Larger Wood Carvings

These larger pieces are carved mostly from logs 
of Cedar and Pine, but now I also have a good 
supply of Cherry, Holly, Silver Birch and Oak.  

   With unseasoned timber there's
   inevitably a certain amount of
   cracking. To minimize this I 
   generally "rough out" a piece
   then leave it to stand while I
   get on with something else. 
   Hopefully any cracking will 
   show itself at this stage, so
   I can deal with it as part of 
   the carving and finishing 
   process. 
   Leaving a piece to stand 
   doesn't increase the overall 
   amount of work, it just 
   increases the length of time 
   between starting and finishing.

   If there's any further cracking, 
   that must be seen as being the 
   nature of the beast. 
   For no cracks, try a soapstone!