Lora S Irish teaches, in this free wood carving project, how to burnish your carving wood to give a smooth, soft sheen finish.
The body shape is so streamlined, that it seemed any painting steps would take away from its simple form. So I decided to use as simple a finish as possible – burnishing – to compliment that simple shape.
Use a small piece of wood, in this case a wooden spoon, to rub over the entire surface of your carving. Use a medium pressure. You should feel the push against the wood but your fingers and hand should not feel cramped. Rub over everything several times until your Whittle Fish has an even, smooth-feeling, soft sheen.
There is a set of clay sculpturing wooden tools that work wonderfully for burnishing and are made to get into the sharp angles and deep carved areas of your project.
Burnishing works best when the burnisher is one or two steps harder than the carving wood. So for our practice pieces in basswood the poplar wooden spoon works very well. If I were burnishing walnut I would use a piece of maple. This process is wonderful for any carving that will be heavily handled, it just feels great in your hand.
Shaving with a bench knife creates very tiny, small planes across the surface of the wood, making sanding unnecessary.
