How to keep carving wood green
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2024
- I get asked all the time how I’m able to keep all my carving wood green. We all know that green wood carves much more nicely than dry wood, right? There are a multitude of methods you can employ but this video focuses on what I consider the be the top 4 ways to store green wood.
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Keep your containers as dark as possible. Even the smallest amount of light will accelerate bacteria and algi growth. Thanks for all the great vids.
You know, I had wondered about this! I’m assuming the water being as cool as possible also helps? Thanks Christopher!
The bark !! I’ve been changing water every two days!! I just ran down and peeled every log and washed out my tubs!
Thank you my friend
As a spoon newbie this was one of those things that just isn’t spoken of
Glad to help!👊
Hi! Just let anted to say Thanks for your videos! They have been such a help to me , especially the tutorials. I have heard people talk about storage in different forms but it was great to actually have an in-depth video about what to do!! I really like the way you explain things and how much detail you go into about it. Again I can not Thank you enough for taking the time to do these videos!!!!
Well I’m glad you got some benefit from it! I had my doubts that this one would be able to help many people but I was asked by another TH-cam user to film a video on this topic so I figured it was at least worth helping one person. I’m always open to suggestions on new spoon carving topics!
I was gonna ask about weighing down the wood to keep it submerged, but towards the bottom I saw someone else already asked that. I figured I would leave a comment anyways just to show my appreciation, thanks!
If you’ve got large enough containers and have something heavy/non-buoyant like large stones or weights it can work. Just keep in mind you don’t want to add something to the water that will enhance bacterial growth. For example- just putting a large piece of wood across the top of the wood you’ve submerged will increase the amount of unwanted growth in your bin. As someone else mentioned in comments, it’s all about ensuring that everything in the bin is below the surface of the water to deprive it of oxygen. Thanks for watching and for the comment! Hope this clarifies things🙂
This water method is why in the old'en days, lumber mills would not worry when logs would finally sink while waiting to be cut. With water passing through the pond, the wood would stay fresh on the bottom of the pond and could be recovered at any time without loosing quality. I wonder if a little bleach in the water would help you have to not change out so often? 1/2 teaspoon? Have you tried that? Thank you for posting.
This is timely. I have a black walnut that I am about to trim. Thought about digging a small ditch area - 2x2, lining the bottom with several layers of news paper. Putting in a layer of damp Douglas fir bark, nestle in the peeled cut walnut, cover with more bark, thick layer of newspaper and then soil. Could use wood shavings animal bedding dampened instead of bard chips which might color wood. Old timers used to just bury the limb/logs for storage. Sorry this is so long, but one thought led to another! We have enough natural soil moisture plus a sparingly used sprinkler system to keep it all damp. I may give the bark and also the shavings a try to see what happens. Also have a Russian olive to cut down. Have you ever carved that? Thanks, so much for posting. Your videos are inspiring. Keep them coming as you can.
Oh, don’t apologize for a lengthy comment! I very much appreciate you taking the time to reach out and I’m always happy to reply back.
I have heard that a bit of bleach will help minimize growth in the water but haven’t tried it myself. From what I understand, there are no I’ll effects despite being on something porous that is meant for food contact. Maybe if I can fond out more I’ll give it a try.
As for Russian Olive, the only piece I ever had was not suitable for carving. It was quite dry and crumbly. A lovely woman on Facebook sent it to me in the hopes I could utilize it and I ended up making a display for a couple of my kuksas to hang on with the wood she sent me. Hopefully she wasn’t disappointed!
@@HuronSpoonCo Awesome video, i had the same thought about the bleach. any luck?
another commenter mentioned keeping the boxes dark to prevent algae photosynthesis.
cold temperatures also slows the metabolism of bacteria
Bacteria like moderate temperatures, oxygen, light, and not being split apart by poison.
I actually haven’t tried the bleach method actually
Thanks for putting this out there. I would have never come across the idea myself, and now have two bins at home!
You’re very welcome!! Just make sure to change the water and rinse the logs at least once each week😊
I've only watched three of your videos but your channel is a wealth of knowledge... I have subscribed!
I’m glad you found it useful! Hopefully you can find some more info here to help you along!
I used this technique for keeping white oak for basket making. Since I had to have long sections to make splits, I used a large (6") diameter PVC pipe about 8' long, fill it with long billets and then with water. Worked great.
That’s genius!
this was SUPER. helpful. I am just starting out and have some pieces of black walnut logs sitting in buckets of water. I was worried about losing them, so dunked them in, but had no idea what I was doing. The buckets are disgusting. Hoping I can still salvage the wood, but now I know how to deal with keeping the wood green and doing so effectively. Thank you so much!
