Finishing carvings

[stave]

A couple of points here to the new carvers in the crowd.

Carvings do not finish like normal flat pieces. Keep in mind that every surface that is rounded or cut exposes end grain. A carving that is left unsanded will finish differently from one that has been sanded.

Cuts from a v tool or cuts made across grain will take the finish more so than a carved surface with the grain and all these surfaces will take more stain than a flat surface. Make some cuts on a scrap piece of wood that you are familiar with, sand some areas and leave others just carved and do a test with the finishes.

Basswood sucks up the stain so a wash coat is strongly recommended. The very first carving I burned was due to a stain mistake. I put walnut stain on raw poplar and the carving disappeared into the darkness. A wash coat of shellac or lacquer, thinned 50/50 with the appropriate solvent will work..even if you only intend to use wax. You can make your own colored waxes by taking a clear wax and adding either a darker wax to it or by adding a oil based stain. Again test the wax
as even a seemingly light wax worked into the grain will be darker than you think. You can also take a wiping stain and thin it to create a wash for a lighter stain.

By all means do some test pieces!

Stave

 

[richlife]

Softwoods, basswood, poplar and even many hardwoods like cherry and maple are notorious for uneven absorption of stains and even clear finishes as Mark describes -- then add the effects of carving. With any wood, it's essential that you use a test panel (again, I'm only repeating what Mark said) to at least see an approximation of what you will get after you apply any finish whether that be dye, stain, oil or top coat.

I truly feel what Mark said about the first carving he burned... :gar-Cr

In a slightly different vein, even if your wood should take your finish material evenly, you may be shocked by the final effect. Black walnut normally takes a finish very well. On one of my first carvings I used a black walnut stain with the intent to "even out" the colors a bit -- what a mistake! The carving itself still looked fine, but all the fine, glorious coloring of the black walnut was lost in a matte of pure dark walnut brown -- no tones left whatsoever. Since it was a stain and not a dye, even the grain filled in a way that detracted rather than added to the appearance. I believe that is the LAST time I've ever modified or finished a piece without first testing!

As far as finishing basswood -- it's a wood with huge variations from piece to piece. Probably every board or block is different. I've had some whose character was not changed at all, others that blotched horribly. I've also found that test pieces don't always reflect the carved piece (dammit, dammit, dammit). I did a sunflower carving after my class with Mark (sorry, I'm still trying to remember to get a picture) and then dyed with tested colors. Sure enough, the carving didn't do the same as the test pieces -- but fortunately not disastrous (in other words, only I think it sucks!). In this case, since it ended up on the door of my mother's apartment (she and her neighbors love it :dontknow, I wanted to protect it and used a couple of light coats of Minwax spray polyurethane. That worked pretty well and I'd recommend it if you'd like that type finish.

Rich