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Essential Woodcarvixg Techniques

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Fig 1.17 Ttoo grounders. Very narrow old English one in foreground. The Swiss one behind has too cjuick a tum to be useful except in very confined spaces.

morę controllablc anglc. If a chiscl is to be pushcd entirely by hand it makes sense to shortcn the handle so that its head Fits into the palm and the thumb can reach to prcss on the head whiłc the fingers grip the blade close to the wood.

For lettcr-cutting it can be useful to have a 12mm {Vtin) No. 3 or 4 wirh a rounded (bu)l-nosed) edge for chasing out the insidc surfaccs of incised letrers (see Chapter 15). A bull-nosed No. 8 lcaves a finer mark with its corners when stabbed in (Fig 1.18).

A V tool does not cut well if it has a prong at the front, but ncvcrtheless you can work furthcr into a confined spacc with one. One which has a reverse rake, looking like rwo skcw chisels fastened togcther at the obtuse anglc, slices very efficiently through the wood but does not go far into a confined space {see Fig 1.6, botcorn left). As so often, it is a case of swing? and roundabouts. When you are expcricnced you may even invent tools of your own. Figurę 1.19 idenrifies the shapes of the chisels and their cuts.

Fig 1.18/1 bull-nosed No. 8 gouge with its chip cuts. Notę the deep marks left in the corners by the conuentional No. 8 in the cut aboue.

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Fig 1.19 The stab marks and chip cuts of different chisels identified.

Holding the Work

In somc culcurcs it is common to hołd the carving in the lap or with the feet or with one hand. In the western tradition, however, the work is usually held on a work surface of some kind by a special device, leaving both hands free to control the chisels.

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