Creative Woodworks & crafts 1998-03, страница 38

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The tulip is a traditional decorative motif that works well in a rectangle, oval, or as a repeated pattern. The carving is straightforward so the pattern can be easily duplicated for repeat applications.

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1. Trace the pattern onto the carving

stock with graphite paper.

Step 2, Make stop cuts around the curved

lines with the parting tool.

Step 3. Use the chisel to make stop cuts

along the straight lines of the stem, as shown

in Fig. 1.

Step 4. With the No. 3 straight gouges, remove the background. The veiner is useful in the narrow areas between the leaves and the stem. Use the narrow tools only where they will fit, but as soon as you have space for a wider tool, use it. This will make your cuts broad and smooth, and will keep you from "picking" at your carving with small, fussy strokes. The background should be taken down about 3/8".

Step 5. Make the rounded stop cuts at the base of the petals and at the base of the calyx with the No. 7-25mm gouge. Carve some of the wood away from the calyx to

place it lower than the petals, and carve away some wood from the stem to make it lower than the calyx (see Fig. 2). Step 6. The No. 9-6mm gouge will help you make a clean, rounded plunge cut at the junction of the two side petals. Remove a small amount of wood from the bottom of the center petal so that it appears to tuck underneath the side petals, as shown in Fig. 3. Step 7. Use the No. 9-6mm gouge to make a concave cut below the turned-over upper edge of each of the petals and the two leaves.

Step 8. Remove a layer of wood below those concave cuts. That will create five similarly raised portions—one on each leaf and on each petal (see Fig. 4).

Step 9. Use the back-bent gouge to round the stem and to place a rounded edge on the bottom of the petals and the calyx, as shown in Fig. 5. That done, round the upper edge of each of the five raised portions on the petals and leaves. Step 10. Carve a slight bevel on the outside edge of each leaf, widening the bevel as it moves down the leaf. Cut a bevel into the lower edge of the stem. With the veiner, make a concave cut up the center of each leaf (see Fig. 6).

Step 11. Use the background punch to texture the background and set off the figure, as shown in Fig. 7. Step 12. The back-bcnt gouge has a reverse bend with the bevel on the top of the blade rather than on the bottom (see Fig. 8). That enables the carver to easily make convex cuts for rounding stems and other forms. A standard tool can be used upside-down to accomplish the same task, but the shape brings the hands awkwardly close to the carving. The bent shape of the back-bent tool keeps the hands off of the wood.

This pattern can be enlarged or reduced to fit any number of decorative applications. The cuts are kept bold so that the carving remains visible from long distances and in a variety of light conditions.

Ivan Whillock's carving studio is located in Faribault, Minnesota. Visitors are welcome. If you have any questions or comments, write Ivan Whillock Studio, 122 NE 1st Ave., Faribault, MN 55021. You can request a tool catalog at the same address, y

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