wood spirit?

[cut up]

I've been busier than a one arm man at a paper hanging contest, LOL,
but not as much carving. However, a few weeks ago my bradford pear lost a half dozen limbs, some of which I've saved for walking sticks.
Last weekend I finally had a chance to do some carving while at a campground. It's about 5" tall.
Then someone gave me 5 pecan branches, and I started carving one of them today. End in sight in a couple of days, I hope.
I did come across one problem that I'm not sure how to deal with, or just make it designer firewood. It's holes with either a larvae or worms. I can't tell, other than they make a mess of the wood. Any suggestions?
Sorry for the bad pictures.
Michael

[DanJohnson]

Re: wood spirit?

It looks like you are enjoying yourself. Good luck with the pecan. It is a nice looking wood but the pieces I have used are very hard. Sometimes the holes give the carving character. If you see small piles of sawdust when you come back to the wood after is sits stick it in the freezer a few days to kill the critters.

[markken5889]

Re: wood spirit?

I agree with Dan, the holes will give it more character. Admittedly, some of the work I do I'm going for an antiqued look, where others the holes would totally ruin! Enjoy your new find!

Mark

[cut up]

Re: wood spirit?

Thanks for the comments. My concern is what those little critters are. Looking at the nose, his right nostril has one of those little wood boogers (pun intended) that made a mess when the chisel went through it. Now I'm thinking if this project needs to be tossed in the fire, or clean out the hole and fill it, or leave it alone? The comes the question, what about the other critters, shouldn't they be exterminated, especially before someone carries this carving off?
Thanks again,
Michael

[Guest]

Re: wood spirit?

One of the things I do when I find holes in the wood is to take something (like a small screwdriver)and poke it down the hole and try to figure out where it goes so I can plan the carving accordingly. Usually it's not an issue at all, sometimes it will end up being in the way too much so I grab another piece of wood.
Most of the time I have holes it is from cottonwood bark I bought online. Fortunately, I haven't found a live bug yet, but I do try to clean the holes out as best as I can (screwdriver, pipe cleaner, etc...)

[cut up]

Re: wood spirit?

Thanks for the advice, Eric. I now have this finished, just hope no more bugs come crawling out of it. This morning there were some ants and a couple of beetles (?), but I haven't seen any since I put on the finish. Here's a pic of it.
Michael