Material
Used for woodcarving different breeds wood. The choice of one or another breed depends on the purpose and shape of the decorated product and the type of carving.
From deciduous trees, linden is often used for carving. Linden wood is easily and cleanly cut, slightly prone to cracking and warping. Due to its low hardness, linden is not used to make furniture, and therefore its use is limited to small household items.
Alder wood is also easy to cut, warps a little, perfectly perceives the finish and imitates other species, say, mahogany. All this makes it suitable for all kinds of work.
A beautiful material for carving is birch wood. It is harder than linden and alder and is more difficult to cut, but the quality of the carving is excellent. Birch wood is excellently stained and finished. Its shortcomings are the ability to easily absorb and release moisture, as well as the tendency to warp and crack, which does not allow it to be used in huge products. It is allowed to make unprofitable carved decorations and details of furniture and other products from birch.
For carving on small items - dishes, souvenirs - poplar and aspen wood is used.
Oak has long been used for huge decorative carvings and carved furniture. Oak carving is difficult and laborious due to the high hardness of the wood and the tendency to chip off, but it is hefty colorful and decorative.
Beech wood is close to oak in hardness, but gives fewer chips, because it is more uniform. Beech is excellently stained with aqueous solutions of dyes and finished. Beech is used mainly for small carvings.
walnut wood - excellent material for carving. It cuts wonderfully in all directions, rarely chipping, and allows for the most precise carving. Walnut wood is beautifully finished and exceptionally polished. It is used in the manufacture of furniture both for carving on solid wood and for unprofitable carving in combination with other species. Walnut wood is also considered the best material for highly artistic small-form carvings and sculptures.
For small items, decorated with carvings, apply more the rarest breeds wood: apple, cherry, etc.
From conifers for carving, pine, spruce, cedar, yew wood is used. From ancient times, decorations for architraves, icons, cornices, and gates were carved from pine. This carving is huge, therefore, the unevenness in the density of the layers of early and late softwood does not complicate the work.
Spruce is cut lighter than pine, but it has more knots and is very hard, so it is less often used for carving.
For carving, you need to use high-quality wood,
At the very beginning, let's agree: instead of writing “do wood carving” every time, we will say briefly - “cut”.
So, you can cut from anything. But, for example, the execution of even the simplest elements on the end cut of a pine is so little joyful that the only thing worse than it can be grinding the same elements on the same end, especially if the end is resinous.
Therefore, it is better to cut from the wood that does not have stripes. The stripes on softwood blanks are an alternation of soft and hard layers of wood, which the knife, and indeed sandpaper, "take" in different ways, and adapt to this is quite difficult. In addition, a pronounced texture “clogs” the thread pattern, especially fine ones. Therefore, pine, despite its greatest availability, should not be contacted, in any case, during the initial carving training.
The best (and most accessible) material for a beginner carver is linden and birch. Aspen, in principle, is also not bad, but the instrument “gets stuck” in it. Therefore, we will dwell on linden and birch, and linden is for larger and simpler products, and birch, respectively, for small and complex ones. On the soft wood in general, it is very difficult to achieve clear outlines of small, and even more miniature elements - precisely because it is soft and easy not only to cut, but also (even in more) is wrinkled.
So, where to get the material for carving? In large cities, blanks are sold in art salons. In almost every locality there are carpentry shops, building materials stores and timber trading companies. Every workshop has its own construction organization, and a small furniture manufacturing enterprise is generally just a storehouse of useless joiners, but dry scraps and defective parts that are invaluable for a novice carver. Here, first of all, the conversation is, of course, about birch.
But linden is easier to purchase through carpenters, because it is linden that is sheathed in walls in baths and saunas, benches, doors and shelves are made from linden. In addition, the so-called “evrovonka” (single and double - see Fig. I76 - for wall cladding) will be sold in building materials stores. it will dry in the apartment in just a month, if not earlier.Naturally, try to choose boards without knots.
By the way, crates are often made from soft hardwood, while brick trays and shovels are made from birch.
Fruit trees are usually pruned in the gardens in autumn. Better stock up on plum wood. Hard, finely sanded and very beautiful in cross-section, from light brown in sapwood to deep maroon in the heart, it is well suited for women's jewellery. In this case, it is better to choose more authentic knots. The point is that everything fruit trees when dry, they crack badly. A case is known when, after three years of drying, an apple block of wood with a diameter of about 200 mm and a length of about a meter was sawn. So, only eight (!) Small blanks for ridges were able to “extract” from this block of wood. The rest of the material was "eaten" by cracks. So, having cut down a suitable branch (with a diameter of 40 mm or more), immediately remove the bark from it, leaving only rings with a width of at least 70 mm near the ends, and cover the ends themselves with garden steam. Then, in order not to get dirty, you can close the ends with polyethylene and leave the workpiece to dry for at least six months. It is better to immediately split a thick block of wood intended for boards into blocks and seal the ends in the same way.
