carving on slabs

[captbuck]

I do a lot of rustic style work in my shop and I want to carve a design on a piece of hickory slab on the side the bark was removed. Of course it is slightly convex and is "bumpy". It is narrower and thinner on one end. Now, I can run the slab throught the planner and flatten an area large enough for the carving but want to leave the edges and ends for that rustic look. Can somone help me with info on how to set this up. Oh, as you have probably already figured out, I am a newbie. I have had my machine for only a couple of weeks. Thanks, Buck

[quarrydesigns]

I did something similar for a couple of christmas presents.. I carved initials into the rough side of a piece of barn wood. Used the jointer to flatten on face and get the thickness as uniform as possible then set the carve up making sure to set enough depth to allow for the the high / low spots. Carved with no problems I'll post a pic as soon as I can get to one..

Quarry Designs

Heres a link to where I posted the project in the gallery

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?17048-First-finished-projects.&p=144025#post144025

[Old Salt]

You need to make a sled to mount your board on .
There a many sled types and tips and tricks have some to copy from.
You can search for sleds and go to tips and tricks.

[AskBud]

I do a lot of rustic style work in my shop and I want to carve a design on a piece of hickory slab on the side the bark was removed. Of course it is slightly convex and is "bumpy". It is narrower and thinner on one end. Now, I can run the slab throught the planner and flatten an area large enough for the carving but want to leave the edges and ends for that rustic look. Can somone help me with info on how to set this up. Oh, as you have probably already figured out, I am a newbie. I have had my machine for only a couple of weeks. Thanks, Buck
As others have said, you could/should use a sled.
In your case, just place shims under your un-even stock so the top surface is level with the rails.
My "Download" link, below, has a lesson on a multi-use sled that may help you with the concept. I use wooden jaws to center and hold my stock in place.
With the stock centered on the sled, it's just a matter of centering your design. You may make the design just the the size of your slab (rectangle), or make it the size of your sled (minus 7").
AskBud
AskBud

[cestout]

If you mounted it in AskBud's sled, you could jog to the correct position and flatten an area and carve there so the ends would not be flattened, just the lettered area. Or even carve a domed area to come close to the original shape and use Centerline and Conform.
Clint