---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- January 2002 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello everyone! Please forward this newsletter to a woodcarving friend, and anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks! This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it because you requested it from the website, or were sent it by a friend. Subscribe or Unsubscribe easily on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/index.html or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html including zipfile for 2001 newsletters ==================================== 1. Slipstones - January 2002 2. Book News 3. Article: 'Observations From a Carver of Wood and Stone' - Take 1 by Judi Dubrawski 4. Quick Carving Questions 1) Portable Bench for Relief Carving 2) Tools for Beginners 3) Sanding before Carving 4) Relief before Round & What about Knives? 5. Carving Cuts from Maine 2002 - VI __________________________________________ 1. SLIPSTONES - January 2002 __________________________________________ Have you got a nagging woodcarving question? Something you are not clear on or need a little advice? Slipstones is like an invitation to my workshop where I share my experience of over 25 years as a professional woodcarver, and offer advice and support, along with that of other subscribers. So, join me! And get your FREE copy of '101 Master Woodcarving Secrets', exclusive to subscribers. Full details of your interactive woodcarving journal: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Back issues of Slipstones now available without subscribing. THIS MONTH: *** PORTABLE CARVING BENCH Perhaps you've no room in the house or garage for a carving bench. Or perhaps you need to 'Have Bench, Will Travel'? Here is a tour around the innovative bench I designed for demonstration work. Adaptable & Cheap! And, of course, if you don't understand anything, because it's Slipstones, you can simply ask! ***SHARPENING BACKBENTS? Easy when you know how... *** DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE? Yes it WILL work - you just have to know where and when... *** RIFFLERS. An overview of what they are and how they could be useful... *** Carving Notes from Maine VI See section 5 below. *** And much more, including 'Lines of Light' and Carving Tips. Have you downloaded your FREE sample edition of Slipstones? Find it here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html __________________________________________ 2. BOOK NEWS __________________________________________ I've just seen an advance copy of the first part of my updated book: Woodcarving Tools, Materials & Equipment' - and it's looking really good. (Yes, I know, all parents are proud of their baby...). Keep an eye out for it! Part 2 is at the printers but a few more weeks away. __________________________________________ 3. ARTICLE: 'Observations From a Carver of Wood and Stone' - Take 1 by Judi Dubrawski NOTE*** The author very kindly agreed to write down some insights from her carving work - insights that apply to both wood and stone, or really any medium that requires carving. The resulting article is is what appears here. However she also send me a re-worked version the article - and I liked both! They overlap in some areas but offer different takes on the same insights. A double helping of similar flavours... So, 'Take 2' will appear next month. Here is 'Take 1' OBSERVATIONS FROM A CARVER OF WOOD AND STONE - Take 1. by Judi Dubrawski 1. HAVE A GOOD LONG LOOK AT YOUR WORK BEFORE YOU START CARVING EACH MORNING. Sit on your stool, enjoy your cup of coffee (or tea, as it may be), and really look at what needs to be attended to on your piece. Avoid being too critical at the end of a very long day, as you might have a temporary blindness to your work, especially if you have been particularly aggressive in material removal. Spend a few minutes before you dig in figuring out where you are. 2. FAMILIARITY DOES NOT BREED CONTEMPT IN THE WOODWORKING ENDEAVOR. QUITE THE OPPOSITE. Working out a maquette in wax or clay, or just drawing the piece several times, from several vantage points, before you work in wood will grant you a greater affinity for the shape you are trying to make. Therefore you will have a greater success in re-creating the form in wood. 3. REFERENCE POINTS Draw reference points/lines on your work with a felt tip pen (like a "Sharpie"). It will keep your work remarkably cleaner than pencil. Don't think that because you have drawn a reference mark on a piece that mark is cut in stone. You can gently shave off the mark until it is faint or gone using a very shallow slicing motion (like leveling the background in a relief piece) and redraw it. 4. DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET THE WOOD SUGGEST OPTIONS TO YOU. Sometimes the removal of a quantity of wood will reveal how a feature needs to be altered or shifted slightly. 5. WHAT YOU DO TO ONE SIDE, DO TO THE OTHER. This applies primarily to symmetrical work (a face), or pieces with shape repetitions (including lettering and/or mouldings). When you carve one eye, for example, carve the other right away. Your hands are familiar with the shape you just carved and chances are good that you can remember what you just did. 6. REPEATING. Doing a technique a second time (or even better yet, many times) will also give you more confidence and ingrain the skill(s) into your mind. 7. EXPERIMENT WITH THE COARSENESS OF YOUR TOOL MARKS BEFORE YOU HIT THE "FINISH SURFACE". Some pieces thrive on a "looser" surface. Other pieces need tighter detail. As you are honing in on the final surface experiment with various levels of tool mark refinement to see what looks best for your work. Then when you hit that final surface you will be relatively prepared for the kind of surface you will want to achieve. 8. NO TOOL MARK SHOULD BE COARSER THAN THE DETAIL YOU ARE DESCRIBING. If you are working on a delicate detail, you need a delicate surface, minimal tool marks. The grosser the detail, the looser you can be with your marks. Though, overall, you want a harmonious consistency to the tool-marked surface. 9. WHEN MODELING A FORM YOUR TOOL MARKS SHOULD WORK ACROSS THE FORM. Think about the way light lays, or rakes off a form and mimic that with your tools. "Draw" across the form with your tools to describe the form. 10. WHEN YOU ARE STUMPED BY YOUR CARVING, SWEEP YOUR FLOOR. There is nothing like cleaning up your workspace to clear your mind and break the tension that can come from a frustrating piece. And if that fails, hang up your apron, put away your tools, turn the lights off and go to the pub for fish and chips and a lager and lime. Tomorrow will be a new start. