Not sure if this is the right location for this post.
I want to start carving 3D wall hangings ( like dogs playing poker)
There is quite a bit of detail.
I’m not sure what type of wood will carve the best, and still be easy to sand for the inevitable cleanup.
I would guess that some models look better on certain color of wood.
All I see on Etsy are darker wood, but maybe they just photograph better?
Thank you
Mike
I’m a fan of cherry…
I have also used mesquite, hickory, maple and mahogany.
Cherry is my fave (heart)
Mahogany was really stringy and difficult to and. (Cross)
Hickory was a piece of firewood i saved (flag pulled down cross)
Maple came out well (bible quote)
Mesquite came out awesome, especially given design choice. (Tattered flag)
That’s probably because there’s not many hardwoods that are light and they all get darker when finish is applied… maple is all i can think of, that is lighter.
Maple, walnut, cherry and poplar are my go-tos for fine detail because of the tightness of the grain and with something like poplar there’s usually no real color variation on a piece of wood.
I avoid oak because of the grain. It’s good for a lot of projects but not really 3D sculpting.
Thank you all.
I have some maple that I will try.
Mike
I know this is an old thread, but curious what finish you used on your Hickory and Mesquite carvings in your pictures? I really like the way they look and came out.
all use gloss lacquer
must make 20 characters
I live in the desert and its hard to find walnut cherry etc, so I use the desert hard woods, Mesquite, Eucalyptus which is my favorite for 3d carvings. Another good wood out here is Ironwood, one of the more harder wood, will actually sink in water. One of the worlds densest woods, Janka of 3260, weighs in at 6.3 pounds a BF.
Don
For crisp lines, I swear by cherry. Have you tested mahogany? Good balance of workability and detail
Don’t forget about bamboo. Yea, I know it’s not wood, BUT, if your project can handle the look of bamboo, it can be a great material. I came across some 1" thick solid bamboo stair treads at a resale shop. NASTY stuff on the table saw! Be careful! But it’s so strong and dense that it’s grain can support finer detail than anything else I work with.
If you want a dark wood that will hold detail well, keep an eye out for torrified ( also called caramelized or toasted) maple. The wood is dressed ,then stacked and placed in a large air tight kiln, the air is drawn off to make a vacuum and then heat is applied to toast the wood throughout. You get all the benefits of maple with a nice dark walnut tone right through the wood with no light sap marks. Usually also retails for less than walnut. So there’s that too.
1/4 sawn Sapele works great and not too expensive at least here in Utah
Pat
