r/Spooncarving • u/OneTinyBear • 12d ago

question/advice Dry wood...too dry?

I'm a beginner carver (1.5 spoons in) and I am dealing with significant trouble not splintering my wood, and getting my knives and gouges cleanly through the wood if it doesn't splinter. My first piece was sweet cherry that was harvested from a long fallen bough, and now I'm working on basswood from a woodworking shop.

Both were what I would consider dry, but the basswood feels like stone. Is there any way to introduce moisture and make the dry wood more pliable and easy to carve without absolutely destroying it?

EDIT: I got a three-step coarse --> medium --> fine whetstone that has moderately improved the performance of my current sloyd knife, which also def needs to be upgraded. But, the basswood is much easier to work with now! Thanks, all!

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u/King_Fruit 12d ago

Sounds like your tools might not be sharp enough or you could be working with some twisted wood that's hard to stay with the grain.

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u/OneTinyBear 12d ago

Very well could be, I'm using cheap carving knives my wife got off Amaz*n a couple years ago. I have a Record Power spoon gauge set, but my vice set up is terrible so I haven't been able to use them properly.

2

u/Responsible-Cow-4791 12d ago

And how many times did you already sharpen these knives? They might lose their edge a bit faster than higher end knives.

1

u/OneTinyBear 11d ago

The knives came with a ceramic block for sharpening, but it’s been pretty dang ineffective. I think they’re just not great quality ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

2

u/King_Fruit 11d ago

Ya definitely sounds like a mix of quality and needing to be sharpened. I don't have much experience with gouges but I'd recommend picking up a mora hook knife/sloyd knife as an affordable option and watching some sharpening videos.