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Frequently
Asked Questions
last updated: 03/17/07 04:12 PM
CLICK on any question to
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us! Woodcarving/Artistic
Questions | Customer
Service/Ordering Questions
| WOODCARVING
/ ARTISTIC QUESTIONS
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| 1. How
did you get started with woodcarving?
Denny's Woods actually began as a construction
company. I was doing stairways, and decks, and
things like that, and a lot of "finish"
(detail) carpentry. A lot of my customers started
asking for carved beams, and stair posts and things like
that. I also got a lot of requests for free
standing carved decorations for decks, too. So, I
carved an owl in a tree for a friend of mine, who put it
in his house, and received lots of compliments! But
the real beginning of DENNYS WOODS, was when we had an
attack of gypsy moths, that completely killed 2 great
oaks in my yard. It was a sad realization that
these huge old trees were 300 years old, and were now
completely dead. In an effort to preserve
something of the trees, I began looking for a wood
carver whose work I had seen locally. After much
searching, I finally tracked him down. His name is
Stanley Mills and he came and carved my trees. He
carved a wonderful bear in one of them, and I remember
thinking "I could do that!"
I really learned a lot from Stanley, and we remain good
friends to this day. The rest as they say, is history. Back to top |
| 2. What
kinds of tools do you use to create your carvings?
I would have to say that 90% of the work is done
with a chainsaw. I also use electric chisels, hand
chisels, dremel tools, die grinders, sanders, and
torches! If you're interested in knowing which
brands I prefer, look for a product commentary and
review page I'll be posting to the website in the near
future!
Back to top
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| 3. Do
you have a favorite brand of chainsaw? Why or why not?
Yes, I prefer Stihl, because they have an
anti-vibration system with rubber motor mounts as
opposed to a steel handle bolted to a steel frame,
found in other chainsaws. I'll be putting up a
page soon, with all my favorite and least favorite
products so look for it! Back to
top |
| 4. Do
you do this as a job or a hobby?
Well, now thanks to the internet, and all of
you I am happy to say it is a full
time job. I carve daily, about 8-10
hours a day. Back to top |
| 5. Where
do you get the wood and trees that you carve?
DENNYS WOODS is environmentally friendly, in
that I have NEVER cut a tree down, just to carve
it. All of the carvings on our site have
been carved from trees that have been brought
down by natural causes.
Back to top |
| 6. What
kinds of wood can be carved? Can any tree be carved?
I would say that most woods can be
carved. But there are some that are less
than desirable for a number of reasons.
The grain of the wood may be unattractive, or
the wood itself may be too soft. On the
other end of the spectrum, hardwoods can be
very difficult to carve, and dull saw blades
quickly, making them more time consuming and
more expensive.
Some examples of hardwoods: oak,
black walnut, maple, cherry
Some examples of softwoods: white
pine, bass Some woods like poplar are
considered a hardwood, but are a bit easier to
carve. Look for a new page coming soon
to the site about the different types of
woods, and how they affect woodcarving! Most
of the carvings on our site are pine, indigenous
to our area in Pennsylvania. We also do
some carvings black walnut (Apollo
& Voyager) and oak (Cigar Store
Indian) and (Bear
Mountain Treasure Chest), which we can
also obtain locally.
Back to top
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| 7. Where
do you get your ideas for what to carve? What's your inspiration?
When I first got started, I carved what I
liked, so that meant a lot of bears!
My daughter says my wife Carol and I are
"bear people"! But after 2
years on the internet, many of our carvings
and design styles have been a direct result
of what YOU, our customers have asked
for. Carvings inspirations that have
come from our customers include: golfers,
the coffee table bear, pelicans, and even a
collection of civil war soldiers done to a
customers exact specifications! So
really, our customers provide an endless
source of inspiration!
Back to top
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| 8. Will my woodcarving
crack? What can I do about it?
Will
my carving crack?
