Most woodcarvers prefer carving their spoons using green wood to hardwood because the moisture content of green wood is still high. But if you are living in a desert or urban area, it’s really hard to find fresh-cut hardwood to carve a spoon.
And this is where comes the question that starts germinating in woodcarvers’ thoughts, can you carve a spoon from dry wood? And why does this question arise? Well, dry wood is easy to find in such areas than dry wood, You can even buy dry wood from a shop and you see, dry wood saves a lot of time because it is easily found in such areas.
To answer your question, Yes you can carve a spoon from dry wood but some constraints can make you unable to carve a spoon from dry wood.
In simple terms, You can carve your spoon from dry wood but you cant carve your spoon from any dry wood. I gathered some ways to help you when you are dealing with dry wood to know which dry wood to use when carving a spoon.
Ways to choose a suitable Dry Wood To carve A spoon
Species of the Tree
There are species of wood that when dry, can serve the purpose of carving a spoon. species of trees is the make or model of the tree and trees like poplar walnut are easy to curve without prejudice and they can be used to carve a spoon.
Soft maple among others, on the other hand, is without a doubt hard to carve out a spoon from, and I would recommend you avoid using it to carve your spoon. You can experiment this species out and a little experiment will tell you whether a particular species is a satisfactory choice to choose from dry woods to carve a spoon.
Method The Wood Has Gone Through In Drying
There are two methods I will share with you that are used in drying wood. One is air-dried wood where you harvest the wood and put it in a cool humid space and it dries at a fairly slow rate if you make sure the space has good humidity.
This is a good way to dry hardwood if you are thinking of carving some spoons out of it. If you need to use dry wood and cant harvest it yourself, try to look for a small-scale sawmill that deals in air-dried wood, and they will sort you out.
The other method is the Kiln-dried wood. This is where the wood goes through a kiln (oven) and in this method of drying wood, you can control the temperature, humidity, and steam levels for a set of time. This will allow you to dry your wood to the desired moisture content and it is faster than air-drying.
The sharpness of the tools
It is different in carving a spoon from wet wood than it is in carving from a plank of dry wood. When carving from wet wood the sharpness does not matter as much and it is very possible to carve a spoon with a knife with dull edges to some degree.
But when you use the same knife to carve a spoon from a block of dry wood, you will discern that there is a difference because when the wood dries it becomes harder to carve, meaning before you use your tools to carve a spoon from a plank of dry wood, you have to make sure that the tools are extremely sharp.
The type of tools you are using
You will find most carvers using a hook knife, gouge knife, and a carving knife when they are carving spoons. As of now, you are knowledgeable that dry wood is hard to use so I would recommend the addition of chisels mostly U-shaped so that you can use a mallet and this will ease your life when carving a spoon.
If you are fortunate to have powered tools it will be the easiest way to carve spoons because all you will need to do is direct the power tools where to carve and leave the rest to it. it’s not that you won’t use the other knives but when you have a variety of blades to use, you will find it easy.
Conclusion
Carving spoons with dry wood is very possible and once you read and understand what I have just shared with you, you will form your way to go about it.
Carving is a very great experience if only you use the right ways and you will avoid disappointments when practicing this amazing craft. You can check on our page green wood verse dry wood and you will understand more about wood for carving.