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Judy Dubrawski attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and started in the art world as a painter. She moved into textile design after the birth of her two children and started sculpting about 5 years ago. Her materials are stone, wood and cast bronze. Although she does use an occasional power or pneumatic tool, primarily all the work her work is with hand tools - which has been shown nationally, and is included in several private collections. __________________________________________ 4. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS __________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: PORTABLE BENCH FOR RELIEF CARVING? **** "Any ideas for a very portable bench and clamping system that I can use to secure my carvings while I am abroad? I am doing mostly relief work. I have seen one concept of a piece of plywood with a number of peg holes and cams. This looks like you might need new holes or cams for every different project." **** ANSWER **** You'd be better off getting a board (say chipboard or ply) to which you can screw wooden fences with wedges to hold the panel, or wooden dogs etc. It's a cheap and simple, but very effective, method. Clamp the board to a table/bench, packed underneath for height. Screw the waste wood where you want it. Leave the board when you come home! =================================== **** QUESTION 2: TOOLS FOR BEGINNERS? **** "I have recently been relief carving. I have been using the wrong tools, I'm sure. Could you suggest a set of relief carving tools? I would prefer to purchase based on authority rather than just buying to buy." **** ANSWER **** Try here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/toolshop/ts_kts.html for a list of tools that I recommend for beginners. Whether you are carving in the round or relief, they will always be useful and are as good a place to start as any. =================================== **** QUESTION 3: SANDING BEFORE CARVING? **** "I realise that one should NOT carve a wood project which has been sanded as it will invite blunted chisels and knives. However, I am working on a project that requires me to smooth the surface before cutting in and fashioning a design. Is there a solution? Can one, for example sand and then get rid of the grit somehow and then safely carve?" **** ANSWER **** Sometimes it is unavoidable and you just have to resign yourself to honing/stropping more. The amount of damage to your lovely edges depends a lot depends on the size of the grit. Some woods (Lime, say) show cutting edge scratches, 'snail trails', more than others (Oak). Working as much as you can with rasps and files is a good idea, eliminating the need for coarser grits. Make a point of vigorously brushing the wood with a stiff brush and vacuuming the surface before moving onto the carving tools and you should eliminate a lot of the problem. =================================== **** QUESTION 4: RELIEF BEFORE ROUND & WHAT ABOUT KNIVES? **** "Is relief carving a necessary step to carving in the round? Wouldn't it be better to go straight on to round carving, if that's my aim, and not get hung up on the relief carving? And what if I want to use a lot of knives?" **** ANSWER **** The two approaches, relief and round, are complementary and capable of achieving different things, but I don't think it necessary to pass through relief carving to working in the round at all. I'm a great believer in transferable skills - there are no techniques in relief carving that are specific to it, ie. used solely for it and not elsewhere . Rrelief carving is just one application of these skills. At the end of the day the tools are a means to an end, aren't they? After all, no one will see whether you are using this gouge - Taylor or Auriou - or that knife; or powered burr. Similarly, drawing, modelling etc are also a means to the end. What they will see is the end result. So I think the question is whether the tools you choose - whatever tools you become expert in - will enable you to make manifest your vision. _______________________________________ 5. CARVING CUTS FROM MAINE - VI _______________________________________ Started October 01 - Newsletter back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html While teaching at the outstanding Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport, Maine, USA this summer, I asked carving students to write briefly down "3 Things I've Learned about Woodcarving" - important insights: practical, personal and technical - for this newsletter. Thanks very much to all contributors! I've been sharing their discoveries over the last months. I'll be commenting and adding thoughts in this month's Slipstones: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Here, I let the words stand on their own: --------------------------------------- 1. "Make a lot of Shavings! Go for it! The learning is in the doing! I made more shavings on the last day in 2 hours than I did in the previous four." 2. "Practise Seeing! If you can't see it, you don't know what wood to take off or leave. Seeing would help me carve more fluidly." 3. "Pay Attention! To your tools; your design; your intention; your teacher." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's it for this month. I hope you have found this newsletter interesting and useful. Once more: joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ----------------------------------- PS: Here's another one, for the bench: "Rabbit's clever," said Pooh thoughtfully. "Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit's clever." "And he has Brain." "Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit has Brain." There was a long silence. "I suppose," said Pooh, "that that's why he never understands anything." A.A. Milne ========================================== Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2002 Chris@woodcarver.force9.co.uk ----------------------------------- Chris Pye: Woodcarving Newsletter is listed in the EzinesPlus directory of newsletters and ezines. http://ezinesplus.com ----------------------------------- ===========================================