outside Archives - Woodcarving Illustrated https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/tag/outside/ Everything for the woodcarving enthusiast, from tips and techniques and tool reviews to patterns and instructions for amazing projects that both beginners and advanced woodcarvers will love! Thu, 22 Jun 2023 18:24:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cropped-Woodcarving-Illustrated-Favicon-120x120.png outside Archives - Woodcarving Illustrated https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/tag/outside/ 32 32 Hand-Hewn Wooden Cup https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/hand-hewn-wooden-cup/ Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:29:07 +0000 https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/?p=22317 Rustic cup is traditional, functional, and sensible By Rick Wiebe...

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]]> Rustic cup is traditional, functional, and sensible

By Rick Wiebe

I carved my first wooden cup (called a kuksa in Finland and a kasa in Sweden) 30 years ago on a backpacking trip in the northern Canadian Rockies. The cup, which I made for a friend who had lost a plastic one, was pretty crude, but it was steeped in history. French Canadian canoe men who made their living in the fur trade during the 1600s and 1700s were called “voyageurs.” They carved their own cups from birch burls, and one cup lasted a lifetime for them. There are advantages to wooden cups. Recent scientific studies indicate that wood has antibacterial properties, which makes it more hygienic than plastic. Also, you will have a hard time burning your lips on a wooden mug. If you wish to carve your wooden cup outside, try building a carver’s frame to be able to carve any project in your own backyard!

Getting Started

While a birch burl can be difficult to carve, it would be the most durable and crack-resistant material for a cup. Because burls are hard to find, I carve my cups from regular birch. Softer varieties of maple, as well as alder, willow, or even tulip poplar, will also work. Make sure that the piece you choose is from one side of the center of a log. Do not have any pith (the very center of the tree) in the blank, or the cup will crack. Orient the blank so the bottom of the cup is toward the center of the log. I usually use green wood for this and keep the blank in a plastic bag between carving sessions to keep it from drying out until I finish carving. Then, I keep the cup in a paper bag to allow it to dry slowly. Using this technique, I have never had a cup crack.

Trace the pattern onto the blank and rough out the cup. I roughed out this blank on a band saw, but I have also roughed out several with an axe and bush saw. Then, draw a centerline on the blank. Sketch the inside hollow of the cup. Note that this project can be carved with a pocketknife, but using additional tools (if available) makes it easier.

 

Roughing Out The Shape

Step 1 

Hollow the inside of the cup. You can use a variety of tools to hollow the inside of the cup. While a pocketknife will work, a bent knife is easier. To speed up the hollowing, use a drill with a Forstner bit or use a variety of straight and bent gouges.
Step 2

Shape the outside of the cup. Sketch the shape onto the outside and remove the excess wood with a knife or gouge. I turn the cup over and carve down against a firm solid surface (not your leg).

Refining the Project

Step 3

Refine the cup. Smooth the inside of the rim with a knife to make it comfortable for your lips. Then, smooth and flatten the bottom to make sure the cup doesn’t tip when you set it down.
Step 4

Rough out the handle. Sketch the handle shape onto the blank. Then, rough it out with a knife.
Step 5

Refine the handle. Carve a small groove on the top of the handle for your thumb. Test the grip to make sure it’s comfortable as you hold it, and adjust it as needed.
Step 6

Finish carving the rim. Smooth the underside of the lip, and angle it slightly to create a comfortable surface for your lower lip. Then, round the top to make it comfortable for your top lip.
 Step 7

Add the details. I carved a small groove around the bottom to dress up the cup a bit. I also drilled a hole in the handle for a hanging cord. But you could also let the wood dry thoroughly (as described above), and then make it an ongoing project to decorate the cup on the trail. Just be sure to sign and date it!

 

Finishing the Wooden Cup

I’ve finished several wooden utensils and cups by boiling them in beeswax (outside on a camp stove). None of the objects I have treated this way have ever cracked, even when used with extremely hot fluids. You could also saturate the cup with flax seed oil, mineral oil, or walnut oil, which are all food-grade oils and will not turn rancid like many vegetable oils.
For decorative cups, use your choice of finish.

 

 

MATERIALS

• Birch, 2 1/2″ (64mm) thick: 3 1/2″ x 6″ (8.9cm x 15.2cm)

• Finish, such as beeswax, flax seed oil, mineral oil, or walnut oil

TOOLS

• Band saw or axe and bush saw

• Drill with Forstner bit (optional)

• Knives: carving, hooked

• Gouges (optional): assorted deep and shallow, short bent

• Camp stove (optional)

 

About the Author

Rick Wiebe lives in Westbank, B.C., Canada, with his wife of 45 years. He spends the colder months in the warmer parts of the U.S. He has been carving for 60 years and has spread his enthusiasm to children and adults in classes and demonstrations in many venues. He is the author of Adventures in Fan Carving and Whittling Flutes and Whistles, as well as several magazine articles. 

