Post #547316 by Lake Surfer on Mon, Aug 9, 2010 12:14 AM

Watango, many thanks for the comps! Gonna work on a bunch of experiments as soon as the summer vending wraps up for the year!
Watch for 'em!

Grand Poobah, thanks for your kind compliments! I have not worked much with Palm... maybe carved 3 tikis in the last 9 years outta Palm. Most pieces I have tried have been too dry and crumbly. If I could get a good piece I'm sure I'd be stoked on it as it looks like you can make pretty quick work out of it.

With splotchy stain, sometimes it happens, more times than not with lighter stains. In Pine, a sappy piece of wood isn't going to take stain well and will reject it since it is already full of sap. Sometimes different layers of wood react differently with the stain. When prepping a log, try to get the surface layer uniform before carving, although when you carve you're going to get different depths anyhow. Depending on the tree's growth, those layers are going to be thicker or thinner then an average year.

A good tip to get grain to pop is going over your finished piece with a blowtorch... just check out old Witco work for that!

I don't stress about grain much anymore, nor do I stress about sanding either. My style has settled on the tool mark look, something that I have strived for for sometime.
Sanding bummed me out. I just carve and enjoy it, and sometimes I get really happy surprises with grain, like a neat pattern around an eye or mouth. All depends on the wood.
I've been carving lot's of Ash lately, and that's got some wonderful grain to it.

I'd say just go with it and have fun. If you strive for perfection in your woodworking, go a little looser on the logs. They are a lot more organic then furniture.

Good luck!

Chris, good to hear he arrived safe! Enjoy, and thanks again! Looking forward to the pictures!