You’re very welcome! In most cases, even if the water gets gross, you can often carve it away and it might actually reveal some nice character. Fingers crossed you find something special in there!
Someone from FB suggested this video- and I have to say thank you! New guy- looking at spoons- just got a haul of Sycamore and Pear green and dont know what to do with it! So Bravo and thanks!
Glad I could be of some benefit! Best of luck on your new carving adventures! It’s a blast!
Came across 7' of birch 10" in diameter and thought "what the hell am I gonna do with all this??" Thanks for the advice!
I'd call that a darn good day! I wish I was as fortunate lately!
thanks I have wanted to know about keeping wood in water
You’re very welcome!
Sean, thanks for this info! I was told when I started carving a year ago that I should paint the ends of my logs to keep them from drying and checking. That didn’t work for me for whatever reason. Now I will try your method. Again, thanks!
I’ve heard this as well Ricky and haven’t had any luck with it. Moisture loss is quickest through the end grain. A layer or two of paint ant much to stop that loss. If you consider all the growth rings and bark that moisture would have to permeate to evacuate the timber, it’s easy to see how it can force itself through painted end grain instead. Some people use AnchorSeal2 on the end grain with the same concept in mind. I bought a gallon online for $50 and found it wasn’t much better than paint for long term storage.
I found this worked as a short term solution if I had a week or two before getting to the wood. It will slowly be drying though and usually the ends just need to be cut off/not used.
Always great to see how you work and the processes you use. Really appreciate you taking the time to make these videos. The bleach/chlorine comments are definitely spot on, I use just a little food grade citric acid in a similar application with great success. Your large bin outside has probably been staying cleaner longer because of the freezing temps. Bacteria thrives in warm damp environment, dies off with the freeze and is deferred with lower temps.
You’re welcome Kimberly! Thanks for watching, as well as for the tips!
I'll have to give this a try. Being in a prairie province in a a city away from the forests I have a limited access to green wood and need to either use it right away or find a way to store it. And since I am new to this hobby I am usually finding the wood online after it has been cut down for a while. Failing that I cut it up and let it dry and boil/rehydrate it later (which has worked well actually).
Ive never considered boiling! Do you find that it works well?
Awesome information. Thank you!
Hey thanks for this! Just starting out and this gave me a better idea how to store the wood.
Glad to help, Chris!
Very informative. Thank you for sharing. This is a very good method to store wood for long periods of time.
Thanks for the comment Kebo. Glad to help. I know how frustrating it is to have to throw away wood because it became too hard or cracked badly.
Very helpful! Thank you Sean!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for watching!
I store my wood in the freezer in plastic bags and when I take it out for carving I pour boiling water over it to defrost the wood, an let it soak for about an hour or two. Works great for me, some woods that are prone to cracking like apple I keep soaked for maybe 24 hours to get an even moisture content in it, seams to work for me. I guess that the moisture that freeze drys out of the wood can be dehydrated fairly well I suppose….
Great info.
Glad you think so!
Great video and lots of good information, thanks a lot!!
Hey thanks a lot buddy!
This is great info. I will give this a try!
Good to hear! It’s much easier to appreciate how much goes into making something once you’ve done it yourself.
Dude, I find your vids very informative compared to the other guys I follow. Most people don’t want to get into their intimate details like you’re doing here. From watching your videos, I am going to implement a few ideas into my set up (currently under construction) ei I’ll be setting up my small carving station in my house. Can you talk more about your axe block (design) , would you do anything different one the next one? And what proportions/ dimensions are recommended? I got my hands on an oak trunk in FL before moving to NC, so now I’m getting ready to build my axe block. The o their thing I may do is use the water technique, except first I have to figure out where to get my wood ‘sourcing’.. Huron, thank you for your time and keep up with the videos.
Thanks very much for the comment! As for the chopping block, I have an album in my Facebook photos called “Standing Carving Stump” that goes over the build in detail. The only thing I would change is the diameter of the log. I could see how having a larger one could be beneficial. The two I’m currently using are both 10” diameter. 12-14” would be nice
HuronSpoonCo what’s your Facebook?
@@gusvortech Just search for Sean Hearn from Auburn Hills, Michigan
Thank you mate. Great info :)
You’re so welcome!
very useful video :)
I’m glad you liked it🙂
Great info!
Thanks Scott!
У Вас Прекрысные работы,прекрасная съемка и крутая татуха на руках!
