Creative Woodworks & crafts 2002-01, страница 40

by Ivan Whillock

SUPPLIES

Wood: carving stock of choice—one piece 1" x 9" x 11 Tools: No. 3-6mm, No. 3-16mm, No. 5-12mm, and No. 6-14mm gouges; No. 11-3mm veiner; No. 41-12mm V-tool; background stamping tool (see Step 7 tor instructions on fashioning your own stamping tool) Graphite paper Stylus

Finish of choice

■tep 2. Worktne'wbod gradually To'tne proper depth. It may take several passes of the V-tool to reach the desired depth. By keeping both hands on the V-tool, and using the proper technique, you can easily control the depth of the stop cut. One hand is on the handle and the other is halfway on the handle and on the blade. In a sense, the hands work in opposition. The upper hand supplies the force, while the lower hand provides the control. (For a right-handed cut, the upper hand is the right hand and the lower hand is the left. Most traditional carvers learn to carve both right and left handed so that as the grain changes they can simply switch hands.) If you want to make a shallow cut, lower the angle of the tool; if you want to make a deeper cut, raise the angle.

With the No. 3 sweep tools, remove the background to about half the depth of the wood. Use small tools for the tight areas, but as soon a possible, switch to a larger tool. Larger tools remove more wood in a single pass and reduce the tendency to chip away at the wood.

continued on page 42

INSTRUCTIONS

INTRODUCTION

Carved ribbons, used alone or with other elements such as boughs and flowers, make striking decorations on wood projects. It is easy to draw them to fit any space that needs to be decorated. With overlapping, you can create many interesting visual effects. Here is a sample ribbon pattern that shows the intertwining forms that are typical of such patterns.

When you want to use a ribbon pattern to decorate a project, determine the space you want to decorate and sketch an overlapping pattern to fill the space. To make it simple, first draw a single line and then add outer edges to thicken the line. Experiment with different patterns. If you want to make a '"mirror image" pattern, draw one side and then use tracing paper to make the other, matching, side. You don't need to be a trained artist, and you will have fun figuring out ways to overlap, twist, and curl the ribbon. 40 • Creative Woodworks S. Crafts January 2002

your bench with a hold down system—C clamps or bench dogs. For smaller projects, attach the wood to a piece of peg-board two or three inches larger than your project with shallow screws, then clamp the pegboard to your bench. Whatever system you use, both hands should be free to control the tool. Outline the pattern with the V parting tool.