Anybody want to share your carving tricks?

Re: Anybody want to share your carving tricks?

Chuck Engstrom

There is a technique for this which has its own name that I can't remember at the moment. It goes something like this: press dents into the wood with a small round ball-end tool, sand down so the raised areas around the dents come even with the bottoms of the dents, then wet with water to raise the the wood you had compressed back into bumps above the sanded surface.

Others here may have the name and a better description. Try carving forums as well for inf, thecarvingpath.net is a good one.

cupped burrs *LINK*

john lucas

I havent tried them yet but I plan to buy some when my new shop is done. RioGrande sells cup burrs in lots of sizes. They leave a raised dot. Should be fun. There is also a technique that I'm drawing a blank on the name. It's done by the japanese. You dent the wood, then remove wood down to the dent so it's all level. Then you steam the wood and the dent raises up which is similar to the cup burr look although you can change the shape of the dent. Maybe the name will come to me later today.


https://www.riogrande.com/search?q=&c=2a36500b-6317-48cf-b0bd-a7b80157fb32&pageNum=1&pageSize=32&sort=1&t=1&attributeValueIds=2c1f6572-236b-412d-b391-a7b901454c33

Re: Anybody want to share your carving tricks?

Steve M

I believe it's called Ukibori

Re: Anybody want to share your carving tricks?

Chuck Engstrom

I googled "ukibori" and that certainly seems to be right -- lots of hits here and there, youtubes, etc. Thanks.

Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

Keith Newton

Right after posting, I remembered seeing this ukibori process, and that I had actually trying it a long time ago. As I recall it didn't work out too well for me back then, probably because I was carving green wood. But as I walked out into the shop thinking about what I might have, or need to make, I spotted a fenceing pliers sitting there, witch has a curving spike on one side, a hammer on the other, with wire grips in between. I took it to my grinder that has a cratex wheel on one end, then rounded it off nice and smooth about the size of a BB.

It was quick to lightly peck assorted dents in a block of pear wood to various depths. After denting, I went to the edge sander and abraded down to where almost all were flush. I then held it under the hot water faucet which fairly quickly raised the bumps. The sanding needs to be deep enough to completely remove all of the dents, because the ones that I left were capped with a small dent, surrounded by some splinter.

John, or anybody else that might have any hands on with those cups, I would like some feedback if some tend to burn or dig and tear. I may need to give some of those a try also. I don't know if the dent method will work on end-grain.

Thanks again ALL

Re: Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

Dick Coers

Ukibori will not work on end grain, and it won't work if the face grain is torn when you make the dent. A needle scaler adds a nice texture. I take out the needles, chuck them in a cordless drill, then take them to a grinder and put on a spherical end on the needles. The cordless drill spinning at a slow speed makes the spherical grinding very uniform. With a very light hold on the scaler, you get a real nice soft texture. Get the smaller needle scaler at Harbor Freight and an extra set of two of needles. Get fun to play with, and very little money. $30 for the scaler and $10 for a set of needles. That's without the 20% coupon. Also their electric engraving machine with a softened point does nearly the same thing, slower but more controlled than the scaler.

Re: Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

Tom Gall

Keith, the cup burrs will definitely burn.....that's the only way they will work with wood. The bumps are formed by friction...lots of smoke!!! (especially with the larger ones). It also leaves the wood (OD of the cutter) at the original surface, which may have to be removed depending on the type of surface you want.

cup burs for wood

John K Jordan

I haven't tried cup burs so I searched for some info for using them with wood. Most I found are intended for use with metals when making jewelry, rounding ends of wire, rivets, etc. Some are intended to be turned by hand. Some are steel, some carbide.

However, MDI Woodcarvers Supply offers this cup bur:

https://mdiwoodcarvers.com/products/85-cb015-15mm-cup-bur-18-cup-bur

As MDI is well known for catering to wood carvers they might be perfect to ask about how it might work for your application.

JKJ

Thanks for the link JKJ

Keith Newton

I bookmarked it so I can get back to it for some other things I spotted on there, but the only two of those cups were too small for what I was thinking.

Re: Thanks for the link JKJ

Tom Gall

MDI carries cup burrs in many sizes up to 15mm.

https://mdiwoodcarvers.com/t/new-products?page=1

ukibori

GaryG in MD

Mike Hosaluk, among others, uses it.

examples of the use of cupped burrs

GaryG in MD

Michael Kehs uses the cup burrs in his work.

You can see some of the results here: https://michaelkehswoodworks.com/portfolio-items/horns?portfolioCats=7%2C8%2C13%2C14%2C9%2C15%2C10%2C16%2C11%2C17%2C18%2C19%2C20%2C21%2C12

and here (see "Dragon Tea"):

https://michaelkehswoodworks.com/for-sale

Re: Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

George Balock

I have a small set of cup burrs from Rio Grande that do burn quite nicely with a micro motor. I’ll have to checkout the ones from MDI.

Re: Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

John K Jordan

>>>I have a small set of cup burrs from Rio Grande that do burn quite nicely with a micro motor.

Is this with the speed turned down very low? I haven't used one but I'm wondering if the nature of the cup leads to burning since the material removed is trapped in the cup.

JKJ

Re: Thanks Chuck, John, and Steve

George Balock

I use these small cup burrs at a fairly high speed. That is as high as I can and still control what is happening. The action of the burr is burning the wood away. I then go over it with a brass brush to remove the charred material. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of a piece. I’ll see if I can get one today.

Re: Anybody want to share your carving tricks?

Chuck Engstrom

In the local Barnes & Noble yesterday I found an article on Ukibori in the British magazine "Woodturning" currently on sale but I forgot to notice its cover date. Plenty of good information there.