Carving soft wood

[Dave K]

In reading the thread about Red Maple of Sugar Maple and which was better. There were several comments about the wood being to soft to carve. I am doing a fowler in walnut. I have seen softer wood, but it sure is not as hard as good maple either. I am/was preparing to carve this stock. I am using a British Style Fowler as a fun that I am patterening it after. Though I see most of the guns in this book, " Flintlock Fowlers" are maple, there are some in cherry as well. There are only 2 guns that I have found that are identified as walnut and they are not carved at all. Is this walnut going to be too soft to carve? Is it going to be a mistake to carve ot? Is that why the 2 guns were not carved or was it because of the skill of the builder or the price that the builder was working with?

[J. Talbert]

You'll have to be the final judge of that.  Some American walnut is definitely hard enough to carve but with every piece being different, I'd base my decisions on what and if to carve on how the piece works up to the point of carving it.
You may decide to design your carving with bigger, bolder elements and stay away from small fine details to prevent the risk of breaking them out in the carving process.  Or maybe more incised and less relief.

Jeff

[Stophel]

Black walnut is kinda flaky, and small bits like to chip out.  Average black walnut can carve OK, but I have a hard time getting it to "show"...just never seems to look crisp or clean, even when it is...

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It will depend on the particular piece of wood, and your ability.  I carved beavertails and a panel around the tang on my Long land Pattern Bess, and the wood was very hard, and took the carving well.  Three of my next rifles are in walnut and cherry, and I intend to carve them all...we'll see what happens.  Don't be afraid of it because it's walnut.
Here's a walnut stock by Jack Haugh.

[Dave K]

Sure is pretty. but also very high releif. Must me kind of needed to lend strength to the carvings and because of the color of walnut, to make it more visible.

[jerrywh]

Every peice of wood is different.   One of the biggest parts of being an expert carver is identifying wood that carves well.  Eastern maple , red maple , english walnut, black walnut, cherry, all carve very well if you have the right piece. What you need is hard and dence wood. Density can usually be identified by the weight. Dence wood is heavy. To carve well it should be so hard that it will not dent with your fingernail. A peice of wood can be hard at one point and too soft 8" away from there.
  For a long time I wondered why Ron Scott , among others,could carve so well.  Half of it is , they start out with better wood.
  Besides they know what they are doing.
 It is entirely possible to do excellent carving and do it the wrong way. It just takes a lot more effort and a lot more time.

[Acer Saccharum]

Like Jerry says, every piece of wood is different. I have a piece I got from John Getz, and I think it's every bit as hard as maple. I have also seen walnut I wouldn't give a fig for.

If you already have your blank, give carving a try on a spot where you will be taking off the wood anyway. Take a few cuts to see how it holds up, cut across the grain with a V tool, and give some gouges a try. See how it files and scrapes. Then you will know ahead of time, eh.

Acer

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Love the Canadian inflection Tom.

[bob in the woods]

I built a smooth bore rifle a while back, which had a walnut stock.Parts of the stock were softer than I like for carving. I was going to use beeswax on it as a finish , so I simply applied the hot wax before I carved, and it really helped .  The lines stayed sharp instead of looking like they had been cut with a dull nail!
More hot wax when done, with hand rubbing/buffing and it turned out pretty good. I was surprised how deep the wax was absorbed into the stock.

[Don Getz]

Dave.......you will have to check out my new Frank-John House gun when at the CLA.   It is stocked in walnut, and the carving is outstanding.   It has that smooth, mellow look and feel to it, so common on those House guns, it will give you
inspiration..............Don

[Dave K]

I will bring the yet uncarved fowler to the CLA event. The gun is virtually ready for some minor wood thinning and then to either carve it or put a finish on it. I am anxious to see how others finished their guns. Get some pointers on my flaws and maybe some ideas how to correct the others Thanks for the responses, so far!