Article Tag

best wood for carving projects

Every in-depth guide tagged best wood for carving projects.

In-Depth

August 30, 2024

Is denser wood stronger?

Denser wood resists a gouge about twice as fast as it gains bending strength. The handbook numbers, and what they miss.

In-Depth

August 30, 2024

Does dense wood float?

Fresh water weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. A wood lighter than that floats, a wood heavier sinks, and the water still inside a board can move it across the line either way. Density figures from 68 of our own wood pages, and what they mean at the bench.

In-Depth

August 30, 2024

What is the densest wood ever?

Densest wood is not one settled answer. Real numbers, real sources, and what a heavy board does under a gouge. Shall we carve?

In-Depth

August 29, 2024

Should wood be wet before carving?

Wet wood bends away from the bevel instead of shearing, so the surface comes up woolly and the piece moves as it dries. Here is how to read the board before you commit.

In-Depth

August 29, 2024

What is the meaning of wood carving?

Wood carving is subtraction, and after forty years I would say it is the ability to see in three dimensions. Here is the craft split into its three real parts, in the order they belong.

What Janka hardness of wood means for a hand carver

In-Depth

August 29, 2024

What Janka hardness of wood means for a hand carver

An 11.28 mm steel ball, driven to half its own depth, leaves a dent of exactly one square centimeter. The load it took is the Janka number. Here is how that test is run, why two books print two figures for one species, and the hardness band where a gouge stops slicing.

In-Depth

August 28, 2024

What does wood shrinkage mean?

Every other number on a wood chart decides what happens while you carve. This one decides what happens for the next hundred years, and I have a gouge whose ring went loose on its own to prove it.

In-Depth

August 28, 2024

What does wood density mean?

Light board, heavy board, and one number behind both. Here is what density really measures, and why the same basswood shows up as 0.32 in one book and 0.42 in another.

In-Depth

August 28, 2024

What does the gravity of wood mean?

Gravity of wood is a ratio against water. A master carver on why the board under your hand disagrees with the chart.

In-Depth

August 27, 2024

Is Wood Carving hard?

The cutting is the easy half. Sharpening and seeing in three dimensions are what stop people, and here is how long each part really takes.

How Long Does It Take to Learn How to Carve Wood, Hour by Hour

In-Depth

August 27, 2024

How Long Does It Take to Learn How to Carve Wood, Hour by Hour

A master carver's milestone clock for wood carving: 10 hours to a clean stop cut, 40 to a finished rosette, 200 to an acanthus leaf that holds its shape, 600 to a panel that belongs on furniture. What shortens those hours, and what quietly adds years.