Popular Woodworking 2006-10 № 157, страница 43

I can now easily see the importance of his point of view without a second thought. After our interview he decided to hire me, so maybe he did read my tea leaves right. Between then and now I studied with a German wood-carver named Frederick Brun-ner, who trained in the European apprenticeship program.

He and his protege put in my hands refined tools and hand techniques that made the carving tool move through the wood like butter. Later, I worked as an apprentice at the renowned studio of Cascieri and Di Biccari in Boston. This studio had a team of woodcarvers and sculptors creat

ing work sent all over the United States and abroad.

I got the chance to work with wonderful carving tools that had been refined through many creative woodcarvers hands. These tools did nothing but encourage me to keep on going. In addition, I had the opportunity to look through my teachers' eyes during the creative process and watch their pencil designs come to life.

Am I trying to entice you with the romance of woodcarving ? You bet. It's an approachable skill. And with knowledgeable guidance and enthusiasm on your part, you will be able to add personality to your woodworking projects too.

In a series of articles, we are going to consider woodcarving from the tool edge out. The carving tool is the only thing between you and the wood. Think about that for a moment. This is one of the simplest forms of woodworking. It's woodworking unplugged. So here's where we're going to begin climbing the learning curve: with the study of tool design.

Commercial Tools

I am going to stand on a soapbox for a moment and be absolutely honest. The single largest thing that has discouraged the popularity of woodcarving in the amateur and professional woodworking

community has been the poor quality of commercial tools on the market today.

Remember the apprenticeship: This interested young lad walked into the carving studio and the old timer put one of his own gouges in the eager student's hand so that he could feel the beauty of the way it went through the wood. This was encouragement without words. It is the reason why so many professional woodcarvers, out of all other woodworking trades, chase the old tools.

There are a lot of tools on the market today, so like a reality television show, I will address only the best and the worst. German

ESSENTIAL CARVING TOOLS

Note: If fishtail tools are not available, straight gouges may be substituted.

Small #1,000-grit waterstone files

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Popular Woodworking October 2006