---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- November 2002 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please forward this newsletter to a woodcarving friend, and anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks! 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/index.html or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html including zipfile for 2001 newsletters ============================================================ Replying to this Newsletter? PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE! ============================================================ CONTENTS: 1. Slipstones Woodcarving Magazine - November 2002 2. Website News 1) Survey Note 2) New Website Inspiration 3) Study Casts 3. Quick Carving Questions 1) Drawing Architectural Curves? 2) Finishing Basswood? 3) Holding Work? 4) Relief Carving? 5) Netsuke-Style Carving? 6) Palm Tools? 7) Fundamentals On Carving & Mac Computers? 8) Sharpening Oils? 9) Using Wide Boards? 10) Gluing Up, Well Before Carving? 4. Follow Ups: 1) Woodboring Beetle 2) Butternut Website Bookmarks at the end. ____________________________________________________________ 1. SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MAGAZINE - November 2002 ____________________________________________________________ Slipstones Woodcarving Magazine is like an invitation to my workshop where I share my experience of over 27 years as a professional woodcarver, and offer advice and support, along with that of other subscribers. WHY NOT JOIN ME? For full details of this invaluable interactive woodcarving magazine, go now to: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html And get your FREE copy of '101 Master Woodcarving Secrets', exclusive to subscribers. Back issues of Slipstones now available without subscribing. ----- THIS MONTH: *** MISERICORDS *** An introduction to misericords, one of Britain's greatest woodcarving treasures. Did you know that this wonderful store of woodcarving, full of life and humour, store arose for a little bit of 'rule-bending' by medieval monks? Find out more in Slipstones! *** DIAMOND SHARPENING CONES *** An alternative to many slipstones and useful for creating an internal bevels in a wide range of gouges. *** HOUSE KEEPING! *** What? No joke - but 'workshop keeping' is more like it. I did a few important chores recently and found them very beneficial, both for my carving work and my piece of mind. I share these with you in this month's Slipstones - things you hadn't thought of perhaps? Increase the amount of light you have; protect your carvings... *** And more, including 'LINES OF LIGHT' and CARVING TIPS. Subscribe to Slipstones magazine. And get your FREE copy of '101 MASTER WOODCARVING SECRETS', exclusive to subscribers. Have you downloaded your FREE sample edition of Slipstones? Find it here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html ____________________________________________________________ 2. WEBSITE NEWS ____________________________________________________________ 1) SURVEY NOTE Thanks to all who have filled in the survey form. Please note that the survey form is anonymous - it comes directly from the website, not your own email address, so I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING WHO SENT IT. If you have asked me a question to which you are expecting a reply, it's not that I am being bad mannered when you hear nothing from me. I just have no way of knowing where I should reply! You'll need to write directly to: chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com If you haven't filled in the survey, please consider nipping over to: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/survey/survey1.html. and sparing me a few minutes to fill it in - thanks! I'll leave the survey up on the site until the end of the month. 2) NEW GALLERY CARVING I had the privilege of carving a large bowl recently with a lettered (repeating) text around the brim: 'GOING AROUND AND COMING AROUND AND...' The thumbnail is at the bottom of Gallery 9 - Lettering. Here is a link to the main picture: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_inspiration.html 3) STUDY CASTS I'm currently working on a series of alphabet casts to accompany my lettering book - so you can have 3D examples in front of you when you work. It's still early days. I'm doing the casting myself (don't ask me why, it's the way I have to be!) and am struggling up the learning curve. If you are interested in this, or CASTS OF OTHER WOODCARVING SUBJECTS, I'd be interested to hear from you. Bear in mind the fields in which I work. __________________________________________ 3. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS __________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: DRAWING ARCHITECTURAL CURVES? **** "How do you create the patterns for the architectural curves? I have a rough sketch of a pattern that I'd like to carve, but am at a loss of how to create near-perfect lines that I can trace onto the wood. I am fairly good at drawing, but the curves leave me baffled." **** ANSWER **** Always remember that the drawing is a means to an end - the carving. The drawing is a guide: work with the tools themselves to create fresh and flowing lines. I don't use jigs etc; the lines would be TOO perfect, dead. I just keep working at it until I have the line I want - I'm very persistent. I bet that if I locked you in a room and told you I wouldn't feed you until you could draw me beautiful curves, you'd soon be out of there! =================================== **** QUESTION 2: FINISHING BASSWOOD **** "I have ruined numerous carvings because I cannot find a good way to finish basswood. I have tried stain, oils and paint and have not had much success. Can you provide me with a process that works on basswood please?" **** ANSWER **** We don't have basswood here, so I really don't know the answer. You'll have to find a carver - even in a magazine - who uses it and ask them. There are several carvers' sites for Q&A on the web. For our nearest wood, Limewood, I just use beeswax - as in my books - and that's it. In fact that's my favourite finish for all woods. Anyone else with ideas to pass on? =================================== **** QUESTION 3: HOLDING WORK? **** "Would you please suggest a few sources of information on various types of carving-stock restraint systems, e.g. carving horses with clamping devices, carving benches with clamping fixtures. I tend to think that without sharp tools, appropriate stock restraint and adequate lighting the best of designs and carving techniques tend to be blunted by frustration." **** ANSWER **** I agree that holding work is very important. You'll find lots of ideas in my book 'Woodcarving Tools, Materials & Equipment - Vol II': http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/w_bk1vol2.html. What you need depends on what it is you want to hold! Unless you do the same thing all the time you'll need a variety of options. =================================== **** QUESTION 4: RELIEF CARVING? **** "Please will you show some 'know-hows' on my passion: medium and low relief carving?" **** ANSWER **** You'll be pleased to here I've done this already in great detail in my relief carving book