The wood in the Walnut figure was gathered in 96 / 97, and stored in my garage,,It was carved this year, a little early, and I worried about the wood shifting and the base cracking.. If I roughed it green, that aspect of the carving would have gone much faster and easier. Green wood is easier to carve then it is dry..Water in green wood lubricates the cutting action..This is why you don't use a chain saw grinder on dry wood.No water lubrication, heat builds up, and chain saw blades set new record for dullness.I will be doing a mess of carving very shortly and expect to be experimenting with both green Walnut and Cherry..The problem is to get the material off. get the water out, and dry it with no cracking, twisting , or warping..By the way ,around here, those carvers that work in green Walnut, are, and have been considered crazy...I think it is more a case that they know the secrets, and the name callers don't...This is usually the case, I have found out, a lot of simple carving methods either work better green or not at all..A kutzall tip for example.can load that green wood up faster than......cordially Nad
The wood is Walnut,salvaged in the mid late nineties, air dried and carved in 2008.The color is off in this picture..Quite pleased it didn't crack while being out during the carving process.. Next one will be roughed and soaked in Denatured alcohol, dried and carved after that..I am even considering green wood carving of Walnut..I used to think those green wood carvers mad, but, apparently they knew the secret cordially Nad, aka KingNad
