Relief carving with wood bending

blank013 | Posted in John White on January 15, 2007 06:59am

My question involves both relief carving and wood bending. I want to build a curved writting table, top is spalted birch with either birch or maple drawers and sides. I would like to carve leaves/floweer around the perimeter which will be curved. So, should I carve then steam, carve then resaw or something else? I’ve had the plans in my head and on paper far too long, it’s time to get started. If the project fails, I have a fireplace. Comments would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

JohnWW | Jan 18, 2007 12:56am | #1
Steam bending has its risks, especially if you don't have a lot of experience doing it. I would do the steam bending first, then do the carving.

If you do the carving first, you may not get a smooth curve when you try to bend the stock and the steaming and tension on the wood may cause deeply cut areas to split. The bending will create some tension in the outside face of the wood which might affect how it carves, but it probably won't be a problem.

Sawing the sides is less technically demanding, but you will be carving into sloped grain at the outer ends of the curve.

This is an area where a little experimenting will tell you a lot.

John White