Galoots:

I suggested to John Lederer that "If the walnut is so frow you can 
barely carve it, then the completed repair would probably snap off 
the first time someone bumped into it;" and Jim Thompson said:
"I gotta disagree!  If the wood is wetted on the surface with water
and 
then carved, it should stand up to the carving," with further 
recommendations on procedure.

I have no doubt that John's walnut can be successfully carved, 
especially with the benefit of Jim's wise advice. Nor do I doubt that

the completed carving would be everything that could be desired as
a pure work of art, one that suffers no stress of use (except what a 
science fiction book collector once called "eye tracks;" he bought 
two of every issue of "Wierd Tales" as it came out, one to read and 
one to wrap in cellophane so that it wouldn't get eye tracks on it). 
I would add that it would be ill-mannered of me to express views on 
these matters, since I am not a carver and have no personal 
knowledge to draw on.

On the other hand, it seemed to me from John's description that 
the walnut would not hold up if used for something that went through 
physical stress--- say as a component in a chair or a spinning wheel.

I may, of course, be interpreting this wrongly. 

To me it seems that a bedstead is an object that will predictably 
receive bumps, dings, and collisions during its life. Of course, some

parts of the bed will be less vulnerable than others, but I presume 
that this bedstead needs repair because the original carving was 
bumped, dinged, or collided away. I am a pessimist, and seek to 
strengthen my courage against disaster, and this frame of mind was 
expressed in my comment. The real question, though, is how much 
stress the bedstead will receive, and whether it will be more like a 
chair or a sculpture.

And on the most important point even I, for all my lack of carving 
experience, can see that Jim's advice is dead on target:

> Give it a try.  Whaddaya got to lose? If you fail you just start
> over.

Tom Conroy
Berkeley

	
		
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