The degree of cracking (or
"checking" as it is called by
carvers) that occurs in a carving
really depends on several things. First it
depends on the amount of moisture in the
log. If the log is freshly cut, it
retains a great deal of the original
moisture of the tree. It may take
years for the wood to dry out. Most
logs dry at about 1 inch per year. So
a fresh cut log that is 18 inches in
diameter may take up to 8 or 9 years to
completely dry. And that is another
question, what is dry? Dry is the
ambient level of humidity in the area in
which you live. If the carving will
reside outside, it will maintain the level
of humidity outdoors that is normal for your
area. If the carving is left outdoors
it will generally dry very slowly, and this
will reduce the checking. If the
carving is brought indoors and set beside
the fireplace, it will give up it's moisture
very quickly and as a result it will crack
more readily. Most kiln dried woods
are brought to humidity levels that are too
dry for outdoor placement, at least in
western PA. The carving will take on
moisture and swell. Remember the cells
of the tree maintain their ability to take
on moisture and give it up for many years
after being cut.
The second major consideration is the type
of wood the carving is cut from. If
the carving is cut from a soft wood, it will
be less dense, have less grain and
structure. This will permit cracks to
form in the wood more readily. Examples
of this would be white pine, red cedar,
Douglas fir etc. The harder woods have
more structure and resist checking to a
greater degree. Woods such as oak,
black walnut, and bass wood are more
resistant to checking.
The third consideration is the relief of
pressure from within the log. In many
instances, cuts made into the carving itself
may reach the pith of the tree. A deep cut
into the pith will relieve the pressure that
is created when the log dries more quickly
on the outside. A cut such as this
into the pith of the log is called a "curf."
As the log dries, the curf may widen,
but it definitely restricts the number of
places the carving will crack. So, as
you can see, this gives you the opportunity
to decide where the carving will crack
instead of having cracks open up through the
eyes of your favorite Indian or the snout of
your grizzly bear.
Can
a crack in the my carving be repaired?
Yes,
most cracks can be repaired. It is a
good idea to wait until the log is dry, or
finished cracking before repairing the
crack. It will open back up again if
it is not dry. In the mean time, a
little stain placed in the crack may help
hide the crack from view until it dries.
An example might be using a little
dark stain to fill in a crack on a black
bears back. This will make the crack
practically invisible, while the carving
finishes drying out a little more.
We all have our own techniques for repairing
cracks. It really depends upon the size and
severity of the cracks. In many instances, I
feel that small surface cracks make the work
look more realistic. But for the larger
cracks, those that occur at just the worst
spot on the carving, these need to be
repaired, whether they are large or small.
The smallest cracks may be repaired
with a little saw dust and wood glue or
filler. Let it dry and re-sand and refinish
the piece. For the larger cracks, I fill the
cracks with wooden wedges. I use the same
wood type as the wood of the carving if
possible. The thinner and more numerous the
wedges the better. Each is separated by a
layer of wood glue. After the wedges have
dried securely, re-carve the area and
refinish as before. Now, this can be
difficult, since the wedges have now changed
some of the dimensions of the original
carving. So, be creative! It will look as
though the work has never cracked.
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|
ORDERING/CUSTOMER
SERVICE Questions (check
out our HOW TO
ORDER PAGE too!) |
| 1. Can
you SHIP my carving to me? What if I'm outside of the USA?
YES, we ship. Most of our
carvings in fact, our shipped, and can be
carved most anywhere, worldwide.
There are some limitations, due to
export/import limitations, so we deal with
out of country orders on an individual
basis.
Within the continental USA we use the
US postal service, FedEx and UPS for most
shipments. We choose a shipping
carrier based on a number of factors,
including but not limited to our
experience with which carriers can best
handle varying sizes/shapes and weights of
different carvings. For extremely
large and oversized, heavy carvings, like
our extremely popular Cigar
Store Indian, we
will ship by FREIGHT. We like Linden
Air Freight for these types of
shipments. We have had basically
good service with Linden as a shipper for
our big heavy bears. If you check out
our Jerimiah's
Journey's page, you'll see all the
locales we've shipped to, and maybe even
get $50 off your order if we've never
shipped to your state/country before! Back
to top |
| 2. How
much does shipping generally cost?
As you can imagine, this can vary,
but we do so much shipping that we do
have general shipping estimate
guidelines.
If the carving is one that we have in
stock at the time you order, we can give
you an exact shipping total pretty
quickly. If however we are carving
you a brand new item, we will need to
finish the piece and weigh it.
