---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- February 2001 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello Everyone! Feel free to forward this newsletter on to woodcarving friends, or anyone else you think might be interested. This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it as a result of requesting it from the website. Subscribe or Unsubscribe is easily done on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/index.html or at the end of the newsletter. ==================================== ****CONTENTS: 1. New email addresses 2. Safe Carving 3. Website Notes 1) New Gallery 2) Carving Pictures 3) New Inspiration 4) Recommended 'Green Man' Books 5) Recommended Router Book 6) New portrait of me! 4. Slipstones - February 2001 5. Quick Carving Questions 1) Backcutting 2) Symmetry 3) Bench heights 4) Blocking up for thicker wood _________________________________________ 1. NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES AND THIS NEWSLETTER _________________________________________ A subscriber to this newsletter wrote to me: "I bet you didn't get my new E-mail address last month because I haven't got your carving letter this month. My new E-Mail address is...." I hadn't, and I was cheered that they'd missed the newsletter! Please, if you change your email address, it's much quicker for you to re-subscribe on the website than email me: 1. Go the website and you'll find the subscribe/unsubscribe box on the home page. 2. Enter your old email address and click 'unsubscribe'. 3. That will be acknowledged; now back button to the home page. 4. Enter your new email address and click 'subscribe'. Amaturish as it may sound, that's only what I would do on your behalf anyway. It's a very simple system, and so am I! I'll happily change your email address but it'll save time all round if you take a moment to visit the website and change it quickly yourself. Thanks very much! _______________________________________ 2. SAFE CARVING _______________________________________ Another subscriber also wrote to me: "Safety is a state of mind. I worked underground in coal mining for 11 years and training and self preservation taught me to be safety minded. A lapse in common sense and a dull tool cost me my 1st cut. No big deal. I just wanted to tell you that you are right about it being a state of mind. Thanks." He was referring to the free download on Safe Carving here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/safecarving/safecarving_index.html It's available as a zip file to study; do have a look if you haven't already. I've had requests for it to be available as an ebook. I will do this sometime; the trouble is illustrating it! _______________________________________ 3. WEBSITE NEWS _______________________________________ ***** 1) NEW GALLERY I have added 2 new pictures of my work to the website gallery, 'tour' and thumbnails, two details in fact: one of the lion's head in the Duke of Rothesay's Trophy; the other, head and shoulders of 'Ikarus' a carving that appears in my Elements of Woodcarving book. See them here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_index.html ***** 2) CARVING PICTURES I have uploaded a small, tight gallery of stage carvings that I took when I was working on the Duke of Rothesay's Trophy which I thought might be useful. One would normally get to it from the Thumbnail gallery but here is a direct link: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/carving/g_rothesay.html A bit experimental - let me know if it doesn't work! ***** 3) NEW INSPIRATION Think of a carving of a horse. Think horse's head. Think famous, very famous. It's here, and fantastic: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_inspiration.html ***** 4) GREEN MAN BOOKS The response to the idea of a Green Man section in my last newsletter was so encouraging that I will start a section - as always as soon as I can. To begin with I've put up details of 2 indispensable and very interesting books on Green Men lots of great pictures, ideas and inspirations for your carvings. In the Recommended Books section of the site, here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbks.html You'll find links to Amazon. If you choose to buy any book from them after linking from my site than I get a referral fee, which helps support these efforts! ***** 5) Recommended Book: WOODWORKING WITH THE ROUTER By Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack Do you think that a carver has only limited use for a router? Well, I've noted 12 uses off the top of my head in the review that I use mine for; and I thought I knew a lot about routers. Now I know an awful lot more! It's the down-to-earth gloves off approach that I love in this book. Loads of ideas and advice; one of the best books on the subject and one for your library. In the Recommended Books section of the site, here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbks_hylton.html ***** 6) A NEW PORTRAIT OF ME! I just got fed up of seeing myself looking so happy. I still look happy, but in a different sort of happy way: working, rather than partying... Here's the link: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/aims.html It's at the end of the first section: 'Why have I made this site - what's it all about?' What? You DID wonder! Well, while you're there, here's your chance to find out! ______________________________________ 4. SLIPSTONES - February 2001 _______________________________________ *** You cannot get the right-shaped slipstone for a gouge or V tool. What to do? Here's the answer... *** In the last newsletter I mentioned Green Man 'rules'. 