carving woes

[oldarmy]

Ok,
I am finishing up my cherry stocked .45 Bucks and after building too many plain rifles I have decided to carve behind the cheek piece on this one.
My probelm is the edges are"fuzzy and have tiney little nicks in them"
The carving is still fairly shallow but I am past the point of no return.
Any advise as to how to clean them up and make them sharper?
When I put stain on the stock it is going to stick out like a sore thumb

 

[john12865]

Ok,
I am finishing up my cherry stocked .45 Bucks and after building too many plain rifles I have decided to carve behind the cheek piece on this one.
My probelm is the edges are"fuzzy and have tiney little nicks in them"
The carving is still fairly shallow but I am past the point of no return.
Any advise as to how to clean them up and make them sharper?
When I put stain on the stock it is going to stick out like a sore thumb

Dremel, I won't tell if you won't! :grin:

 

oldarmy, sometimes the fuzzy isn't your carving capabilities. If you have some deer antler laying around you can make some burnishing tools that will smooth out the "fuzzy" spots and put a nice sheen on the carving. Make some different shapes so you can get them into small areas of your carving and sand and polish the deer antler so it will give a nice smooth surface to you stock. You can actually use these like modeling tools to bring your carving in to a finished look. Don't whisker your carving areas. Use these burnishers for best results. Do your sanding and burnishing before you do your carving and keep your tools sharp. :thumbsup: I hope this will be a help to you.

 

[Stophel]

I've been doing the same thing today...cleaning up carving (I'm a very messy carver). The old trick is to use little folded up pieces of sandpaper. My more "period correct" method is using files on the edges of the carving to smooth everything out. Rifflers are very useful. Be careful of scraping the edges with a chisel or scraper.

I have an antler tip burnisher that I rarely use, BUT, it can be an excellent tool for pushing around the edges of relief carving.

 

[Kuckus]

I like to use a set of small rifle files to clean up my carving... They knock off the high spots and then I finish with 400 grit sandpaper :thumbsup: .

 

[oldarmy]

thanks guys
after my drama queen whine, I went back to cleaning up the "fuzzies"
My lovely wife even when to the store and bought me some emery boards to help :thumbsup:
How do the pros make their carvings look so good??

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you are going to use sandpaper, instead of a good set of scrapers, then use a wooden block to support the paper as you approach straight edges, and round wooden dowels to support the paper on curved surfaces. Alwasy come up to the edges, and don't try sanding from the edges downward. Doing so will round the edge and make it uneven. That is how the " experts" keep their lines and work looking picture perfect.

I have to recommend you try using scrapers, and then burnish the surfaces with hard, flat and round burnishing tools. The antler has been used for years for this kind of work. Stainless steel stock, flat and round can provide the same kind of hard finish and last for years. I do believe in whiskering the carved areas, because the whiskers will come out when you stain, or put on the first coat of finish, anyway. You may as well use hot water to lift the wiskers and then scrape and burnish the surfaces flat for staining, filling( you fill the pores with some kind of compound), and finishing.

 

[Harddog]

Oldarmy,

The most probable cause of the fuzzy carving you are experiencing is that your chisels are not sharp enough. Common problem with beginning carvers. Those chisels have to be more than just sharp, they have to be razor sharp.

Randy Hedden

 

[Zonie]

The problem may also be with the wood you are working with.
Some of the soft Maples are difficult to carve because they leave fuzzy edges like your seeing.

Of course, this is kinda late in the game to change out the stock. :grin: