[Woodcarver] Carving "terribly dry and crumbly" wood

[Jeodea at aol.com]

Merrilee,
 
I am not sure that "terribly dry and crumbly" wood is the same a what I  
call "punky" wood but may have the same carving characteristics.
 
I have successfully used a reciprocating gouge (Ryobi ) on punky  
driftwood.  like an electric knife cuts right through angle food cake where  a 
butcher knife just compress's it, the reciprocating gouge goes smoothly  through 
the punky wood. perhaps this will work for you.
 
another thought is from a guy in Florida that saturates construction grade  
pine 2x4s with marine varnish to make it stable, then carves miniatures 1 
to2  inches high from it. It doesn't penetrate real deep so he has to   
constantly re varnish as he cuts away the wood. in his case he is trying to have  
a very strong but flexible wood structure left so it won't break (such as 
flower  stems or peoples legs arms) and marine varnish is flexible compared 
to  other finishes, yet "stiff" enough to carve.. 
 
Jim O'Dea
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