3D Wood Good / Bad

[tri4sale]

I've only played with 3D carvings in HDU and PVC, but was going to pick up some wood to practice with.

From your experience, what have you found to be good wood for 3D carving and what is bad wood for 3D carving?

[bleeth]

Best woods are tight grain hardwoods like maple, cherry, walnut etc.
Soft woods such as pine, fir have splitting issues in fine detail areas.
Poplar works but isn't exactly pretty.
The real "fun" is the finish sanding.

[steve_g]

Tight dense woods like pear, Osage orange and mesquite carve beautifully… with experience you can get good results with softwoods like western red cedar… with cedar I use a wood hardener after the rough cut.

Wood to avoid… Oak just doesn’t keep fine details.

Large layups must be dry all the way through! Hot router air blowing on deep cuts will dry and shrink the wood causing movement during the cut!

I’ve almost never been able to charge my full rate when doing 3D work… usually they land up as gifts!

SG

[jerry_stanek]

I use a lot of white oak

[srwtlc]

Bad...butternut, very bad!



Red alder is as well, but does look good when done. While it generally takes longer to run your finish pass across the grain, you'll spend less time in clean up. Again, it takes longer, but 8% step over also leaves less clean up time.

[steve_g]

Add to the list wood to avoid… Cottonwood.
As per the Purdue Dept. of Agriculture…

“The wood is rated at or near the bottom of the list
in regard to planning, shaping, turning, and boring.
The wood tends to fuzz.”

My experience exactly!
SG

[Xray]

Best woods are tight grain hardwoods like maple, cherry, walnut etc.
Soft woods such as pine, fir have splitting issues in fine detail areas.
Poplar works but isn't exactly pretty.
The real "fun" is the finish sanding.

I'd differ on the poplar, get a nice piece it can be stunning, almost marble like ,,, But getting a nice slab can take some doing.

Cherry and maple to me are boring for 3D, but yes they do cut nice.
My top 5 are probably purpleheart, poplar, padauk [the P's have it !] walnut and yellowheart.

One below is poplar in a walnut blank.

[Designer]

I have been trying a few different things. Some carving and some more like signs.At this time most end up as the top of a box or the face of a clock or shelf.
150 Clock Bubinga 2.jpg
Shelf Butterfly 1.jpg
Butterfly Box.jpg

[scottp55]

That stuff looks Great Phil!
Is it the amount of finishing time after it comes off the machine you're having the problem with?
For kicks and giggles, try a small test with a lower stepover and against the grain like I do?
scott

[Designer]

Yes, it is the sanding after if comes out of the machine. I need to buy stock in Dremel tools LOL.
I usually go at a 45 degree angle to the grain. I will try the smaller step over of 5% and cross grain instead. I also set plunge rate = feed rate.Thanks for the advise.
I have some V-Carving of letters that I am planning in the near future on a concept for a new product for Christmas and occasional gifts. I know its a little late for Christmas, so thankfully this is not how I make a living.
I may not do any 3D carving for a while. When I do I'll post a picture and let you know how it went.

Thanks again