 

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]]> Building a Carver’s Frame https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/building-a-carvers-frame/ Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:29:05 +0000 https://woodcarvingillustrated.com/?p=22344 Shop-made holding fixture allows you to carve anything outdoors By...

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]]> Shop-made holding fixture allows you to carve anything outdoors

By Ralph Beam

Illustrations by Paul Modlin 

I wanted to carve outside in nice weather but needed a way to secure the blanks in a unit light enough to move from the yard to the garage. I read an article about shop-made holding devices by Roger Schroeder in Woodcarving Illustrated Summer 2006 (Issue 35) that described a carver’s frame made by John and Nancy Burke that fit my needs. The Burkes made their frame from steel and large pieces of wood that made it too heavy to move around. I used the basic concept of the Burke frame to make a smaller one out of lighter construction-grade wood that can be secured to the ground with tent stakes.

This carver’s frame offers several options for securing work for in-the-round or relief carving. It has an added shoulder vise screw device to secure pieces vertically. The screw can also be flipped around to secure pieces to the bench. Use hanger bolts with washers and wing nuts or carver’s screws through the table, or attach a board to the vertical board for an in-the-round piece. This lets you rotate the piece to change your carving angle. Use clamps to hold flat relief-carving blanks to the table. Like any carving bench, you can add holes for bench dogs and clamps to secure work or to hold tools. You can clamp walking sticks or longer pieces of wood directly to the vertical board. After creating your carver’s frame, try carving a rustic wooden cup or a dozen!

Getting Started

Cut the stock to length using the parts list and diagrams as guides. I use a miter saw. Several pieces have angles cut on the ends; use the drawings to make sure you angle the ends properly. Drill the holes marked on the drawings. Then, apply a waterproofing finish to the pieces. This allows you to leave the main structure of the frame outside; I suggest you bring the press screw and any other metal hardware inside.

 

TIP: Screwing in Hanger Bolts

To screw in hanger bolts, tighten two nuts against each other. Use a wrench on the top nut to turn the hanger bolt into the table.

 

Assembling the Frame

Use the assembly drawings as guides to assemble the stand. Drive the table bolts (P) about 3 1/2″ (89mm) into the edge of the press screw mount (H) and clamping tables (I, J) (see Tip). To make it easy to drive the screws at an angle through the table brace (C) into the back table (G), drill pilot holes slightly smaller than the diameter of the screws. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to mount the press screw.

 

 

Using the Frame

Secure the frame to the ground using heavy-duty shepherd-crook-shaped tent stakes. To use the press screw, insert the table screw through the hole of your choice in the upright and lock it in place with the wing nut.  Use the size of the carving to determine where to position the clamping table, and lock it in place with the wing nut. Then, secure the carving with the press screw. Use the other clamping table with a hanger bolt or carving screw to secure an in-the-round carving. Use the back table to secure in-the-round carvings or relief carvings using the press screw mounted on the other side of the upright or with ordinary clamps.

 

MATERIALS

• Construction 2x4s: 2 each, 8′ (2.44m) long

• Construction 2x6s: 2 each, 8′ (2.44m) long

• Construction 2×10: 8′ (2.44m) long

• Shoulder vise screw: 9″ (22.9cm) long (see Special Sources below)

• Hanger bolts, 3/8″ (10mm) dia.: 3 each, 6″ (15.2cm) long

• Wing nuts, 3/8″ (10mm) dia.: 3 each, with 3″ (76mm) wingspan

• Washers, 3/8″ (10mm) inside dia.: 3 each, 1 1/2″ (38mm) outer dia.

• Exterior deck screws: 1 1/2″ (38mm) long, 2 1/2″ (64mm) long, 3″ (76mm) long

• Shepherd-crook-shaped tent stakes: 2 each

TOOLS

• Saws: miter, circular

• Hand drill with bits: 5/16″ (8mm), 3/8″ (10mm), 7/8″ (22mm) dia.

• Level

SPECIAL SOURCES

An 11 1/2″ (29.2cm)-long veneer press clamp (part number D2893) is available for $16.50 from Grizzly Industrial, grizzly.com, and other online retailers.

Hanger bolts and wing nuts are available for $1.93 each (bolts) and $6.88 each (wing nuts) from MSC, MSCDirect.com.

 

About the Author

Ralph Beam is a retired high school earth science teacher who lives in Mishawaka, Ind., with his wife Kay.
He immersed himself in carving after retiring and joined the Council Oaks Woodcarvers Club in South Bend, Ind.
His carving focus is wood spirits.

 

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