Post #493029 by Basement Kahuna on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 7:52 AM

Interesting! I had never heard these methods.. only the fire and smoke hardening. Great to get info from these old carvers. These really are lost art forms. True...patience is a virtue when carving anything as we all know. The walnut used here was part of a ridge of old growth that was cut near Franklin North Carolina long ago. This tree was 200-plus years old when cut. I have had it pressed in my stock pile along with a few other pieces for 7 years. Not quite the same process, but not quite the same geography. I am literally tracing around tracings to get the maximum use out of all of it I can..It's beautiful stuff, but Taiaha sized lengths are something I have to pull everything out to find anymore. I heard also that there is a species of Podocarpus that grows in New Zealand that was used for weapons. I would love to get my hands on some of those woods to try them on for size. I could do a lot with them. For now I used the prettiest and cleanest woods I can find around here.

The Cockeyed Mayor Of CarvaKaKai.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2009-11-10 07:55 ]