Preferred Vcarving Wood

[garymkrieg]

I recently find myself doing, what I consider very fine V carves. ie the Star Wars Calendar in an 11"x11" size. I tried it in oak and it came OK but looking closely at the carve there is a lot tearing. I know that my bit sharpness and my feeds and speeds will affect that but is there a wood type that is better to carve? What is your favorite wood to V carve?

[Bob Reda]

Usually, the harder the wood the better. I like hard maple and cherry. Oak is tough. It is straight grain and has a tendency to chip out when cutting across the grain

Bob

[sharkcutup]

What is your favorite wood to V carve?

Interesting Question! It will also be interesting to see what responses are provided.

I myself have been satisfied with MDF, Premium Pine (No Knots), Maple, Cherry and Red Oak.

It is difficult to find a specific wood type because with each the variables are different. I usually find that with the optimal feed and speed rate tear out can be minimized of course in doing so carving time is sacrificed (Long duration carving).

Sharkcutup

[Adrian]

My favourite material for v-carving isn't a wood it's solid surface material like Corian. If I have to use wood European Beech and Ash work well for me.

[Savannahdan]

I just finished cutting the second of 2 crucifixes I'm making for my granddaughter's choice as a birthday gift for her mother later this month. The first was cut using butternut and it cut fine and luckily I didn't have a bunch of pieces that chipped out. Just on the waste part of the board. At this time I'm disappointed with the finish. I sanded using a 3m radial bristle disc 120grit and then coated it with tung oil. I've even used some of my homemade abrasive paste that usually puts a very nice shine on the wood as well as reducing sanding marks. at this time it has sort of a wooly feel to it. I'll most likely try either shellacking it or a poly finish. The second I cut using some sweet gum that I milled with a Alaskan saw mill quite a few years ago. Love the wood but it does have a tendency to curl/cup. Also, I had a small chip out with the thorn located directly in front. The wood cuts beautifully and takes a great finish. I decided to coat it with some walnut oil, let that cure and figure what's next. I've had very little experience with Corian but am like Adrian and like the way it cuts. I also like that you can paint it to get the paint in the carving and wipe the excess off the surface. I post pictures of the crucifixes after her birthday.

[DET1242]

Really depends on your project. I have been making boxes designed in Inkscape and imported to VCarve Pro. Some of them are Tennessee Cedar, White Oak, Maple, Walnut or Ash. They all have designs in the top and some on the front panel. The softer the wood The slower I go.
My favorite wood is Maple and I use that as my top high setting and the Cedar the Low setting.

[jfederer]

I find Maple to work well. Sometimes I pre-finish with a single coat of Livos Natural Oil, which seems to make for a slightly cleaner cut with less "fuzziness". Not that I get much anyway. I use cheap 30 degree 1/8" bits from Amazon and replace frequently. Brushing with a toothbrush is usually all it takes to clean up the few fuzzies. I've had no significant tear-out issues. This of course is just for small work such as the "CovidCoaster" in the photo. I also used Walnut and Birch for these, and they both worked well also. The Maple is lower left.

I've used Ash and it wasn't a very clean cut.

[dealguy11]

In addition to those already mentioned, redwood cuts beautifully.

[scottp55]

Just a very rough rule of thumb for me,
but the denser and closer pored woods seem always to work out best for me.

If it sinks in water...I'm in Heaven

[martin54]

You have mentioned speed, feed & the sharpnes of the bit but one thing you haven't mentioned that I feel makes a difference to tear out is DOC. If I am doing a Vcarve with fine detail where tear out is likely to be a problem I will often ajust the pass depth using the edit option & reduce the DOC for the bit, downside is that job takes longer to cut as more passes. Would be nice to have the option to chance the DOC for each pass as you can with a profile toolpath

As for which woods carve well, I only use hardwoods & have found that not only does the density matter as Scott has mentioned but also the direction of cut. Some woods seem to cut better with the grain & some across the grain, best to experiment to see what works best