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.

[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.

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.