected and good luck with the carving

Matt

 

[Ogri the trog]

If you're just starting out, try to get hold of some fresh-felled willow - it carves like butter.
From memory, maple doesn't carve that well and cherry might be a bit hard (but I could be greatly mistaken). Maybe start with the cherry and see how it feels.
Ideally, start right now, before the wood gets any harder - I find it ideal to get the most of the roughing out done with fresh wood - that way the largest amount of work is done when the wood is softest. Then as you get closer to the finished item, the wood is drying and becoming harder, which in turn allows two things;
1. resists the knife a bit more so cuts have to be finer - just what you need as the project comes to an end. and
2. will take a better finish, either from sandpaper or the knife.

Seeing as you've already tried an oak carving (probably one of our hardest native woods) you'll be used to the effort and types of cut needed - but expect to make mistakes, just promise yourself that you'll learn from each or them.

Good luck

Ogri the trog

 

[Zingmo]

Thanks for that. I've not got any willow as I tend to avoid stuff that doesn't make good fuel. I may try larch as I can get some of that and it's supposed to be soft.

Am I right in thinking it is better to seek out a certain shape of wood to start something tricky like a kuksa or do you just get a log and hack it to the shape you want?

Z

 

[littlebiglane]

Sycamore and Norway Maple carve beautifully......I don't know how Field Maple carves though. The benefit of Sycamore is that its everywhere. IMHO its a better carving wood than Birch. And, to my knowledge, its not toxic.

Sycamore or Norway Maple:

Cherry is much tougher to carve than birch or sycamore.

 

[Oblio13]

Keep your green wood projects in a plastic bag when you're not working on them. Wood cracks as it dries out because the outside dries and shrinks faster than the inside. Putting your spoon or whatever in a plastic bag between carving sessions and for a few days afterwards will allow the moisture throughout the wood to equalize.

 

[littlebiglane]

Keep your green wood projects in a plastic bag when you're not working on them. Wood cracks as it dries out because the outside shrinks faster than the inside. Putting your spoon or whatever in a plastic bag between carving sessions and for a few days afterwards will allow the moisture throughout the wood to equalize.

Good point. Never had a spoon split on me but for bigger pieces I would definitely do that. I'd be gutted after all that work!

Oh...I tried blackthorn the other day. Put my knife to it, struggled and then threw the wood away. Its harder than iron, even green

 

[SOAR]

You would be better carving it green, Cherry carves well green, it has a habit of splitting though, I carved a Kuksa from some once and that split, spoons it should be fine, are these branches you have or rings of wood? if its rings you will need to split it to size. Maple should be good for carving green aswell, just work out a shape or just start carving and see how it turns out.

this was made from cherry.

 

[Zingmo]

OK so I just went for it and got this far with a bit of the cherry last night.

The wood seems to have already got "fault lines" running through it, so I am not too confident it won't split. It may be that the piece I hacked off was too close to the cut where it was felled.

Z

 

[Stanleythecat]

Cherry is very prone to splitting i'm afraid, rapid drying can enhance the problem too. Looks good what you have done so far though.

Leo

 

[John Fenna]

Thanks for that. I've not got any willow as I tend to avoid stuff that doesn't make good fuel.
Z

Well seasoned willow is excelllent fuel!
Also the wood carves well, the bark makes great cordage and the wands are great for basket weaving - a bushcrafters friend!

 

[HillBill]

Thanks for that. I've not got any willow as I tend to avoid stuff that doesn't make good fuel.
Z

Willow does make good fuel. Its one of the hottest burners out there, they have been playing with the idea to use willow chippings as fuel for power stations iirc. it doesnt burn as long as Ash or oak though. Its similar to birch, burn time wise but burns hotter.

The council lopped down a load of willow last year, i had about a ton of the stuff.

 

[Zingmo]

Well seasoned willow is excelllent fuel!

I agree that it burns and gives heat; the problem is storage. I got a couple of tonnes as a gift and had to leave it for two years before it was worth putting in the burner. If I had limitless storage space I would happily keep a stock of willow. As it is, my patch is already full of piles of fuel so I tend to be a bit picky if I can.

Z

 

[ickyan]

I don't know how Field Maple carves though. The benefit of Sycamore is that its everywhere.

I not quite sure but isn't Field maple sycamore?
Might be wrong though.

Also the kuksa is looking very good so far.
As for finishing I would use walnut oil (from supermarket) or if not some other cooking oil (olive)

I would stay away from shop bought finishes and linseed oil as they can contain toxic chemicals even if they say they are food safe.

 

[locomountaineer]

Field maple is a type of Acer "Acer campestre", sycamore is also an Acer, but a different species "Acer pseudoplatanus". The former is smaller and slower growing (so I guess harder) than the latter which can top 100ft (33m). That's assuming you are looking at a sycamore in the UK and not in the US or Africa/Middle East which each have their own very different sycamores.

As for carving - haven't got a clue and I'm reading what you all say with interest as I am just considering embarking on my first carve - not sure what yet, but I'll post on here when I get started.

Interesting what you say about the oils Ickyan, I'll bear that in mind!

 

[SOAR]

TBH you are better of staying away from olive oil, boiled linseed oil you get from the hardware store is parafin bassed so thats a no goer, flax seed oil which is cold pressed linseed oil is your best bet.

 

[avalon]

I've got some well seasoned Wallnut. Any suggestions?

 

[leon-1]

With reference to Oils, tung oil is a good one, it's classed as a food safe oil and is commonly used for chopping boards and bowls. I think Robin wood mentioned Walnut Oil as well.