# Carving Non-dried Wood.



## andr3w1sh (Sep 5, 2015)

Howdy All,

I have a camping trip coming up and want to find a good chunk of wood to carve myself a kuksa, and my question is since it won't be kiln-dried wood can I still oil and finish like I normally would?


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

Kuksas have pretty much always been made from green wood. But once it's carved you need to let it dry before you do the finish sanding (or finish carving) and apply your oil (personally I wouldn't oil the inside if you're going to drink out of it). No need to kiln-dry it, just let it air dry. There is some risk of cracking as it dries, since the endgrain part of the kuksa will tend to dry much more quickly than the long grain parts. You can stick it in a paper bag with a bunch of the wood chips you created, with the bag not quite tightly closed. After a couple of weeks you can take it out and stick it somewhere not too warm or breezy and leave it a couple more weeks. Other approaches are possible too - a microwave oven apparently can dry very safely and quickly (I have no persoonal experience with this, but have watched people do it with spoons), and I sometimes treat freshly carved bowls with endgrain sealer wax emulsion, although I have to carve it off once it's dried.


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## andr3w1sh (Sep 5, 2015)

Thanks Jeremy, big help!


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## andr3w1sh (Sep 5, 2015)

Oh! Sorry for the double post, you mentioned not piling the inside. What is your take on food-safe oils like what you would use on a cutting board or wooden bowl?


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

You can use a mineral-oil and wax combination like many do for wooden bowls, or a linseed oil finish inside the kuksa (most people making kuksas seem to finish with pure linseed oil, as far as I can tell). With linseed (or tung) oil anything you drink from it will taste a bit like the oil for quite a long time. I've never tried an oil-wax finish, but I expect it would basically wash out over time, since mineral oil does not harden. Some people will use an epoxy-based finish, arguing that all finishes are food safe once dried (or specifically getting an epoxy that advertises as food safe), which may be true, but personally having carved a cup or bowl using traditional techniques and tools I'm reluctant to smear plastic resin all over it. Plus I wonder about how it might hold up to a hot drink. 
But I've only made a couple Kuksas and a few wooden cups. A certain number of Kuksas will end up cracking no matter what you do if used to drink hot water, unless you manage to find a large burl to make it from like the Sami people apparently originally did.


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## andr3w1sh (Sep 5, 2015)

Thanks again Jeremy. I almost never use any epoxy finishes, I don't like the plasticy coating feel or look. I have a ton of boiled linseed and some other natural oils. Thanks for the info, I'll probably just finish it with oil and deal with the taste imparting.


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## ron1359 (Jan 17, 2020)

Uhhhhh . . . don't use boiled linseed oil; it contains certain metallic drying ingredients.

Raw linseed oil, on the other hand, is food safe.


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## andr3w1sh (Sep 5, 2015)

Thx Ron


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