Dealing with End Grain

I am a new carver starting out by completing begginer projects from books that I got from Fox Chapel (Cowboy boots, dog figurines, etc.) My question is when carving in the round, sometimes the end grain appears (For example carving the bottom portion of a boot). Are you supposed to use a wood filler or something to make the end grain not appear, or is it acceptable to leave it as part of the finished carving?

Thanks for your feedback.

A question for a question what kind of wood are you using. The reason that I ask is that some wood is coarser than others. The grain will be tighter in some. If I choose a piece of wood to carve from, I try to stay with the sap wood and try to stay clear of the heart of the tree. Wood filler in my estimation shouldn't be used. Also if your carving against the grain, it will damage the wood more. Your cuts should go with the grain wherever possible. Hope this helps a little

Thanks Hugh,
I am using basswood. I am starting to figure out when I am carving with or against the grain. It just seems when the grain runs top to bottom of the figure and when rounding off certain areas, all I get is end-grain and no matter which way I cut, the rough end grain shows thru sometimes.

[oldbearx2]

Whenever you do a carving in the round you are going to have to deal with end grain somewhere on the carving. the best advice I can give is to keep your tools sharp and the wood should not tear. The end grain will absorb more of the finish, and will appear darker if you are using a natural finish, so you may have to adjust it some. If you are painting it usually isn't a problem. Have fun----oldbearx2

Hi Rich,
The best way I've found (other than using sharp tools) to deal with end grain so that you can carve it the same as the rest of the carving: get a little spray bottle and fill it half full of rubbing alchohol and half full of water. Spray this mixture on any endgrain your carving--couple of pumps--let it soak a minute and then carve it. If it dries out and starts tearing, spray it again.

The normal rule of thumb on carving is that all the saw marks (from where you used a bandsaw to cut out the piece of wood) should be carved away. On the bottom of a carving, sometimes I just sand those saw marks away, but you'll have to be careful to keep the wood level if the carving is to stand on its own.

Good luck. If you're new to carving and new to this board, there's a wealth of info on the old postings, too.

Donna T