Soaking wood prior to spoon carving

[Kristina Thomason]

I am new to wood carving- so far all I've been able to accomplish is a few whittled ornaments with a flexcut knife. I'm currently on the waiting list for a Pinewood Forge (PWF) hook knife, sloyd knife, and a few birch spoon blanks since I don't have the tools for shaping my own blanks. I have a while before I receive these items, but I already have a dry cherry blank that I've been trying to hack away at in the meantime. I know that PWF mentions soaking birch prior to carving, but I cannot find any info on soaking cherry. Would soaking cherry make things easier, or is it best left dried and worked with using other tools? Any other woods besides birch that can be soaked? Thanks!!:)

[John K Jordan]

I don't have the tools for shaping my own blanks.

Sorry, I can't answer your soaking question. (and don't know what PWF is)

I do know one gentleman in South America who said they boil all their bowls (tropical woods) to make them more stable so I suspect soaking won't hurt the wood. I haven't done that with the spoons I've carved.

But as for shaping, do you know anyone with a shop who lives close to you? I routinely share my shop with others who don't have the tools and I suspect many others would be glad to also.

BTW, if you get to know some woodturners nearby you can probably get all the free spoon carving blanks you can use - when I prepare turning blanks I usually end up with tubs full of thinner pieces I don't have much use for but hate to throw away. (I keep over a 100 species on hand for woodturning)

JKJ in East TN

[Kristina Thomason]

Thanks for the woodturner suggestion! I'll start looking around for some networking opportunities in the Minneapolis area.

[John K Jordan]

networking opportunities in the Minneapolis area.

You might try a woodturning clubs. They all welcome visitors! At our club people bring a bunch of wood every meeting which is raffled off. People are always trading, selling, and giving away wood. Wood turners almost universally have this problem of acquiring way too much wood...

And who knows, you might get interested in wood turning and completely ruin the rest of your life! It is probably as addictive as heroin.

I see one AAW club that might be close to you:
http://www.woodturner.org/members/group.aspx?id=129474

JKJ in East TN

[Kristina Thomason]

This isn't too far away from where I live- I'll definitely make an effort to get over there, especially for the raffle at this point. I'm anticipating working my way up to woodturning eventually. My father-in-law turns bowls and he is the one who gifted me what woodworking supplies I do have. Of course he lives about five hours away, so taking advantage of his workshop and knowledge isn't as convenient as I would like. I am kicking myself that I didn't get into this hobby when I only lived 20 minutes from him!

[Bob Glenn]

Kristina, Interestingly, I have a cherry limb that I started to rough out for a spoon while it was just off the tree. I got side tracked and put it in our freezer to slow the dehydration process. Well, Thanksgiving rolled around, and with eighteen people coming for dinner, I was asked to kindly remove the "stick" from the freezer. It is now dry or drying in my unheated shop and I look at it thinking I should soak this and start carving again. I have carved some bass wood figures and when faced with cutting across grain, sprayed a water and alcohol mixture which is quickly absorbed into the wood, which makes cutting a lot easier.

I think rehydrating wood makes it easier to work, however, I've not yet tried it with cherry. It may takes several weeks of soaking but I am thinking the process will produce better if not good results. BTW, I also make Winsor chairs, which require steam bent parts. I don't make enough chairs to always have fresh green wood on hand to bend or carve, so I rehydrate the wood, mostly oak, before bending. Steam bending requires the lignum in the wood to soften, thus letting the wood fibers to slide along each other. This requires heat and the moisture in the wood helps carry the heat into the inter reaches of the material. Go ahead and try your soaking process and let us know your outcome. I find experimentation is the best teacher. Bob

[Karl Andersson]

If you're trying to carve in the manner that Peter Follansbee (PWF) does, life will be much more satisfying when you use "green" wood, so at least get a few shaping tools when you can, then keep an eye out for thick branches when storms hit the local parks and woods. Craigslist (at least the one here) usually has people trying to get rid of downed trees in the "free" section - some may still have the 3-6" dia branches that you'll want and you can grab a log for chopping on while you're at it. A small, sharp hatchet, a crosscut bowsaw (cheap, found at Sears, HD for trimming branches) for cutting to length, and a Froe or hacking knife will get you going. I used a short thick machete and a piece of log as a striker to rive spoon blanks for a few years before making my froe.

Hand carving the spoons dry takes more physical effort, but you can get more polished results (Like John Jordan shows in one of his posts), carving them "wet" is easier, but a little slower because you usually have to stop and let the wood dry slowly before doing the final finish cuts and decorations. they don't have to be sopping wet, although if you're using branches, you don't always have a choice. I like them when the wood is moist and cuts like hard leather. I have soaked maple and cherry because I waited too long after splitting out blanks and the wood had dried out, making heavy shaping cuts with a knife almost impossible. You'll need to weigh the wood down so it's all under water and leave it there for a day or so. If it is regular kiln-dried wood, it may not soak all the way through, even after a few days, so having Bob's water spray handy may help.
enjoy,
Karl

[Kristina Thomason]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I hadn't thought of spraying basswood, I'll start doing that immediately. Once I get a shipment confirmation I will be giving the cherry blank a deep soak.