which wood?

[Dan Valleskey]

I am not much of a carver, in fact, I think maybe what I do is closer to whittling. But I have managed to do a couple things, when the need arises.


My little girl is nuts for dolphins lately. I found a nice pattern, I think I can cut much of it with a scroll saw, then start to shaving it down to look right.


I have a hunk of mahogany (luan I think, not too heavy anyway), a hunk of very very old poplar, and a large basswood board. The relative value of the wood to me, is inverse to the order listed. The mahogany is a little scrap that has been hanging around forever. One step from the fire pit. The poplar is a nice size piece, more likely to be used one day if I leave it as long as it is now. Cut a foot off- and I will have two little hunks, instead of one smallish board. The bass is a fairly big board, purchased for my son (16) to carve upon one day. I sorta gave it over to him, but so far, it has sat (for at least a year) untouched. He has done some good work, and has been in the shop some this year carving, but all smaller things.


I am sure the bass would be the easiest to carve, but I might not want to spark any new sibling rivalry by using “his” board for his sisters gift.


How difficult would it be to carve in the other two boards? would they be much more difficult than the bass? I hate to go out and buy more wood for one little project, I have so damn much around as it is. Like, I have a hunk of curly maple that would be the perfect size for this. But I am thinking maple is way beyond my abilities, I do not use power carving tools.


Thoughts?

[Ryan Mooney]

Depends on the maple and how big of a hurry you're in

I'm sure others who are more qualified than I will jump on here, but I'm going to say that for ease of carving they are definitely in reverse order your value assessment. The luan can be a bit splitty and annoying (depends on the type and quality so.. ymmv, try the corners and see how it cuts, if its good its good if not you'll find out quicker). Poplar - again depends, there are a number of woods called poplar and some are easier than others. Most tend not to split to badly but may crumble if pushed to hard and you're tools aren't sharp.

The curly seems like a waste for this (to pretty?) but I wouldn't write it off, again try a corner and see how you like it. The very little I've carved with it, I found enjoyable personally (not that I'm any great shakes and I'm so slow anyway that .. well heh).

[Marvin Hasenak]

If you have a power sander I would go with the maple. Even a Dremel with a small drum sander would work. Cut to shape on the saw and start power sanding the edges off. I have also done the basic shaping with a 1" belt sander. Some may not consider it carving, but it gets the job done. As you get close you can then start with the knives and work on the details.

[Dan Valleskey]

I used the mahogeny. As I was closing in on the back end of the pattern I was using, it occurred to me that the pattern had the dolphin's tail offset 90 degrees. Dolphins, unlike fish, have their tails set horizontally.

I went ahead and cleaned up splinters and set it on her computer keyboard last night. She was totally enthralled with it when she got up this morning! She is "special needs" - what we used to call retarded. I don't say this often- but thank goodness she is slow- a normal kid would never have bought that as a dolphin!

I'm going to rework the pattern, and try again, but I have some more pressing projects, so it might be a while.

PICT0004.jpg

[Ryan Mooney]

Doesn't look to bad to me. The overall lines of the head are pretty good and capture some essential "dolphinousness". You can always claim that its flipping its tail which is why it "just appears to be on wrong"

A little work around the eye and nose would have (imho) gone a ways into enhancing the look, its just a smidge to round, dolphins have that crease there and a small v groove to highlight the mouth maybe.

How was the Luan for carving? Looks like it cut fairly clean?

[Marvin Hasenak]

Looks good, it was appreciated, and that is what counts.

[Dan Valleskey]

The luan was not bad to carve at all. She loves it just the way it is, and decorated it with markers. Oh well. It was just something to keep my hands busy. My daughter is "special needs", what we used to call retarded. Easy to please at times- impossible at other times!

I noticed that by having the tail turned, it will sit upright on the table, looks like it just jumped up. Silver lining in that cloud. And I am done carving for this week. Back to making my boxes now.

thanks for the replies.

-Dan V.

[Mark Strom]

Use the mahogany. It should carve fairly easy with a sharp knife and make a beautiful dolphin. At one time mahogany was the premiere wood for carving and for pattern makers.

Mark