'Rules'? Surely not, it's an anarchic image; or is it? A discussion of what makes a Green Man and why he isn't a sort of leafy tooth fairy... *** How to make a handle for a socketed carving tool and some interesting Chinese tools... *** Rasps and Files - What's the difference, do you need one? *** Splines - A disease of hedgehogs, or something you can use in relief carving? Lots more tips and advice in Slipstones You can find full details of this interactive woodcarving journal, which aims to support, and further carving at all levels, along with subscription details here: www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Don't forget! *There's a FREE sample edition to download *When you subscribe you receive a FREE copy of '101 Master Woodcarving Secrets' - only available to subscribers. _______________________________________ 5. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS _______________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: BACKCUTTING **** "This question is about back cutting on the shell for a sign. I want it to look like a shell from the front, with a delicate edge and not have the depth that the scrolls to the side will have. "To get the "slim" effect of the shell, do I simply backcut from the edge? Or should I simply carry the shape all the way back to the back side of the board?" **** ANSWER It all depends on the viewpoint - which in this case will be straight in front. The general rule is that you only need to cut away (chamfer, backcut, undercut) what is needed to get the thin effect. Anything more is superfluous and will only weaken parts. Here it is likely only to be in the order of 1/4 to 1/2" backcutting (at say 45deg). I use flat and skew chisels and knives for this sort of work. Backcut a bit, stand back to the viewpoint, assess, and carve some more. If anything, the problem is how does a thick part meet a thin part - just let the backcuttings meet where they will - it's amazing how it works out. =================================== **** QUESTION 2: SYMMETRY **** "Regarding the scrolls to either side of my shell, can I have some thoughts on obtaining symmetry between sides, as in the two scrolls here, that might be helpful, as it is a lot harder than it looks!" **** ANSWER **** Immediate thoughts: 1 Make your drawing lines accurate (ie thin) 2 Use a centre line for (careful!) reference 3 Use the same tools, in the same way, mirrored, on each side. This last point is the crunch! =================================== **** QUESTION 3: BENCH HEIGHTS **** "I recently purchased a carving workbench top and plan on building a stand for it this weekend. Are there any guidelines for how high the benchtop should be? Is it purely a matter of preference?" **** ANSWER **** Although I say in various places that the usual reckoning for the height of a carving bench is a hand's width below the height of your elbow (when standing upright next to it), the fact is that it really does depend a lot on what you want to carve. The traditional height is fine for most small reliefs; for the deckchair stand for carving reliefs vertically (which I have in my book Elements of Woodcarving); for mouldings and such; and for a certain amount of work in the round. However, if you add an adjustable carving stand to the bench top, that may well take the height of the workpiece too high. Tilting the work horizontally usually solves this problem, but that in turn may not be the best thing for you to do, in terms of perspective. The fact is there ISN'T one correct height, unless you always carve the same thing! I have ended up with several benches (some quite small) at varying heights, but then I take on a wide variety of work. I still end up using blocks, posts and false tops and improvise a lot. If you have no better idea, then go for the traditional height as above, but do bear these points in mind. =================================== **** QUESTION 4: BLOCKING UP FOR THICKER WOOD **** "I just finished a sailing ship. I glued up two boards to get the 1 3/4" thickness I needed - I must glue up as I can't easily get anything else locally. "To get my thickness, from the perspective of stability as well as the visibility of the finished glue line, which would I be better off gluing: #a: two 13" wide, but only 1" thick boards face to face, or #b: two 2" thick, but only 6 1/2" wide side to side? "Perhaps it does not matter, but I recall reading about tension release causing curvature on large thick boards. **** ANSWER **** I think it's difficult to lay down the law about wood, not all carvers play it the same way! I would normally use a full size piece if I have it, but am happy to join when necessary. But you have to look at the effect of the join... I would never put a join down the centre of, say, a carved face - it's the most noticeable place; I would divide the face into thirds. The question is where is the joint least obvious? For example: if you've seen that shirt carving of mine on the website and in Elements of Woodcarving, there are 2 joints but placed within the major folds. So totally invisible! However, in a BOAT, dividing into 2 vertically to me (choice #b) would seem better than having a horizontal glue line (choice #a) because there is a natural symmetry in the prow where the line would disappear. Also a glue line front to back and along the keel would be cut square on and show only a thin line; whereas a side glue line must be sliced at an angle with the hull curvature, and will appear wider. Then again - horizontally speaking - a trick would be to make a feature of the joint and sandwich in a different coloured veneer... Tension release - redistribution of tension - does happen, no matter what size wood, or well seasoned and relief carvings are prone to it, being flat boards. I have been known to leave extra thick background and re-plane new curvature away once the carving is finished. ______________________________________________ That's it! Hope you've found the newsletter interesting and useful - success to you woodcarving! Chris Pye --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2001 Chris Pye: Woodcarver. All rights reserved. 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