2019

How to Clean Wood Carving -Burning Projects

Antique Road Show may call it patina … but I call it dirt!

A.K.A.  The Joys of Murphy Oil Soap

In wood crafting – wood carving and wood burning – patina is the natural color change that any wood surface goes through with age because of oxidation.  This darkens the wood because the iron in the wood begins to rust over time.  A clean, fresh piece of white pine will turn into a deep golden-orange color as its patina develops.

This morning I have been taking photos for my next book with Fox Chapel Publishing and needing a backdrop I grabbed one of my very first relief carvings – a photograph box.   But even before I got it to the photography table I knew that carving desperately needed a good cleaning.  What I am posting is the same procedure that I use of my wood burnings.

Because we display our carvings, handle our carvings, and use many of them on a daily bases our artwork does begin to pick up an ugly layer of common household dirt that both dulls  the surface finish and begins to fill in that fine detail carving that you worked so hard to achieve.

This project was carved in butternut, circa 1995, and used in my first book Classic Carving published by Taunton Press.  Over the twenty years of being used as either a jewelry box or photo box, the lid had become quite dingy.

Note here, this is not some precious 200 year old antique … at least not yet!

I use Murphy’s Oil Soap.  Murphy’s is a concentrated wood cleaner that is safe to use around children and pets. Not only can it be used on raw wood but also over most of your polyurethane or acrylic sealers.  Remember to do a small test on the bottom of your project before you work the carving.

  1.  Dust your work well before you begin.  Use condensed air to clean what you can out of the deep details.
  2. Mix about 1 cap of soap with 1 1/2 cups of warm water.
  3. With a kitchen dish washing brush, work one coat of soapy water over the surface of your carving.  Let the soap mix sit on the wood for a few moments so that it can loosen the dirt.
  4. Gently scrub over your carving or burning with the kitchen brush to lift the dirt.
  5. With a large ox-hair brush, work the puddles of dirt out of the crevices and corners.
  6. Use a clean, lint-free cloth to rub away the dirty soap.  You do not need to or want to rinse your work after you have wiped the wood.  The oil in Murphy’s will refreshes your wood surface.
  7. Repeat if necessary.


After my jewelry box thoroughly dried it was ready to be returned to my dresser as my family photo box.  The shine you see on the box edges and carving curves directly comes from Murphy’s Oil Soap.

 

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Wood Carving, Relief Carving, Whittling, Fish Decoy Carving, Wood Spirit Carving

Pyrography, Wood Burning, Gourd Art Burning

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Pyrography Leather Boot Belt Project

Learn in this free, online pyrography project how easy it is to add pyrography burnings to small leather boot belts, leather belts, and leather wrist bands.  Step-by-step instruction and free wood burning patterns.

 

Our leather burning project comes from my pyrography book, Art of Leather Burning. It joins Landscape PyrographyGreat Book of Wood BurningThe Little Book of Wood BurningPyrography Basics,  and Arts and Crafts Pyrography, in my wood burning library. All Available at Amazon.com

Pyrography Leather Boot Belt, Part One Construction

Pyrography Leather Boot Belt, Part Two, Leather Burning

 

Other pyrography leather wrist bands, and boot belts found in Art of Leather Burning.

Adding bead links to your pyrography leather belts is as
easy as working a line of small holes using an awl.  The bead links
can then be threaded to your leather using a jump ring.

 


This set of wrist bands use readily available jewelry findings to create
the end clamps, lobster hooks, and split rings.

 

Wrist bands can be thin, as shown above, or made as a miniature
belt with multiple holes to fit any friend.

 


This boot belt uses an American Indian design.

 

Hope you enjoyed this free, online pyrography leather project.  For more fun please visit:

Leather Burned Jewlery

Leather Purse Pyrography, Greenman

Leather Purse Pyrography, Double-Needle Stitching

Pyrography Leather Journal

Pyrography Leather Bullet Journal

For more boot belt pyrography pattern ideas, pleases visit our pattern website at ArtDesignsStudio.com

 

Wire-wrapped copper jewelry bracelet

Wire Wrapped Copper Jewelry Designs

Please share the fun on FaceBook, Pinterest, and Reddit!  Thank you!!!!