Thanks for doing this so quickly! The basic info is straightforward, but lots of the details and results are not so obvious. I'm especially interested in the effect on the walnut billets. Backing up a level to the wood selection process: What is the smallest (diameter) piece you will consider using for spoons?
Hey, I’m glad to film a vid if it helps someone out. Regarding the size of timber, this is a really good question. I used to use pieces 3” or larger in diameter but I’m finding that it doesn’t allow me much wiggle room. 4” and up seems to give me the space to get creative with crank and other design details. Obviously, the larger diameter, the better. Using smaller diameter logs/branches limits your orientation within the wood too. I spent a lot of time carving tangential orientated spoons in the beginning simply because the timber I had wasn’t really sizable enough for anything different. having large logs allows you to take advantage of the beauty of radially cleft billets.
Now is the time of year to head to the apple orchards and get permission to pick up the tree prunings and get them into water. Also, 4 Sterlite 32 quart gasket totes at Walmart on-line is just $31.24 shipped to your local store.
Good to know!!
It's like what loggers did and may still do in certain places. I wonder how much the drying times of the carved spoons take compared to a fresh piece of green wood. Should try and compare that for a vid. Thanks.
I haven’t noticed a difference. Whether it’s 20% moisture or 16%, 2-3 days should dry them just fine
Learned something new. Thank you sir. I’ll definitely have to try this out. One quick question, do you ever see or have any issues with spoons or carvings cracking when they start to finally dry out?
Almost never actually. If you call them to the correct thickness and uniformly cracking usually isn’t an issue unless there was already end-grain checking in the log itself that you didn’t notice
HuronSpoonCo ah ok. Awesome. Thank you sir
jwrowland77 any time!
Can you re-hydrate billets this way? I cut down a young birch tree a year ago, wasn't able to get serious with using it and its been in my garage. Now that I have time, the right tools, and such, I stare at that pile of birch wondering if I can get some moisture in it to help it become easily carved or just burn it and find another tree. Thanks.
This is the subject of some debate. While I can’t argue that dry wood will become saturated over time, it is a very slow process. The thinner the bits of wood are, the better. Whole logs aren’t likely to rehydrate well so you may want to try turning them into spoon blanks before soaking in water. The thinner the wood is, the more quickly water will reach the center. Just keep in mind, this will not be a quick endeavor. Once wood dries out, it’s cell structure closes while the wood shrinks. This makes it very difficult to fill the space between the cells with h2o
@@HuronSpoonCo thank you so very much for the response. Thought it was worth the try. I may test this theory and see how it goes. Greatly enjoy your videos. Thanks again.
The key to preserving anything is denying it oxygen, fill your head space with carbon dioxide and you may not need to change your water as often. You could add a tire valve and use the CO2 cartridges for filling bike tires or add a small chunk of dried ice to the water and let it sublimate filling the headspace with CO2
Thank you for sharing your method and experience for storing green wood. I’m new to spoon carving and trying to find the best method for storing green wood in the future. With first batch I had painted the end grains but the moisture still escaped by the time I went to carve so the wood was incredibly hard to carve. Once you carve something, like an eating spoon, how long does it usually take for the spoon to dry once its done?
Yes I had this happen when I tried sealing the end grain as well.
As for drying times- once I rough carve a spoon to about 90% finished, I let it dry for a couple days (usually 2-3) before finishing the remaining 10%
@@HuronSpoonCo Its tough fighting that hard wood.
Thank you for all the helpful information. Your videos have been not only education but great to watch. Looking forward to seeing more. Happy carving!
I’ll do my best to keep them coming! Thanks Ryan!
Great video. Once you decide to use one of the blanks in the tubs do you have to let it dry some before you start carving it? Or do you just take it out and start the axe and knife work>
Also not sure I got the brand or specs on the totes you are using. Can you give us that too?
As far as the totes go, I do give a model number and size somewhere in the video.
Concerning the blanks, I carve them straight out of the water.
Do you weigh down the wood to keep it submerged. If yes, what do you use.
I played around with this in the last bin and just found that it was more trouble than it was worth. If you had a bin with ample space in it to place sizable stones on top of the wood then I suppose that might be worth trying. My bins are rather small so it wasn’t a viable option for me. Gradually, the wood always ends up sinking over time. It should be noted however that if your billets are above the water line, bacterial growth is quite increased and water changing will need to be more frequent than just weekly until the wood is able to sink
Thanks!! Do you take it out right before carving?
Yes, I do!
How do I sleep