I find that sometimes wood is almost too dry to carve easily, especially in the winter when the humidity is low. It seems to splinter out and dull the tools faster than wet wood.
The solution that I found is to mix distilled water and rubbing alcohol in a 50/50 proportion and spray it on the wood with a misting spray bottle. I saturate the area that I'm ready to carve and let it soak in for a few seconds. What apparently happens is the water absorbs into the wood and keeps the alcohol from drying out too soon. Then the alcohol makes the tool glide along more smoothly and cuts down on sharpening. Try it and see if you have the same results.
PS: I use distilled water to cut down on mold growing in the bottle. You would think that the alcohol would do this but whatever is in my tap water seems to get nasty after a couple of weeks in the bottle.


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