Linden logs also crack when dried, but much less. However, treat the bark and ends in the same way as described earlier.
However, even when making fairly beautiful things, you can do without a ridge of the appropriate size, which, firstly, is very heavy, and secondly, it will dry for several years and still crack. Look at the vases shown in fig. 152 and 153. They are made of boards 15 ... 18 mm thick and at the same time look quite decent, and the manufacturing process itself is much simpler and more economical. But more on that later.
A few more words about drying wood. Wood should not be dried in the sun or near heating appliances. Air access must be free from all sides. It is unlikely that you will have enough boards to stack them through spacers. It is much easier to put the boards on the end and lean against the wall in a heated and periodically ventilated room. By the way, small blanks can be dried in a conventional "microwave" in two or three sessions.
However best option for a novice carver - immediately find a dry blank. Remember: who seeks will always find!
Wood carving is a fairly complex type of decorative art. Moreover, the final result depends not only on the skills of the master, but also on many other factors, in particular, the quality of the wood plays an important role. Below we will look at what kind of wood professional carvers use for woodcarving.
Choice of wood
Not every wood is suitable for cutting.
Therefore, its choice is a crucial stage, on which such moments depend, as:
- Ease of workpiece processing;
- Ability to perform complex patterns;
- Durability finished product;
- Product appearance.
It should be noted that there is no clear instruction for choosing a material, since experienced carvers use different tree. However, there are some general rules that must be observed. Next, we will get acquainted with them in detail.
Breed
So, in order to choose the right material for wood carving, of course, first of all, you need to pay attention to the type of wood.
Since ancient times, carving was most often used hardwoods, such as:
- Linden - is most popular with carvers, as it lends itself perfectly to processing with a cutter. Moreover, due to the fine-fiber structure, which is characteristic only of this breed, it allows you to perform complex and delicate drawings. In addition, carvers are attracted by appearance linden, namely, its even white color.
- Aspen - has a homogeneous structure, however, it is rarely used for artistic carving. This is due to the fact that aspen has a greenish tint, resistant to external influences. Therefore, this wood is more often used in the manufacture of all kinds of small kitchen utensils, such as spoons, bowls, cutting boards etc.
In the photo - an example of carving on alder
- Alder - widely used by carvers. Experienced craftsmen use for their own purposes its property to change color.
The fact is that freshly cut alder has a white color, but if it is left in the fresh air, it will turn red very quickly, after which it will begin to turn pink until it acquires a light pink hue. If the alder is isolated in time, then the desired color can be obtained.
- Birch - has a pale yellow tint and a viscous homogeneous structure.
Maple - similar in color to birch, however, it is different beautiful texture and high hardness. This tree is more difficult to process, but the products from it are very durable. Therefore, from ancient times, spoons and other utensils made of maple were valued much more than those made of linden or birch. - Oak is ideal material for, spoons and other products. The only downside to this breed is high price and processing complexity.
Advice!
If you are a beginner, it is best to start with sugar pine or basswood as these are the easiest species to work with.
As for conifers, they are too soft for these purposes, however, in some cases they are still used.
For example, if you need to get a special color or texture that hardwoods cannot give, apply:
- Cedar;
- fir;
- Pine;
Note!
Carvers often use for carving not only the wood itself, but also burls or burls - these are growths that are found on a tree trunk.
Their main feature is a varied bizarre texture.
wood qualities
In addition to the type of wood, there are a number of other factors that affect the suitability or unsuitability of the material for carving. These factors include:
| Options | Requirements |
| Humidity | It largely depends on the scope of the carved product. For example, for external thread humidity should be 15 percent. If the product is located indoors, then the workpiece must be dried up to 8 percent. In some cases, for example, for ornamental carving, absolutely dry wood, i.e. 0 percent. It should be noted that freshly cut wood is completely unsuitable for carving, as it deforms and cracks over time. |
| State | Some growths, knots and other inclusions can significantly spoil the work or lead to certain problems. For example, twisted fibers can cause the tool to be difficult to guide into the right direction, especially when moving across the fibers. Therefore, when choosing materials for woodcarving, it is necessary to carefully examine them. |
| The weight | As a general rule, the heavier the wood, the more difficult it is to work with. In addition, it should be borne in mind that weight indicates the moisture content of the material - the lighter the workpiece, the drier it is. |
Advice!
If you can't find the material the right sizes, you can glue several boards.
Here, in fact, is all the basic information on the choice of material. Of course, this is not all that is needed for wood carving, however, as mentioned above, the final result largely depends on it.
