[Woodcarver] waterfall

[Linehan718 at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/21/2006 11:54:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
wyndysim at graceba.net writes:

What is the best wood(s)?  The sign  will be approximately 3’x 4’ or 4’x 5’
, held by stones on the sides.  How  thick should the sign be? 
What tools do you recommend for a  carving this size?
First off, I'm assuming that this sign will be outside.   One of my favorite 
woods for signs is Mahogany because it is fairly stable and  it carves very 
nicely. I would laminate boards together to get the size.  Finish it off with UV 
protectant spar varnish and oil-based polyacrylic  put on in layers.  There 
are many other good outside woods such as red  cedar, pine and cypress and I'm 
sure lots of other suggestions will be  thrown out.  For a sign of this size, 
I would go somewhere in the 1"-1 1/2"  range for thickness.
as for tools,  I once did a sign of this size using a  router to remove as 
much waste as possible, then onto bench chisels and finally  detailed it with 
palm tools as I didn't have any professional tools yet.   If I were to do this 
today, I would use a laminate trimmer becuse it is easier  to use than a router 
and as a woman, easier to manuever than the heavy  routers.  I would use 
malletable chisels and gouges to do everything  else.  If you are going to buy any 
chisels for this job, go the quality  route and you won't be dissapointed.  
The most versatile tools are a 60  degree v tool, a flat chisel, a # 3 and #5 
gouge and a good detail knife.   You can carve almost anything with these


 
 
Maura  carvin' in  nyc
www.CarvinginNYC.com
http://www.picturetrail.com/carvinginnyc


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