Cleaning up Carvings?

[forqnc]

Curious what everyone uses for 'cleaning' up carvings before staining/sealing?

[pkunk]

Curious what everyone uses for 'cleaning' up carvings before staining/sealing?
You might edit your poll to include all of the above, add sanding sealer before , and use of dental picks. I usually use sanding sealer, dental picks, conical sanding sleves in a dremel, and a sanding sponge. Poll won't work for me. :D :D

[HandTurnedMaple]

I use wire brush, sandpaper, and carving chisels (especially around the edges where the cut pixelate).

[Jon Jantz]

I have a detail sander that works very nice as well...

[DustMe]

Here is a trick I learned a few years ago from a fellow decorative decoy carver for removing the fuzz off a carving that was created using rotary power tools.

It utilizes discs made from 3M Scotch-Brite pads on a mandrel in a rotary tool like a Dremel.

I purchase different weight pads at my local home center and use a piece of 1 1/2" black pipe that was sharpened on one end and has a pipe cap on the other to "punch" out the discs.

As you do not apply a lot of pressure I have found that for softer wood the maroon and green pads will remove the fuzz without damaging the carving. Just be careful because the heavier pads can be very aggressive.

These will through some debris so do not forget to wear your safety glasses when using this technique.

[forqnc]

You might edit your poll to include all of the above, add sanding sealer before , and use of dental picks. I usually use sanding sealer, dental picks, conical sanding sleves in a dremel, and a sanding sponge. Poll won't work for me. :D :D

Yeah a poll was probably not the best way to research this question.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions, this is a whole new learning curve for me. Keep the suggestions coming.

[Greybeard]

Similar to Dustme's approach. I've always used kitchen sponge scourers. Like the scotchbrite pads but with about 1" plastic foam backing.
I find the white scourers that we can get over here are the best as the more common green variety leave a visible green discoloration from the small particles of abrasive left in the surface.
I then finish with a dry burnish with a piece of chamois leather, generally with a small amount of wax polish - non silicone variety.

John

[revved_up]

I have an old battery powered toothbrush that has a circular head and a rectangle head and both move simultaneously, thought I might see if that would do anything or just try steel wool or something. Have yet to complete a project and am waiting on parts so may be awhile before I try it.

[Jeff_Birt]

I picked up a starter set of Flexlite carving knives today and spent some time this evening trying them out on one of my scrap carvings from the CW. Wow, these things are sharp! They seem to do a very good job at cleaning up around the edges of letters and in the nooks and crannies where you can't really sand. So, I will add them to my list of tools used to clean up machine carvings.

[HandTurnedMaple]

Jeff, the best part of using carving knives is that you can now say you did the carving. Many new generation "hand carvers" use machines to rough out their carvings, then finish them by hand. SO we just let the machine do a little more work than others. :lol:

[Hanna]

LOL...I like your approach Maple:)

I have only carved a couple of things so far....hopefully this weekend we will carve a real project now that I know which is up and which is down, but there was one I did a week ago that had a lot of texture in it that I wanted to keep, but there was fuzz all through it, so I used my small stiff dish washing gizmo. It is just a small stiff brush, but I was able to run it every which way and basically scrub with it. It removed the fuzz and left the design.

[forqnc]

Here is a trick I learned a few years ago from a fellow decorative decoy carver for removing the fuzz off a carving that was created using rotary power tools.

It utilizes discs made from 3M Scotch-Brite pads on a mandrel in a rotary tool like a Dremel.

I purchase different weight pads at my local home center and use a piece of 1 1/2" black pipe that was sharpened on one end and has a pipe cap on the other to "punch" out the discs.

As you do not apply a lot of pressure I have found that for softer wood the maroon and green pads will remove the fuzz without damaging the carving. Just be careful because the heavier pads can be very aggressive.

These will through some debris so do not forget to wear your safety glasses when using this technique.

Thanks for the Idea. I've been playing with this, but I got the 'Green' pads and they sometimes leave a coloring on the piece, so I'm looking for the white pads. They clean up real nice though and little effort involved. I'm also getting ready to try the steel and brass wire brush attachments for my dremel tool.

[HandTurnedMaple]

When using steel wire be certain that all pieces of steel are removed before applying a water-based stain. Use a rare-earth magnet if necessary. The water in the stain could cause rusting over time, especially if moisture remains trapped under a lacquer or polyurethane.

