Woodcarving is considered to be one of the most ancient arts. In the most ancient times there were masters in this art. Wood carving reached a particularly high development in Kievan Rus, where the facades of all houses were decorated carved elements. Fortunately, woodcarving materials grew everywhere. At that time, skill in this matter reached its peak. It was wood carving that gave Kievan Rus its own unique style.

Some of the secrets of the masters of that time have been lost, while others, on the contrary, have been carefully preserved by masters of many generations. Many of the secrets relate to carving materials. What types of wood are best suited for the job? How is the tree prepared for work? How old does a tree need to be in order for its wood to be of the best quality? What should be the moisture content of the wood?

Softwood and Hardwood

Coniferous wood is most often used as a material for woodcarving. Its advantage is in the resin, which is found in large quantities in wood and makes it resistant to weathering. Coniferous wood can be used at any age.

It is possible to use hardwoods. These are linden over 70 years old, poplar over 50 years old, maple over 90 years old. The wood of alder, mountain ash, ash, oak and other trees is also used. The wood chosen for woodcarving must be good. It should not have oblique layers, there should be no knotting. Only under such conditions, wood on wood will not break and chip.

Preparing wood for work

Materials for woodcarving should be well dried, humidity 15% or less. If you carve on a wet tree, then the product, having dried, will begin to crack and warp. It is more difficult to cut dry wood than wet wood, but products made from it are more durable. Woodworking requires a very sharp, well-sharpened tool.

Distinguish between hard and soft wood. On hard wood, the carving is cleaner even with a less sharp tool. The bars used as materials for carving can be both radial and tangential cut. With a tangential cut, the wood texture is more beautiful. And although in this case the wood resists the woodworker's cutter more strongly, most craftsmen choose the tangential cut.

The beauty of the texture should be taken into account when varnishing wood. It's good when a beautiful texture shines through a layer of varnish. Soft wood species are impregnated with a special composition. Canned. Impregnate most often with anti-rotten compounds.

It is not recommended to clean the workpiece sandpaper. Abrasive grains get into the wood structure. Subsequently, when processing wood, the tool quickly becomes dull. This reduces the quality of work and slows it down. You need to clean the wood in cycles.

Wood products

Ancient products made by wood carvers have long become antiques and have acquired great value. But even now, many wooden products are part of our culture. Wooden spoons, wooden utensils, carved wooden furniture, inlaid wooden frames and mirrors. Wooden souvenirs in the Russian style are very popular.

Wooden boxes and wooden toys are highly valued. Rough materials for wood carving at the hands of the master turn into art panels and interior sculptures. In many villages of Russia, houses in villages are decorated with carved ornaments.

Other materials

In the manufacture of wood products, exotic materials for carving are also used. AT recent times American cherry products became popular. This wood has an unusual texture of cherry color. American cherry wood has good performance. It is soft, dries quickly, lends itself well to the tool.

Following the example of the American cherry, other stone fruits are increasingly being used: apricot, peach, plum, bird cherry, almond.

Wood carving is a special kind artistic processing wood, which allows you to turn an unremarkable workpiece into a magnificent picture or the finest wooden lace.

This folk craft appeared in Russia a very long time ago. Our ancestors honored trees and used wood not only as construction material and firewood for space heating, but also as a raw material for the manufacture of household utensils, the creation of decorations for the interior decoration of houses, their exterior decoration.

Before the advent of Christianity in Russia, houses were decorated with wooden carvings with pagan scenes. Often one could meet the symbol of the sun, as well as images of animals and birds. Later, the subjects became more diverse, and the accumulated experience made it possible to create more complex and rich carved decorations.

Today, as many as five types of woodcarving are conditionally distinguished:

• through thread, which includes work performed by sawing and slotted methods, including openwork carving having a relief ornament;
• blind thread, including all varieties of flat and embossed threads;
• sculptural carving;
• house carving, which is a combination of all the above types of carving;
• and even chainsaw carving, most often sculpted, which is performed exclusively by this modern tool.

Whatever type of woodcarving the master does, initially he always carefully selects and prepares wood for work. Only competently done preliminary stages - harvesting and drying wood - allow you to get the desired results and eliminate problems during work.

Wood species suitable for carving

Experienced craftsmen know that for carvings that will be outdoors, the best way coniferous wood is suitable.

The fact is that it contains a resin that naturally protects the product from decay. That is why spruce, pine, fir, larch, pseudo-hemlock, yew and cedar wood is used for cornices, window and door frames and exterior sculptures.

Of course, despite the natural protection, carved jewelry from these rocks also needs to be impregnated with drying oil or painted, this will greatly extend their service life.

To decorate household utensils, create furniture, frames, paintings, souvenirs and crafts, it is better to use hardwood with a fine-grained structure. Linden, birch, oak and fruit varieties are ideal options. The only condition that makes the wood of these trees unsuitable for use is the presence a large number knots. Such material is not suitable for carving.