Even a wood carving – pyrography – line art artist needs a hobby.  Something that
is quick, fun, and inexpensive.  something that you can work in the rec room,
and something that will make fantastic easy gifts.

My extra hobby is wire-bent, wire-wrapped copper jewelry!

The Wire-Bent Links Bracelet, shown above, is a fun design created from a selection of the over 300 bent-wire links that you can create featured in Easy & Elegant Beaded Copper Jewelry, published by Fox Chapel in 2011.

As you practice the wide variety of copper wire bent links that you can create you will end up with a wonderful pile of small, bright, shiny links – ready for your next jewelry project.


By creating a simple straight loop beaded link chain, you now have the bracelet base on which you can hang those links, using a jump ring or split ring.   This is one design where the more the better, so let your creativity run wild.

 

 

Supplies include a few simple tools –

flush wire cutters

round nose pliers

nylon grip flat pliers

long nose pliers

18-gauge copper wire

20 – to 24-gauge copper wire

assorted bright, shiny, bling beads

assorted jewelry findings

 

Books by Lora Irish

Lora Irish Copper Jewelry Book

Easy & Elegant Beaded Copper Jewelry

How to Create Beautiful Fashion Accessories from a Few Basic Steps

You can make affordable and stylish copper wire jewelry with a few simple tools, some wire and beads. Learn over 300 different link styles and how to create your own with step-by-step instructions and outstanding instructional photos!

 

Wire Wrapped Copper Jewelry Book

Wire-Wrapped Jewelry Techniques:

Tools and Inspiration for Creating Your Own Fashionable Jewelry

 

This comprehensive guide to wire-wrapping jewelry covers all the techniques beginners need to know!

  • 30 expert wire wrapping techniques step-by-step, including simple loops, cluster wrap, adding beads to wrapping wire, adding a coil element, wrapping sequential layers, and more
  • 8 stylish DIY projects for statement jewelry like necklaces, pendants, hairpins, and earrings
  • Comprehensive guide includes step-by-step instructions, lists of materials and tools needed, and helpful tips and tricks
  • Beginner-friendly for anyone who is new to wire wrapping or just wants to brush up on techniques

 

 

 

 

copper jewelry bent wire links

Free Chip Carving Projects by L S Irish

Let’s take an in-depth look at the chip carving technique by creating several chip carving practice boards, and working a classic needlepoint sampler layout, shown above, that you can use to carve multiple chip carved projects.  The pattern and photo sampler for this  Needlepoint Layout is available in both our  Chip Carving Pattern Package and in the Chip Carving E-Project.

Here is the link list to our Chip Carving Seminar by Lora Irish.

Chip Carving Seminar
Chip Carving Supplies
Chip Carving Graphed Patterns
Chip Carving Hand Positions and Grips
Chip Carving – Triangles and Square Chips
Chip Carving – Straight-Wall Chips
Chip Caved Game and Chess Board
Chip Carving Sampler Pattern Layout
Chip Carving Common Mistakes
Chip Carved Shortbread Cookies

 

We will explore:

free Irish chip carving patternSupplies needed for chip carving
Creating basswood chip carving practice boards
Wood preparations
Knife sharpening
Transferring a chip pattern to your board
Knife angle
Common problems
Positive and negative space
How to cut the different styles of chips
Learn triangles, square, straight-wall, curve-edge, free form, and accent chips
Using chip styles in your patterns
Work a set of chip progressions
How to turn a corner

 

Learn how to prepare your wood board, three methods to transfer your pattern, and how to set up a chip carving practice board.

Please stop by Art Designs Studio, (a.k.a. CarvingPatterns.com) Lora Irish’s wood carving, pyrography, and chip carving pattern website.

Chip Carving Basics E-Project, Everything from this Chip Carving Seminar and more!  Learn how to create a wide variety of chip carving designs using different styles of easy-to-cut chip motifs, by Lora S. Irish.  37 page, PDF file format, easy to print e-project and the full cp015 Chip Carving Pattern package with 110 ready to print chip carving patterns.

On sale through March 31, 2019 at only $7.95

 

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