[bobreda]

I'm going to attempt something new in cleaning up carving, its called a sanding mop and you can attach it to a cordless drill. I got one that is 320 grit and it not suppose to do any changes to the wood, we'll see. If it works it would be the best thing for cleaning carving since sliced bread.I'm going to try and attach a pic.

Bob

[Bill]

Hello bobreda,
Can you tell us how this sanding mop worked out for you? :eek:

[Aaron B]

I'm going to attempt something new in cleaning up carving, its called a sanding mop and you can attach it to a cordless drill. I got one that is 320 grit and it not suppose to do any changes to the wood, we'll see. If it works it would be the best thing for cleaning carving since sliced bread.I'm going to try and attach a pic.

Bob

that does look neat, be sure to let us know how it works. I don't believe I have seen those before, but I haven't looked for them either.

[bobreda]

I haven't tried it out yet, I have all the parts and ready to go, I just need some time to do a carving and try it out. I'm in the process of rejuvinating the shop and am almost done, I should have time after that. Here's a link to the page- http://www.hoodfinishing.com/abrasive_products.htm
A lot of folks carry these but these are the least expensive of the group.

Bob

[Kenm810]

bobreda,
Thanks for the http:/ - if it works out I definitely will put on my wish list

[right_wright@msn.com]

The survey includes Brass brush, sand paper or Steel wool. Another option is nylon brush. This works well for soft or hard woods. We usualy finish with a dreml tool with a "brass wheel". To use sand paper is without fids is very dificult in fine detail. So for what it is worth, try soft to harder nylon brushes.

[RC Woodworks]

When I hand rout my signs and I have only made signs with my CC I use a tourch to burn out the feathers. That's what I call them, now with the CC signs I still need to brush out the rest. I have used a paint brush to a tooth brush. A wire brush can scratch too much.

I have a small torch I bought from my local hardware store. It has a fine point and uses butane and can be refilled. It will burn down the feathers and some times you can just blow them out.

I found by using a 60 or 90 degree bits cut smoother. But of course that depends on the project. I also use a 22 degree bit it is simular to the 1/8 carving bit but much sharper. I found those bits leave more to clean up.

Hope that helped some? Shoot I have been a woodworker and making signs since I was 17.( However 15 years of that I was a cop until I medically retired. So you might think twice!!!!! But now I am full time sign maker and woodworker. I know it works!!!

[dcozort]

I have used sanding mops for sometime on my projects. I would'nt carve any thing if I had to hand sand in the hundreds of crevices carving creates.. these mops sand in minutes what would take hours to do by hand.. I order all mine from klingspor... most are mounted to my jet buffer with two different grits on each side I also keep one on a craftsman drill press...I just sanded 60 ft of countertop trim cut on the normal setting in the carvewright software they are 3/4 in wide with several long type of oak leaves running one after the other. It took about 20 min to remove any sign of milling on all pieces. No detail was removed from the piece at all... sanding was done with 310 grit straight out of the machine.. These are basicly flutter sheets placed on the machine back to back and then criss cross until you run out of paper.. I have a true mop wheel on my buffer for sanding end grain of raised panels.. It is 120 grit you don't want to get this anywhere around a carving unless you want to remove the carving.. It is very aggressive and does its job well for endgrain.. Klingspor said it would sand like 180 when mounted..I would have to differ with that......The flutter sheets are awsom and can be mounted in a number of different tools.... Good luck.. Hopes this helps Dennis

[kyeakel]

Dennis,
Are you using the gold or the red mop to clean your carvings? Do you know what the difference is?

Thanks,

[mtylerfl]

I have used sanding mops for sometime on my projects. I would'nt carve any thing if I had to hand sand in the hundreds of crevices carving creates.. these mops sand in minutes what would take hours to do by hand.. I order all mine from klingspor ...Hopes this helps Dennis

Hello Dennis,

Are there any specific part numbers I should be looking for? I see several options at http://klingspor.com/products/Klgprfla.html and don't know which ones are best for our use.

[pamjmayo]

Hi Dennis, what kind of tool do you need to operate a sanding mop? Is it something a dremmel can do? Sorry to be dumb but I'm just learning.

[Navigator]

Just learned that Fordom also carries these mops in different grits. Their prices were competitive.