# help please



## tantrum (Feb 25, 2010)

hi all my name is lee and im wanting to carve a wooden plaque for my fiances horse stable and dont really know where to start 
could anyone advise me on what kind of wood to buy and what to treat it with perhaps even recomend somewhere to get the wood from any advice would be greatly appreciated 
i have looked at a few and like the look of Goncalo Alvez but again any advice would be appreciated 
thanks 
lee


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## Dejure (Sep 2, 2009)

Based on my experience, pretty much any wood is fair game (oak, cedar, pine, mahogany, etc.) Some are easier to work by hand. Some require less attention in the way of protective finishes and so forth. In the end, it's all doable. Weaknesses in durability can be addressed by finish (e.g., repeated applications of penetrating hardening oils or oil mixes). The ease of working the wood can be overcome by use of power equipment.

In then end, customer preferences aside, my main concern would be long term protection. You will hear a lot about great finishes, but need to keep in mind there are no maintenance free ones. Sooner or later, it's going to need attention. Most customers aren't going to maintain the product, so you try to apply a finish that will last. For ones that will maintain their finish, you try to apply a finish that's both durable and easy to maintain.

My preference is to saturate exterior projects with a hardening product, be it Varithane's Plastic Oil or my own mixes, such as tung oil, paint thinner and, in some situations, polyurethane. In the end, I want a big piece of what, essentially, is plastic wood, to which I can add a light coat of hardening oil to from time to time.

If I were going with a surface coat, I wouldn't scrimp. Forty a gallon stuff will not likely hold up, but you can alter it by diluting it (e.g., 5%-10%) with oil. This will reduce its durability to foot traffic, but if people are walking on your plaque, you probably have bigger problems. Though it loses durability, it gains flexibility and can tolerate temperature and humidity shifts better. 

For penetrating finish (something to hold off the elements after the surface coat has compromised, you can start off with a 40% mix. Keep applying as it soaks in and do this over a several hour period. After this, you can drop to around a 25% mix and repeat the process. Again, be patient. Go find something to do between applications and let each coat absorb (on wood six inches thick, I've spread this process out over an entire day). The next day, you can come back with a final coat, or two. If your product is thing (e.g., raw or polymerized tung oil), thin it about 3% or until it will flow about like out of the can varnish.

You could start these processes on the back of the project, to speed saturation.

Here is a flicker web page of some of the sign type projects I've made from oak, cedar and mahogany.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/functional_art


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