---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ----July 2004 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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/or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html including zipfiles for 2001, 2002 & 2003 newsletters ============================================================ Hello Everyone! CONTENTS: 1. Article Sharpening, Sharpening... by Chris Pye 2. Carving Demonstration, UK Website Bookmarks at the end. List of Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals Teaching __________________________________________ 1. Article: Sharpening, Sharpening... __________________________________________ A plea for help from a reader was too big to make a Quick Carving Question, so it takes pride of place this month... SHARPENING, SHARPENING... "I started carving not long ego, and now I have stopped. I ran into the need of sharpening my tools and I just can't do it. They are too expensive and I don't want to risk it." Let's start at the beginning: the need to sharpen tools. Your carving tools ARE your carving. Between you and the wood is the cutting edge. Think of it as an 'interface' if you like. On one side is you: everything from your body and the way you use your muscles to what you are feeling and how focussed you are; from the lighting to the vice holding your woodcarving - everything. On the other side of the cutting edge is the wood, the history of the tree, the lay of its fibres; and the density and resistance of the cellular fibres. Your aim is not to notice this 'interface', just to be absorbed directly in the act of carving. Sheer joy. And this can happen only if your tools are correctly sharp. Make no mistake: Sharpening your carving tools is as essential to carving as tuning their instruments is to musicians. That's it. If you cannot get your tools sharp, you are not going to get very far in carving. Your options will be limited to sanded work; you'll damage and tear when you should be cutting and coaxing; you'll always be noticing them; you'll not achieve what others can with sharp tools; you'll be frustrated... Ouch! But don't be put off: it's a skill. Sharpening carving tools is a skill. A limited, learnable skill. It's not rocket science and you must do far more complicated and difficult things. You need to understand what you are aiming for and the steps to get there. And remember what you did. Above all, you need to practise. All skills are learned by practise. (Think how you learned to ride a bike.) Let me just puncture another balloon: Carving tools are, relatively, not expensive! - even the very best. (How much is a golf club? A round of drinks?) Carving tools can last several lifetimes and you can make great things happen with just a few. Take just ONE of your gouges and KEEP WORKING AT IT UNTIL IT'S SHARPENED CORRECTLY, even if it's shortened by an inch when you have cracked it: your regular gouge will have at least 4" of tempered metal that you can sharpen away until the tool becomes useless. And gaining the skill of sharpening will be, by comparison, priceless. There are not many types of tool, your aims are simple, and the equipment needs little maintenance. One 'problem' with good carving tools is that if you maintain the edge by stropping and don't carve THAT much, it will be a long time before you go back to your stones. The upshot can be that you'll forget what you were shown or what you did! So - MAKE NOTES as you go along to remind yourself. (I did this, then that.) I can't go into sharpening as such here, or when you need an inside bevel and when not; you'll have to refer to my books. But I'd like to make a few points to help you: I hope you've understood that the cutting edge is extremely important. It has to be keen and if you are leaving work surfaces straight from it, the edge must leave an immaculate facet. But you need to realise that your cutting edge may be so keen that it sings like a gnat when you put your ear to it, but the tool can still 'cut' badly: hard work and difficult to control. How come? The cutting edge is nothing more than the tip of the bevel; it arises because of the tapering of the bevel; when you sharpen, you are only ever working on the bevel. THE BEVEL IS NO MORE THAN A GLORIFIED WEDGE BUT ITS SHAPE IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE KEENNESS OF THE EDGE TO ITS MOST EFFICIENT CUTTING. This wedge will be made up of outer and inner bevels. Unless you have a better plan - and you can have! - this is what you are aiming for in a typical gouge: 1. The OUTER BEVEL should, for most carving timbers, have a bevel of around 15-20° to the surface of wood - this is the cutting angle. PRESENT THE TOOL AT THIS ANGLE TO YOUR BENCHSTONES. 2. Keep the outer bevel FLAT - from heel to edge. 3. The INNER BEVEL should be around 5-10° to the wood - this allows you use the gouge upside down among other things. Thus the gouge will have a combined bevel (wedge) angle of 20-30° 4. CUTTING EDGE: keen; square across; keep the corners. That's it! Not a lot to aim at... How do you tell whether you are getting there? THERE ARE TWO GUIDES WITH WHICH YOU MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS: Look frequently at: 1. The WHITE LINE OF LIGHT reflected from the cutting edge 2. The BEVEL SCRATCHES from different quality and direction of abrasives. I've more or less summed up my books for you in the paragraphs above! WHAT EQUIPMENT do you need to sharpen your tools? I am still using what I started with 30 years ago and, while I also use power honing devices now, for hand sharpening I still haven't improved on: 1. Coarse/Fine Combination Norton India Benchstone. 2. Translucent Arkansas Benchstone. 3. Slipstones: of both types; an assortment of large and small. 4. Bench and Slipstrops. Not a lot and, again, still lasting a lifetime so relatively inexpensive! Make sharpening easy - set up a small area just for the process; even a tray that'll sit on the bench will do. Sharpening can be quite absorbing in its own right; quite meditative, and very satisfying when you here that 'zippp!' I don't want you to see sharpening as some great mystery - which it only is if you don't know what you are doing. Have confidence that sharpening your carving tools is not the big deal you no doubt think it is. Nothing like as challenging as carving itself! So: Get your equipment; set up a sharpening area; take one tool; make notes; don't stop until you have it right. You CAN do it and it's crucial that you do. Then get on with your carving! Now, over to you readers. Agree? Disagree? Any tips or bit of advice to share for a follow up next month? ________________________________________ 2. CARVING DEMONSTRATION __________________________________________ I haven't demonstrated woodcarving in public in the past. Except once as I recall - in the Russian Exhibition Centre in Helsinki. A bit obscure. However, I'll be at: The Festival of Wood 23 - 30 August Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8QS England (01666 880220) http://www.westonbirtarboretum.com I'll only be there one day: Saturday 28th August, in the Auriou Tools tent at the invitation of Mike Hancock of Classic Hand Tools. Come and say hello! ===================================================== That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: One for the bench: "Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs." ~ Vaclav Havel ____________________________________________________________ SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ ----------------- SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MANUALS Over 20,000 copies of these ebooks have been downloaded in the last 15 months. Full list and details: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html * Quick Carving Questions - 1 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq1.html (Sponsored by Tools for Working Wood: http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/) * Quick Carving Questions - 2 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq2.html (Sponsored by Classic Hand Tools: http://www.classichandtools.com/) * The Accomplished V Tool 1 - Free evaluation copy http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html * Learning to Carve - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/learncarving.html * A Guide to Safe Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/safecarving.html * Mistakes and Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/mistakes.html * Fundamentals of Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/fundamentals.html *Slicing, And The Value Of The Inside Bevel With The Chris Pye #2 1/2 Finishing Gouges From Ashley Iles - Free pdf http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slicing.html ----------------- TEACHING * UK (1-TO-1 PERSONAL TUITION) Full details here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/tuition/t_custom.html Single day: £150 3 days: £360 5 days: £495 Lunch included. Local B&Bs in a very beautiful part of England... * USA (CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP, MAINE) http://www.woodschool.org/ Sept 20 - 24 Ornamental carving (Mouldings) Sept 27 - Oct 1 Relief Carving Oct 4 - 9 Carving Tutorial ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2004 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------