r/Spooncarving • u/OneTinyBear • 11d 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/neddy_seagoon sapwood (beginner) 10d ago

i'll join the others and suggest sharper knives. Do you have a setup?

1

u/OneTinyBear 10d ago

I’m not sure what you mean by setup!

1

u/neddy_seagoon sapwood (beginner) 10d ago

oh! Do you have a way to sharpen your knives?

2

u/OneTinyBear 10d ago

Yes, but not a great one. I only have a little ceramic block which doesn't do much; I'm not a fan of ceramic sharpening in general.

3

u/neddy_seagoon sapwood (beginner) 10d ago

That's fair! 

I'd grab at least 2 grits of whatever you want to play with, something around 500 and 1000. The consensus I've heard is "every system is fine if you learn how to use it".

I like to go lower and higher than that, up to like 3k-8k, with 300 for shaping chips and stuff.