Wood preparation

the beginning preparatory phase is the felling of a tree, but you need to immediately tune in to the fact that a lot of time must pass before the planned decoration is obtained from the felled tree. The longest process of the material preparation stage is wood drying. Depends on the quality of drying final result of the whole work: the more carefully it is carried out, the easier it will be for the master to work with the workpiece and the more beautiful and durable the product will be.

It is best to harvest wood at the end of autumn or in winter, during this period the tree has the least amount of moisture, which means that the material will dry faster. In the old days, the attitude towards wood was especially reverent and careful, so the preparation of the material was always approached carefully and without haste. Preference was most often given to natural drying, the technology of which has not changed to this day.


For natural drying, the logs are stacked and covered with a canopy. They remain in this position for at least a year. Material intended specifically for carving is cut into chocks up to 1.5 meters and folded in a dry room where there are no drafts. Most often, a well-ventilated utility room is used for such needs. In it, blanks are stored for a year and a half, during which time they, as a rule, have time to dry to the required moisture content of 8-10%.

Nothing prevents modern craftsmen from drying wood in a natural way, except for impatience and the desire to get to work faster. Such aspirations have contributed to the development of accelerated drying methods such as:

• digestion of blanks;
• intensive dry drying.

What is better to boil or dry wood?

Craftsmen boil the workpiece in boiling water for several hours before drying. In this case, the dissolution and removal of intracellular moisture occurs, after which the wood dries faster. Practical experiments have shown that boiling in salt water or subsequent rubbing of the workpiece with coarse salt accelerates the subsequent drying even more. Depending on the type of wood, the blank can dry out in a few days to two weeks.

The digestion method is also good because it allows you to experiment with the color of the wood. For example, adding alder bark to water allows you to give the workpiece a coffee-brown color.

The method is not bad, but has a significant drawback - it is not suitable for large volumes of material. If the master wants to decorate the whole house, boil the wood for such large-scale work it won't be easy.

Small blanks can also be dried on a simple central heating battery, and in the summer - in the sun, after wrapping them in newsprint and polyethylene. You need to change the paper every few days until it stops absorbing moisture, and condensation does not form on the polyethylene.

But if we are talking about a large number of blanks, it is best to use modern infrared cassettes for drying them. They are easy to use, do not require constant supervision of the master and are economical in terms of electrical energy consumption.

Infrared dryers can be used both indoors and outdoors. And in terms of drying time, they are in the lead among all the above methods.

If you are interested in the question of which wood is best for carving, then the answer is, in principle, simple - it is soft hardwoods such as alder, linden or aspen. Their wood is not only soft, it is also dense, fairly uniform, which is important, and easy to cut. The quality of products and the speed of work on them, of course, depends on what kind of wood is used for carving. If you take the mentioned hardwoods, you can make the finest filigree cuts, while not fearing that the wood will chip along the fibers. Another plus is that the already dried hardwood tree becomes stronger, harder and does not even warp.

Those who wish to understand, nevertheless, it will be interesting to read further and in more detail.

The most common and frequently used material is linden. Anything can be made from it. These are three-dimensional sculptures, and toys, and interior details, and much more. It has long been so customary that linden is a pleasant raw material for turners and carvers. The turner with the help of a machine makes a vessel or something similar, and the wood carver applies a pattern to it with the help of carving. More or less like this. And this is a very common practice. Of course, the quality and appearance of products will depend on the work of the master who precedes it.

Other materials, or after all, which wood is better for carving?

Alder has peculiar properties. Firstly, it has a special, not similar to other breeds, texture. It has a beautiful reddish hue. It matters to carvers. But aspen wood, on the contrary, is very light, almost white color. And interestingly, products made from it retain this shade, reminiscent of ivory, for a very long time. In addition, aspen has a number of other advantages. It is easy to work with and resists rot remarkably well. So, if you are convinced of the quality of certain products, ask what kind of wood their authors use for carving. And it is quite possible that it will be an aspen. Previously, log cabins for wells, all utensils and even shingles for the roof were often made from it. And all this thanks to useful properties.

If we talk about birch, then we must give it its due in terms of density and strength. But because of this, it is more difficult and longer to work with her. However, there are also huge advantages of this material. Birch is created for fine and elegant carving, because when it is cut, there are practically no splinters.

If we talk about which wood is best for carving, if the work is very detailed and miniature, then this is best suited for pear, Apple tree, boxwood and maple. Their density and hardness is close to the famous ivory. As for conifers, they lose a little here, because, due to many of their properties, they are only suitable for carving with large elements.

And the type, and style, and appearance of products will always depend on whether. When you decide to do this interesting and useful business, consult with professionals.

All photos from the article

Wood carving is a fairly complex type. decorative arts. Moreover, the final result depends not only on the skills of the master, but also on many other factors, in particular, the quality of the wood plays an important role. Below we will look at what kind of wood professional carvers use for woodcarving.

