Soaking wood does make it easier to carve. However, as the wood dries, it can potentially crack and even become more brittle overall. To soften wood for carving, the better option is to spray a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water onto the wood as you carve, and use a very sharp knife.
Whittling and woodcarving isn’t always easy–especially for beginners. Sometimes, you have a great idea for a gorgeous carving, only to be discouraged by how difficult the wood can be. In fact, quite a few would-be whittlers call it quits at this point, thinking that it’s just too hard to be fun.
To get around that, people often ask if they can just soak the wood in water for a while. After all, wet wood is softer, so it should be easier to carve, right?
Soaking wood does make it easier to carve. However, as the wood dries, it can potentially crack and even become more brittle overall. To soften wood for carving, the better option is to spray a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water onto the wood as you carve, and use a very sharp knife.
There are a few other downsides to soaking, and a few tips to make wood easier to carve without using any water at all. Let’s get right to it!
Why You Should (or Shouldn’t) Soak Wood Before Carving
If you buy wood from the local lumber yard, craft store, or even Amazon, it’s likely that the wood has been dried to an acceptable moisture level–usually around 10-20% or so. Commercial wood manufacturers often dry wood in a kiln, which is much faster than simply letting it air dry.
Of course, you can walk out into your yard and carve any wood you find. Green wood is often easier to carve [LINKTO “Green Wood vs Dry Wood: Which is Better for Wood Carving?”] due to its moisture content. By the way, living wood’s moisture content is considered to be 100%. As it air dries, simple carvings aren’t likely to have any issues.
However, manufactured wood has been dried using techniques that reduce shrinking and cracking. If you were to soak that wood, again saturating it to 100%, the wood will expand as it absorbs that water. Then, after you carve it, it will begin to dry. Here’s what happens then:
“When wood reaches 25 to 30 percent moisture content, shrinkage begins. Normal wood shrinks negligibly in its length (along the grain) but substantially in its width and thickness, and it will always shrink toward the bark side … Dense woods shrink more than less-dense woods … If the shrinkage isn’t controlled, the wood will form a crack or a check a half- inch wide … Cracks are separations in wood that create visible gaps, usually running lengthwise through the piece of wood. Checks occur when the vessels split apart and are evident in the end grain of the wood. If cracks or checks develop through the surface of a carving, it may ruin the carving.” The Complete Book of Woodcarving by Everett Ellenwood, Fox Chapel Publishing, 2008
This is especially true of basswood, a very common carving wood, since maintaining basswood’s consistency as it dries requires special techniques.
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In short, soaking wood causes it to expand. Then, as it dries, it will shrink again, causing cracks and checks along the wood grain. This could damage your carving and even ruin it entirely.
Plus, it can take a couple of days for the wood to soak thoroughly–even for small pieces. So if you do want to soak a nice 1×1 piece of basswood, you’d have to leave it in water for 24-48 hours.
How to Make Wood Easier to Carve
Alright, so if soaking wood isn’t necessarily the best option for softening it, is there anything that will work? I’m glad you asked!
There’s an old carver’s trick that involves simply filling a small spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture: half water, half isopropyl alcohol. Then, as you carve, simply give the wood a few spritzes and get to work. All you need to do is reapply as necessary.
In theory, you don’t even need the water–just straight alcohol works just as well. However, diluting the alcohol with water makes it a bit cheaper and lessens the strength of the alcohol smell.
Why is this a better option than soaking the wood? Well, there are a couple of reasons.
First, you’re not completely saturating the wood–only the part you’re currently working with. This means that the wood won’t have a chance to really expand and shrink, which is what causes those problematic cracks.
Second, alcohol evaporates extremely fast and doesn’t leave any discoloration in the wood. The quicker the wood dries, the less likely it is to cause issues for the longevity of your carving.
This 50/50 mixture is by far the easiest, fastest, and least damaging way to soften wood for carving. The ratio isn’t important, by the way–but err on the side of having more alcohol than water. As I mentioned earlier, even straight isopropyl alcohol would work fine. You can play with the ratio until it suits you (and your sense of smell) accordingly.
Of course, the desire to soften the wood often comes when people find carving their chosen medium just a bit too difficult. While the water/alcohol method works well, it’s even more important to make sure that you’re choosing both the right wood and the right tools.
Choose the Right Kind of Wood
It’s true that even beginners can carve just about any type of wood with success. However, there’s a good reason many instructional books have you start out with basswood, for example. It’s far easier to learn the basics when you don’t have to worry about fighting the wood.
You can read more about the softest wood for carving in this post. But suffice it to say that if you start with a difficult wood like oak, you’re likely to have a rough time. If that’s the case, start with something like basswood, butternut, or cherry.
Of course, it’s very possible you’re well aware that softer wood exists, but you want to use a certain type of “difficult” wood. That’s completely understandable, and many great wood carvings have been done with those tougher materials. This is where that spray method comes into play.
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And if you do want to use a denser type of wood, besides softening, there’s still one more thing you can do–and it’s by far the most important, no matter what kind of wood you’re using.
Use a Sharp Knife
This one may seem obvious, but if there’s one thing that turns off many would-be wood carvers, it’s having dull tools. The thing with carving tools is that they can certainly seem sharp, and by normal standards, they probably are.
However, when it comes to extended carving or whittling sessions, nothing makes the job easier than having razor-sharp (or “scary sharp,” as some call it) knives.
The best thing you can do is to get a good strip of leather with some stropping compound, and run your knives across it every 20-30 minutes while carving. Many whittlers and carvers only use a leather strop for sharpening their tools, and it works very well.
But if your knives don’t have a great edge or they’ve been damaged, you’ll likely need a sharpening stone of some kind. Many types exist, from water stones to oil stones to ceramic stones. Personally, I like the simplicity of a water stone.
You can do a quick test to see how sharp your knife is by simply placing the blade on your thumbnail at a 45-degree angle. While applying absolutely zero pressure, let the blade slide forward, toward the tip of your thumb, in a “scraping” motion. If it doesn’t slide at all, the knife is sharp. If it does slide, it is dull (by wood carving standards).
In any case, make sure that your knives are adequately sharp, and you’ll find the act of carving much easier, accurate, and enjoyable.
Conclusion
Whether you soak the wood, use the spray method, or simply improve your material/tool selection, all that really matters is that you find a method that works for you. Personally, I’ve found that having sharp tools and a good type of wood is the best method, but if you’re working with a particularly tricky type of wood, the spray method works great.
Just don’t let a difficult project discourage you! Keep building your skill, and it’ll always pay off. Happy carving!
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