Some general shipping quotes to the
continental USA, carved from white pine
are as follows. PLEASE KEEP IN
MIND THAT YOUR EXACT TOTAL MAY VARY, and
THESE ARE ONLY ESTIMATES.
Smaller pieces like flats
and toilet
tissue bears, and carvings under
18" tall, carved from white pine
can generally ship by usps for around
$15 - 20.
Medium size pieces, over 3' run
approximately $25 - $40 for
shipping.
Then, there are the "big
boys": the 5' tall bears, and
other large heavy pieces like our Cigar
Store Indian, Abraham
Lincoln, and our Mailbox
Bear, and similarly sized
items. These pieces must ship AIR
FREIGHT and usually run about $125 -
$140 for the shipping, plus a custom
handling charge which includes a custom
protective shipping carton/container
this is usually about $40 - $80
additional. This additional
handling charge will vary greatly, and
your total may be more or less than this
guideline. This is necessary to
insure your carving will withstand the
rigors of shipping and arrive in PERFECT
condition to your door.
Back to top
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| 3. Can I
visit your studio?
Sure, I have a display store in
Adamsburg, PA located at: BARGAIN
BILLY'S (a subsidiary of Denny's
Woods.) OR, you
can come meet us at any of our
upcoming SHOWS & EVENTS! CHECK
OUT OUR SHOW
SCHEDULE HERE!
Adamsburg Mall
PO Box 385
Adamsburg, PA 15611
Toll Free: 1-877-207-0941
Local: 724-522-1655
Fax: 724-527-0763
Back
to top
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| 4. Can
you carve my husband / wife / dog / or anything else I can think of?
If you can dream it DENNYS WOODS
can carve it. And believe me,
our customers have dreamed up lots
of great ideas! Our Boxer
Dog, for example, was the
beloved pet of one of customers! We
have done carvings from photos, and
you can send us your photos by email
or regular mail. Photos sent
by email should be in JPEG (.jpg)
format.
Most of our carvings are custom
pieces- want one of our Excavating
Bear holding a sign, or want a Donovan
frog with different color eyes? No
problem! Just email us, and
tell us what you want, and we'll
give you an estimate.
By the way, we've never done
anyone's wife (so far) - maybe
you'll be the first???
Back to top
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| 5. Do
you do on-site carvings? Will you come carve my tree or stump?
Yes, we do on-site carvings
usually within about a 50 mile
radius in western
Pennsylvania.. If however
you are farther away, we will
still consider doing the
job, but there will be additional
costs, like transportation and
lodging. Back
to top |
| 6. How
much does a customized carving cost?
That depends on a lot of
things. If you just want
one of our Penguin
Hockey fans to be Jaromir
Jagr, instead of Mario
Lemioux,
then there's no additional
charge. If however you
want a very high level of
customization, there may be
additional charges.
Back to top |
| 7. Do you require
a deposit?
Yes, we require a 50%
deposit before we begin
carving. The balance is
due upon completion, or prior
to shipping. We do not do
COD's.
Back to
top
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| 8. How do I place
an order?
Well, basically, you can
email us, or give us a
call. Check out our HOW
TO ORDER PAGE for more
details. We
are looking into putting a
shopping cart on the
website, so please let us
know if that's a feature
you'd like to see!
Back to
top
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| 9. What
forms of payment do you accept?
We are a visa/mastercard
certified merchant, we
also accept cash, money
orders, paypal and even
layaway (NO CREDIT CHECK)
just ask for 3 easy
installment payments on
any carving! Our HOW
TO ORDER page has more
details on payment
methods, too.
Back
to top
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| 10. Can
I come pick up my finished carving to save on shipping?
Absolutely!
Sometimes, if you're not
too far away, we may
even meet you half way!
Back
to top
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| 11. How
long will it take to receive my finished carving?
This can vary based
on how busy we are,
and what our SHOW
SCHEDULE is.
If you have a special
request, like needing
a Pelican
for a birthday gift,
we will work extremely
hard to insure you
receive your item on
time! We get
especially busy in
summer and around
Christmas time, so
please allow for this
when placing your
order.
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