http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/w_bk4.html. Work through it carefully - it's a course which teaches you much of what you need to know. Then tell me what I've missed! =================================== AN ASIDE: Since this is the second time in succession I have referred a questioner to my books, let me say once and for all that I am not trying to sell them! For those interested, according to my last royalty statement, I - the author - get approximately 20 cents for each copy of 'Woodcarving Tools, Materials & Equipment Vol II' that Amazon.com sells - a tad more if bought through my website. And since there is hardly any sex and violence in my books I'm hardly on the best-seller list. Of course I want people to buy, read, and work with my books but I don't make up these questions, and I'm not expecting to retire soon... =================================== **** QUESTION 5: NETSUKE-STYLE CARVING? **** "I am interested in small scale carving and would like to develop towards netsuke-style carving but can find little on the techniques used (there is much on the "art form" and for collectors!). I wondered if you have any ideas of sources of such information, techniques and tools used?" **** ANSWER **** I have a couple of links to books and sites on the website but, sorry, nothing along the 'how to' lines. Anyone able to help? =================================== **** QUESTION 6: PALM TOOLS? **** "I'm thinking about buying some palm tools for working on faces etc. Are there any pitfalls with these; what would you choose to start off with; and what make?" **** ANSWER **** The palm tools I like are those by Flexcut - very comfortable to use - but there are others. I don't think there are any pitfalls as such - the range of shapes and sizes is the problem - there are far more regular ones out there. You need to choose according to what you need. Buy a few that would seem useful and work outwards from there. =================================== **** QUESTION 7: FUNDAMENTALS ON CARVING & MAC COMPUTERS? **** "Tried to open the fundamentals.exe file on my MAC. However it appears that only a DOS computer can access it. Is this correct?" **** ANSWER **** Yes, and I apologise to all Mac users. The information - and that for all the eBooks - IS on the website as pages, which you are welcome to save or print, but not as eBook format, which only works with pc's. I write the webpages first, and then use a simple programme to convert to a downloadable eBook. I do not have the time, or a simple way, to create a pdf file for cross platform use. =================================== **** QUESTION 8: SHARPENING OILS? **** "I finally have my India stone and my translucent Arkansas. I was told that a good honing oil (and a soaking solution to begin with) is a mixture of 50% Mineral Oil and 50% Kerosene. Do you agree with this? If not, please advise. Your book speaks of light oil mixed with a bit of Paraffin (Kerosene to us, I think), so I wanted your opinion on the above if you can find the time to send me a quick reply." **** ANSWER **** I'm never quite sure what 'mineral oil' really means - it's like saying 'wood'. Oil is not there for lubrication; after all you want friction to abrade the steel of the blade to a sharp edge. More, the oil removes waste particles from the pores of the stone and stops the cutting grit crystals from clogging up. You could just spit on the stone, when no one's looking. Best is to use plenty of light oil such as "3-in-1", suitable for bikes and sewing machines. If you dilute as you say (Paraffin = Kerosene), you diminish what little lubrication there is in the oil and end up with a slightly more aggressive stone, one with more cut. Priming the stone by soaking overnight in such light oil diluted 50% as you say is a very good idea; it prevents the dry stone soaking up oil when you start using it. =================================== **** QUESTION 9: USING WIDE BOARDS? **** "I have some very wide boards which I was thinking of using for a panel carving; they are flat-sawn. I correct in thinking that these boards would not be good to use, 'as is', because they would be prone to cupping. Would I be better off gluing up quarter-sawn into the panels?" (............. continued next question) **** ANSWER **** Wide boards, sawn 'through-and-through' like that, are indeed a problem; differential shrinking across the width will lead to cupping or warping as you say. It's best to use narrower stuff - even re-sawing into 8" boards say - and glue with alternative faces to minimise cupping. You might be able to buy narrower wood more cheaply anyway - wide boards tend to be at a premium and are wasted on us carvers really. =================================== **** QUESTION 10: GLUING UP, WELL BEFORE CARVING? **** "Also, I will be working on the panels over a year or so. Would it be smart to get all the lumber and glue up all the panels at the same time, storing them together so that they keep an equilibrium or moisture etc. over time?" **** ANSWER **** Yes. The best thing is to store the wood in the environment it will be used. Next best is to have it before hand in the workshop for a while to 'settle down' - then plane up and leave a little longer to settle again - THEN a final gluing up. However that's ideal, in reality you just do the best you can! It's the selection and orientation of the boards that is crucial. ____________________________________________________________ 4. FOLLOW UPS (with thanks to the contributors): ____________________________________________________________ 1) WOODBORING BEETLES - October: 'These sound like POWDERPOST beetles...they love soft wood like poplar and pine, and can be prevented only by pre-treatment...my barn is eaten alive by them.' 2) BUTTERNUT IN THE K.C. MISSOURI AREA - October: 'The reader asking about a butternut log can find one, but for his location, he will be better off going to a small lumber mill and asking for CATALPA which is native to that area and carves and looks somewhat like butternut.' ____________________________________________________________ That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: Another one to ponder at the bench: "Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning." - Mahatma Gandhi SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ * UK TOOLSHOP: Auriou woodcarving tools and other equipment http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/toolshop/ts_uktoolshop.html * UKTOOLSHOP Direct Link (missing out introductory page): http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/toolshop/uktoolshop/index.html * Slipstones Magazine http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html * Learning to Carve Free - eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/learncarving/learn_ebook.html * A Guide to Safe Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/safecarving/safecarving_index.html * Mistakes and Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/mistakes/mistakes_ebook.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2002 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Pye: Woodcarving Newsletter is listed in the EzinesPlus directory of newsletters and ezines. http://ezinesplus.com -------------------------------------------------------------