Choice of wood

Not every wood is suitable for cutting.

Therefore, its choice is a crucial stage, on which such moments depend, as:

• Ease of workpiece processing;
• Ability to perform complex patterns;
• Durability of the finished product;
• Product appearance.

It should be noted that there is no clear instruction on the choice of material, since experienced carvers use different wood for different purposes. However, there are some general rules that must be followed. Next, we will get acquainted with them in detail.

Breed

So, in order to choose the right material for wood carving, of course, first of all, you need to pay attention to the type of wood.

Since ancient times, hardwoods have most often been used for carving, such as:

• Linden - is most popular with carvers, as it lends itself perfectly to processing with a cutter. Moreover, due to the fine-fiber structure, which is characteristic only of this breed, it allows you to perform complex and delicate drawings. In addition, carvers are also attracted by the appearance of the linden, namely, its even white color.

The choice of wood species for carving depends on the type and shape of the planned product. Wood should have a uniform structure and a pronounced structure. Hardwoods are widely used for carving: aspen, pear, maple, oak, linden, willow, mountain ash, birch, chestnut, walnut, etc. Not all conifers are suitable for carving.

When choosing a material, you need to pay attention to:

• growth rings - their parallelism indicates that the tree has a rectilinear internal structure;
• wide layers of wood indicate looseness and fragility of the workpiece;

Single-growing trees are not suitable for work, as they are most susceptible to wind loads, as a result of which the fibers are twisted and have different densities. During the drying process, such wood cracks and warps strongly.

When choosing a workpiece, the moisture content of the wood is taken into account. Not suitable for carving freshly sawn wood, which warps in the process of drying. And overdried wood absorbs atmospheric moisture, causing swelling and cracking. Underdrying or overdrying is strongly manifested on dense and hard rocks, to a lesser extent on soft ones.

When designating the degree of moisture content of a tree, the following terms are used:

• wet(soaked in water)
• freshly cut(conifers have more than 82% moisture, softwoods - 60-90%, hardwoods - 35-75%)
• dry(stored outdoors, humidity 15-20%)
• room(stored indoors, humidity 8-12%)
• absolutely dry humidity approaches 0%.

For drying, two methods are used: open and chamber. With open drying, the wood is outdoors under a canopy or in a barn, this method requires a lot of time. With the chamber method, the wood is dried in special chambers of various sizes with a special temperature regime. This method dries the wood faster, but it is less affordable and more expensive.

When choosing wood, you need to consider the place of operation. If the product will be on the street, then it should be dried in street conditions. Material for indoor products should be dried in room conditions.

An experienced craftsman can determine by appearance the degree of readiness and quality of the material. The absence of radial and longitudinal cracks indicates good quality and proper drying of wood. Cracks indicate the presence of voids, hidden knots and poor-quality drying.

In carvings, it is not recommended to combine different species and sections of wood. Hard, heartwood shrinks to a lesser extent than sapwood, and there is almost no warping at the board from the center. When choosing wood, it is necessary to avoid such defects as the slope of the fibers, knots, cracks, rot and wormholes.

Advantages and disadvantages of specific wood species.

Linden, as a representative of soft hardwood, is best suited for a novice craftsman. Linden has a homogeneous, soft and viscous structure, which makes it easy to cut along and across the fibers. Linden is little susceptible to cracking and warping, however, it has a low hardness, which limits the scope. Small items are made from linden: dishes, caskets, carved toys, wall decorations, shelves, etc.

Birch has a hard, elastic and white wood of uniform density. Compared to linden, birch is less susceptible to processing and warping. Small items, furniture parts, decorative overlays and elements are made from this breed.

Red and black alder, also homogeneous and viscous material, lends itself well to processing and slightly warps.

Aspen- less common, but also well suited for carving. It has a silver luminous color and has all the qualities suitable for carving.

Poplar has properties similar to linden, but is easily chipped. This wood is suitable only for large-relief carving.

Oak is the traditional carving material. It has a dense, uniform and durable structure. Hard and brittle wood is difficult to process and is suitable for work only by experienced craftsmen. Large decorative elements and overlays are made from oak. It polishes and paints well.

Nut well suited for fine carving. It cuts easily in all directions and does not chip. Furniture and highly artistic carvings are made from walnut.

Pear It has high hardness and is perfectly processed and does not warp. It cuts easily and cleanly, and paints well. Souvenirs with embossed carvings and carved furniture details are made from pears.

Maple it is cut cleanly and without chips, it has a solid structure, it is perfectly painted. Maple is used in turning and mosaic work.

The material prepared for carving is cut and finished on thickness gauges or jointers. The cut of the board has a great influence. With a radial cut, the workpiece warps less, but the thread is not as expressive. For small parts, it is better to use a tangential cut.