---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- April 2005 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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, 2004 newsletters ============================================================ Hello Everyone! Please forward this newsletter to a woodcarving friend, and anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks! CONTENTS: 1. Quick Carving Questions 1) Firmer Chisels? 2) Nostrils? 3) Miniature Tools? 4) Carving Small? 5) Storing Tools? 6) Routers & Tulips? 7) Carving Tools Set? 2. Article Follow up ('The Secret Of Success' Mar 05) 3. 'Gargoyle News' Website Bookmarks at the end. List of Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals Teaching Dates ________________________________________ 1. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS ________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: FIRMER CHISELS? **** "I've read in various places about a "firmer" chisel. To what sort of chisel is this referring?" **** ANSWER **** 'Firmer' is the term carvers give to their chisels, which have bevels ON BOTH SIDES and may taper towards the handle - this is THE carver's chisel. The important thing is that the firmer is completely plain: it doesn't have one 'face' with the edges bevelled off such as used for making dovetails - the commonest form of carpentry chisel. Each side of a carver's chisel is the same as the other - it's the bevel which makes it easier for us to work, say, on incise letters: by rocking the cut on the heel of the bevel, we can adjust the angle cuts on either side slightly to meet at the root. (And, shame on you, it's in my book!) =================================== **** QUESTION 2: NOSTRILS **** "How do I gouge out the insides of the nostrils?" **** ANSWER **** The 'inside' of the nostrils will be the very last thing after you have shaped the nose wings, philtrum etc. The rule is: space arises out of the form. So work forms into the space; the space will appear - rather than gouging a hole and hoping you've left enough form (wood) around. It's the same with that little triangle where the crease to each side of the mouth meets the wings of the nostrils. The face should emerge by ever more focussing, rather than heavily removing wood. =================================== **** QUESTION 3: MINIATURE TOOLS? **** "I build miniature furniture and I would like to carve tiny flowers on the back splats of chairs. I know what I want to carve but have no idea about tools for such tiny work and the Internet is just a sea of information with nothing addressing the subject. Can you give me any ideas miniature tools?" **** ANSWER **** There ARE small tools out there. Both Kirschen and 'The Dockyard Company' make some for example. In my 'Woodcarving Tools etc' book I give details on how to make your own tools. This is not difficult with a simpler gas torch and a set of cheap miniature screwdrivers. Have a go! Let me also suggest you start with a practice piece - separate from your chair! - so you can test and try everything out. =================================== **** QUESTION 4: CARVING SMALL? **** "I would like to start adding people to my relief carvings but I am nervous about being able to depict them adequately at the 0.75 to 1.5 inches I require them. Do you have any tips for this?" **** ANSWER **** Carving small like this means thinking simple. There is little wood to remove so you have to make each cut tell. As an exercise: cut out a dozen practice pieces of the sort of figure that might appear in your relief carvings, and just get carving. Give yourself an hour before moving to the next. Do lots and lots before getting to the workpiece you really want to make. What you are going for is skill. So like any skill you have to do lots of it and work through frustration and mistakes. Fortunately carving small like this means you can afford to do lots of practice, and quickly - going for that simplicity. It costs hardly anything and can go on the fire. Don't be nervous - it's just a piece of wood. =================================== **** QUESTION 5: STORING TOOLS **** "I've collected about 100 carving gouges etc. Tool rolls are awkward and don't display well and I'm trying to find a good tool storage cabinet or chest. What would you recommend??" **** ANSWER **** Tool rolls are great for going places but can be a pain (literally, in the fingers!) for day-to-day workshop use. I use a metal, office drawer cabinet: a stack of about 12 drawers, each A4 size with handles and label slots on the front. I lined the base of each drawer and the front inside walls with cork tiles. Perfect! =================================== **** QUESTION 6: ROUTERS & TULIPS **** "I'm a new carver. I bought your book Lettercarving in Wood and began carving the Garden sign with the art nouveau lettering but went too deep. Do you use any special bit on your router to ground out the depth? I am very pleased with the piece but overall with one exception, I cannot seem to make my tulips look real. Any thoughts for me?" **** ANSWER **** Well done! I use a standard double fluted bit on a plunging router with a depth stop. It's never easy getting something right the first time. Separate out the tulip design onto a piece of practice wood and work on them until you get them right. I always practice any elements that my cause me trouble. =================================== **** QUESTION 7: CARVING TOOLS SET? **** "I want to buy a set of Ashley Iles tools and every site I find is out of stock except for the 'York' set. I'd like a more complete set, maybe 20 to 30. What you'd recommend?" **** ANSWER **** I'm afraid it doesn't work like that! You must by your tools AS YOU NEED THEM. There isn't a 'set' as such, and what YOU'll need will depend on what YOU want to do, which will be different from other carvers. Start with just a few to begin with. When you reach the limit of what you can do with them, work out what you need to continue and search the catalogues. If you don't work like this you are liable to end up with unused tools. ________________________________________________ 2. ARTICLE (March 05) FOLLOW UP: ________________________________________________ The article I wrote last month about persistence and hanging in: 'The Secret Of Success. Well, Mostly...' seemed to touch a nerve with many people. Here are just 2 of the comments I received - with thanks: *** Marian Schwartz: My cousin sent me your newsletter with the Karate illustration at the end of it. I am not a woodcarver, but have worked in various media for my own enjoyment and the annoyance of others. I am a 4th degree black belt in Taekwondo, having begun at the advanced age of 39, having spent the previous 19 years doing nothing but driving the kids about and for exercise. I experienced the same thing you described, as beginning at the lowest rung, amidst younger, infinitely more talented folks than myself. Just by showing up, as you say, staying with it, living with it, I have emerged, while others have fallen away from lack of commitment or interest. By working through the discouraging times, the painful times, the difficult times, as well as the moments of success and jubilation, I am where I am, and by no means done. The philosophy of our Kwan is Constant and Never Ending Improvement. I continue to work on my next rank, but take ever more joy in seeing the progress of the youngsters who do stay committed. Anyway, just wanted to share with you that your illustration struck a resonating chord in the old fiddle. *** Barbara Cherington: Thanks so much for the Black Belt story in the recent newsletter... it encouraged me to get off my duff, upstairs to my workroom and back to a relief carving of a Bodhisattva's face that I'd abandoned, half-finished, out of fear of screwing it up. I decided to make a clay model so I could figure out about the nose, lips, and eyelids, and then I just plunged in and did it! It all worked out quite well, given that it was supposed to be my practice piece. _______________________________________________ 3. 'GARGOYLE NEWS': ________________________________________________ Walter S. Arnold runs an attractive website on stonecarving and definitely worth us woodcarvers having a look at. He also writes a newsletter 'The Gargoyle News'. You can read some sample copies here: http://stonecarver.com/news ================================================= That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: One for the bench: "Although wanting a chicken The man, hungry today, Must eat the egg" ~ Kenneth Verity 'Breathing With The Mind - Verses in Senryu & Haiku' Element Books 1993 ISBN: 1-85230-440-5 ____________________________________________________________ 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/) * Quick Carving Questions - 4 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq4.html (Sponsored by The Japan Woodworker: http://www.japanwoodworker.com/) * 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 - July 1 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 2005 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------