My first attempt at Kuska carving

[Black Sheep]

My first attempt at Kuska carving.

I managed to acquire some freshly cut Alder from a local tree surgeon the other day that was working just down the road.

It is quite fast grown wood but after reading it was used for water pipes and piles in wetlands because of it’s water resist properties I thought it would be ideal for a Kuska.

Interestingly it starts out light coloured and goes the nice red/brown colour as it dry out.

Richard

 

[John Fenna]

That is much better than my first attempt! - nice one!

 

[craeg]

That is a really nice piece of work mate. Any chance of a description of your particular method please.

I found a newly fallen birch tree in my local wood that I geo-fixed on my garmin. I will pop down next week to harvest it and carve it as a green wood hopefully so any tips appreciated.

Craeg

 

[Black Sheep]

That is a really nice piece of work mate. Any chance of a description of your particular method please.

I found a newly fallen birch tree in my local wood that I geo-fixed on my garmin. I will pop down next week to harvest it and carve it as a green wood hopefully so any tips appreciated.

Craeg

Hi Craeg,

There's a great tutorial on here..........

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/DIY/Kuska-Cup-Tutorial.html

Cheers

Richard

 

[DoctorSpoon]

That's lovely work and alder is a good choice of wood for a first kuksa. It's relatively easy to work and doesn't harden too much if it dries as you're working. It looks as if you'll get away with it, but a word of warning / advice - the central growth rings are under most tension as the wood dries and are most likely to split - they are right there in the rim of your kuksa. I'd have taken off just half an inch from the depth of the kuksa to get rid of them to make it less likely to split.
Nicola

 

[Black Sheep]

That's lovely work and alder is a good choice of wood for a first kuksa. It's relatively easy to work and doesn't harden too much if it dries as you're working. It looks as if you'll get away with it, but a word of warning / advice - the central growth rings are under most tension as the wood dries and are most likely to split - they are right there in the rim of your kuksa. I'd have taken off just half an inch from the depth of the kuksa to get rid of them to make it less likely to split.
Nicola

Thanks for the advice Nicola.

Its been drying for over a week and it seems ok, but if it splits I'll keep it mind for the next one ( I've got about 12' of it I couldn't let it all get chipped ). I left it quite thick around the rim with the idea of thinning it a little more when it was dry.

Cheers

Richard

 

[craeg]

Hi Craeg,

There's a great tutorial on here..........

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/DIY/Kuska-Cup-Tutorial.html

Cheers

Richard

Thanks Richard

Will have a look at that. Forgot to say I tap some birch sap for a drink yesterday too while we were out. Quite nice if not a bit indistinctive. Good technique though

Cheers Craeg