---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- November 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. Website news 1) New Gallery - Other Carvers' Work 2. Things I Have Learned About Carving...(2) 3. Article: Finishes 1 - Oil Finish Website Bookmarks at the end. List of Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals Teaching __________________________________________ 1. WEBSITE NEWS! __________________________________________ 1) New Gallery - Other Carvers' Work CAROUSEL HORSE - carved by Erve Moninger I'm very pleased to be able to show you this beautifully carved carousel horse. I saw the head in the making and can tell you there is a lot of hard work in carving the whole beast - and when it carving is done, the immaculate painting awaits... I'm particularly pleased because Erve has included some Green Men based on designs in my books and elsewhere. These and other features make the horse unique and not just a slavish copy. You can see Erve Moninger's Carousel horse here, along with some stage carvings: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/othercarvers/ While you are there you'll see this is the third contribution of a high quality carving along with a series of the carvings in progress and a few notes on how they were made. Have YOU got something you'd like to show and share? Here's your chance to put your work in front of others! You are welcome to contribute in a similar way: * Subject matter is not important: Relief, in the round - figure carving, lettering - whatever. Something special that might inspire other woodcarvers. * Quality of workmanship IS important, however: The work must be traditionally carved - ie. using carving tools, rather than shaping or whittling. * You'll need to have at least SOME stage photos and supply brief notes - to explain what you have done to your visitors! (I can help with this) If you have a piece you think might suit, drop me a line and tell me about it. __________________________________________ 2. THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT WOODCARVING... (2) __________________________________________ 2004 Following on from last month: carving students at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, USA or Rosewood Studio, Ottawa, Canada, were asked to write down: '3 Things I've Learned about Woodcarving'. I've selected a couple more, from different contributors (thanks!), and added brief comments: *** PERSISTENCE PAYS DIVIDENDS' I often hear people tell me that to make such involved carvings a chip at a time I must be a very patient person. But these people are never carvers! I don't think of myself as having a particular level of patience. But I do think I'm very persistent. We might be talking definitions here but 'patience' to me sounds rather passive - waiting calmly. Persistence has an edge of enduring, an unflagging series of efforts. Sometimes I really struggle with a carving: hating its tedious or repetitive nature; or sensing failure; or that I'm going to lose money. I can certainly lose all shreds of patience at these times, and be quite angry and fed up as I carve. Persistence means I won't give up. One part of me might be shouting about chucking in the sponge but another will just take it by the hand and lead it along - and often not very quietly! The end result may be that I do a whole piece of work again, rather than let a carving go out of the workshop with some feature that I'll regret seeing one day. It's pushing for that 'extra mile', that little bit more. I'm not a perfectionist; just pursuing beauty. So, those who think carving 'should' be a quiet, Happy Valley occupation but recognise working through anger or frustration like this, don't beat yourselves! Persistence DOES pay dividends: your work will always be the better for it and you'll be happier carvers in the long run. *** 'SHARPENING IS TEDIOUS AND DIFFICULT, BUT IT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE' The bulk of sharpening time occurs when you commission a woodcarving tool - bring it into service for the first time. After that you'll keep the edge keen for a long time by stropping. When you start, you'll probably have a selection of tools to commission - you are at the bottom end of 2 learning curves: that of sharpening and that of carving. It can be a tedious, frustrating time. But, hey! we're talking persistence again! With practice you will get better and quicker at both carving and sharpening, and you won't have to go through this bulk of sharpening again - you'll probably buy more tools a few at a time. This student has understood that sharpening is an investment. Sharp tools make more than a difference: they make the carving. __________________________________________ 3. ARTICLE: FINISHING WOODCARVINGS by Chris Pye __________________________________________ FINISHING WOODCARVINGS by Chris Pye Part 1 - An Oil Finish I have 2 main and simple ways of finishing my carvings: oil, and wax. Here's how I work an oil finish. You have to use a drying oil: linseed is the most common but there are several others: Danish and Tung oil for example, which have additives that darken the wood and speed the oil's drying. There is no doubt that these oils react with the wood, especially in the presence of light. I use either raw linseed oil (for lighter woods) or Danish oil (for darker). Make sure your surface is well finished, oil will show up every tiny fragment of torn grain. Be sedulous. Change the lighting and have another look! * I apply successive coats, one each day, with stiff brushes. * For the first 2 coats I thin the oil with about a third of pure turpentine. Diluted this way, the oil penetrates further into the wood. * After 6 hours or so I go back to the carving and vigorously brush it to prevent pooling of the oil. * The next 2 coats are full strength. I brush them in and similarly come back some hours later to brush excess oil around. * I look at how the oil is going into the wood. If it soaks in quickly, I keep applying coats until the oil seems to be hanging about on the surface. I then leave it a week before applying a final coat of oil. * To begin with, the colour will look raw, often more orange than I like, but after a while (weeks) the colour matures. I allow my carving to be in the light, but not direct sunlight. * I buff up dry oil to a polish with brushes and cloths. The result is a deep sheen, easily refreshed with the wipe of an oily cloth. * And that's it. You CAN seal oil with shellac (French or button polish) or wax over but I usually find the oil looks good on its own. If your carving will come into contact with food - a bowl for example - you should use an edible oil (olive, walnut) and no turpentine. Next month - a wax finish. _____________________________________ That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: One for the bench: " View all problems as challenges. Look upon negativities that arise as opportunities to learn and to grow. Don't run from them, condemn yourself, or bury your burden in saintly silence. You have a problem? Great. More grist for the mill. Rejoice, dive in, and investigate." ~ Bhante Henepola Gunaratana: 'Mindfulness in Plain English' ____________________________________________________________ SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ ----------------- SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MANUALS Help yourself! 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/) * Quick Carving Questions - 3 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq3.html (Sponsored by Preferred Edge Carving Knives & Supplies: http://www.preferrededge.ca/) * 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) 2005 http://www.woodschool.org/ June 20 - 24 Ornamental carving (Mouldings) June 27 - July1 Relief Carving July 4 - July 8 Carving Tutorial * CANADA (ROSEWOOD STUDIO, ALMONTE, ONTARIO) 2005 http://www.rosewoodstudio.com Sep 12 - Sep 16 Relief Carving I (Beginners) Sep 19 - Sep 23 Relief Carving II (Advanced) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2004 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------