Conclusion
When choosing a wood for carving, you should pay attention to several points. The main ones are the type of wood, its moisture content and quality. Beginners can be recommended to use linden with a moisture content of 8-10 percent.
From the video in this article you can get more useful information on this topic.
I think that if you want to learn how to carve wood, then for a start it’s still better to choose more soft wood. In Siberia, we often use cedar wood for this purpose. It cuts very well, and the texture of the tree itself is beautiful. So I advise.
Material
For wood carving, different types of wood are used. The choice of one or another breed depends on the purpose and shape of the decorated product and the type of carving.
From deciduous trees, linden is often used for carving. Linden wood is easily and cleanly cut, slightly prone to cracking and warping. Due to its low hardness, linden is not used to make furniture, and therefore its use is limited to small household items.
Alder wood is also easy to cut, warps a little, perfectly perceives the finish and imitates other species, say, mahogany. All this makes it suitable for all kinds of work.
A beautiful material for carving is birch wood. It is harder than linden and alder and is more difficult to cut, but the quality of the carving is excellent. Birch wood is excellently stained and finished. Its shortcomings are the ability to easily absorb and release moisture, as well as the tendency to warp and crack, which does not allow it to be used in huge products. It is allowed to make unprofitable carved decorations and details of furniture and other products from birch.
For carving on small items - dishes, souvenirs - poplar and aspen wood is used.
Oak has long been used for huge decorative carvings and carved furniture. Oak carving is difficult and laborious due to the high hardness of the wood and the tendency to chip off, but it is hefty colorful and decorative.
Beech wood is close to oak in hardness, but gives fewer chips, because it is more uniform. Beech is excellently stained with aqueous solutions of dyes and finished. Beech is used mainly for small carvings.
Walnut wood is an excellent material for carvings. It cuts wonderfully in all directions, rarely chipping, and allows for the most precise carving. Walnut wood is beautifully finished and exceptionally polished. It is used in the manufacture of furniture both for carving on solid wood and for unprofitable carving in combination with other species. Walnut wood is also considered the best material for highly artistic small-form carvings and sculptures.
For small items decorated with carvings, the rarest types of wood are also used: apple, cherry, etc.
From coniferous species, wood of pine, spruce, cedar, yew is used for carving. From ancient times, decorations for architraves, icons, cornices, and gates were carved from pine. This carving is huge, therefore, the unevenness in the density of the layers of early and late softwood does not complicate the work.
Spruce is cut lighter than pine, but it has more knots and is very hard, so it is less often used for carving.
For carving, you need to use high-quality wood,
If you are interested in the question of which wood is best for carving, then the answer is, in principle, simple - it is soft hardwoods such as alder, linden or aspen. Their wood is not only soft, it is also dense, fairly uniform, which is important, and easy to cut. The quality of products and the speed of work on them, of course, depends on what kind of wood is used for carving. If you take the mentioned hardwoods, you can make the finest filigree cuts, while not fearing that the wood will chip along the fibers. Another plus is that the already dried hardwood tree becomes stronger, harder and does not even warp.
Those who wish to understand, nevertheless, it will be interesting to read further and in more detail.
The most common and frequently used material is linden. Anything can be made from it. These are three-dimensional sculptures, and toys, and interior details, and much more. It has long been so customary that linden is a pleasant raw material for turners and carvers. The turner with the help of a machine makes a vessel or something similar, and the wood carver applies a pattern to it with the help of carving. More or less like this. And this is a very common practice. Of course, the quality and appearance of products will depend on the work of the master who precedes it.
Other materials, or after all, which wood is better for carving?
Alder has peculiar properties. Firstly, it has a special, not similar to other breeds, texture. It has a beautiful reddish hue. It matters to carvers. But aspen wood, on the contrary, is very light, almost white color. And interestingly, products made from it retain this shade, reminiscent of color, for a very long time. Ivory. In addition, aspen has a number of other advantages. It is easy to work with and resists rot remarkably well. So, if you are convinced of the quality of certain products, ask what kind of wood their authors use for carving. And it is quite possible that it will be an aspen. Previously, log cabins for wells, all utensils and even shingles for the roof were often made from it. And all this thanks to useful properties.
If we talk about birch, then we must give it its due in terms of density and strength. But because of this, it is more difficult and longer to work with her. However, there are also huge advantages of this material. Birch is created for fine and elegant carving, because when it is cut, there are practically no splinters.
If we talk about which wood is best for carving, if the work is very detailed and miniature, then this is best suited for pear, Apple tree, boxwood and maple. Their density and hardness is close to the famous ivory. As for conifers, they lose a little here, because, due to many of their properties, they are only suitable for carving with large elements.
And the type, and style, and appearance of products will always depend on whether. When you decide to do this interesting and useful business, consult with professionals.
Loading...