---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- November 2003 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/ 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 and 2002 newsletters ============================================================ Hello Everyone! CONTENTS: 1. Website News 1) Woodcarving for Sale! 2) Email Address Change 2. Quick Carving Questions 1) Sawing Up A Tree For Carving Wood? 2) Pfeil #2 Flatter Than Chris Pye's 2 1/2? 3) V Tool Notching 3. Article Let's Talk Bandsaws by Chris Pye 4. Shavings... 1) A Way Of Dividing 2) Woodcarving Articles to download 3) Chris Pye's Hunting Ground... 5. Quick Reminder Website Bookmarks at the end. __________________________________________ 1. WEBSITE NEWS __________________________________________ 1) WOODCARVING for SALE! Last month I said that I would be offering individual copies of the new Green Man, which appeared in website Gallery 8, for sale. My work is all commissioned and I have never put up carvings for sale like this before. Eventually I hope to have a small gallery of carvings for sale - suggestions and comments always welcome. So, if you'd like to own an individual, signed copy of my Green Man woodcarving, left straight from the chisel in English Oak, here's your chance! http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/forsale/index.html 2) EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGE This email address: ChrisPye@woodcarver.force9.co.uk receives so much junk mail now that I am about to stop using it. Please send any email via the website from now on: ChrisPye@chrispye-woodcarving.com Thanks. _______________________________________ 2. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS ________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: SAWING UP A TREE FOR CARVING WOOD? **** "I am getting ready to take down a very old Walnut tree (3ft+ diameter) that died from natural causes some 2 years back, and saw it up for carving wood. I plan on using most of the timber for relief carving, perhaps gluing up some of the pieces for round carving. What board thicknesses would you recommend?" **** ANSWER **** There isn't such a thing as 'standard' way of sawing a tree - it really does depend on what you intend doing with the wood and what you find when you start into the tree. If it's relief, then what thickness do you like to carve? Be generous in the thickness to allow for warping. With nothing too firm in mind, I'd go for a selection of thickness, say 1" to 3", slash sawn across the trunk. Cut the centre board in half to remove the effects of heartwood. Seal the ends, put in stick, and cross your fingers - a year per inch of thickness minimum. Hope the tree's good, sometime walnut is hollow in the centre. =================================== **** QUESTION 2: PFEIL #2 FLATTER THAN YOUR 2 1/2 ? **** "Thanks for the excellent article on your new Finishing Gouges from Ashley Isles. (http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/toolshop/ts_iles.html) You compare their performance and use with the Sheffield #3 gouge. But I was wondering, apart from the inside bevel, how they compare with the Swiss Pfeil #2 range, which to me seem excellent for finishing and have a number that implies they are flatter?" **** ANSWER **** The Pfeil #2 is an excellent tool for finishing, so is the Sheffield List #3 - but neither is quite as flat. With the numbering, Pfeil is out of step with the Sheffield list because of the skew: The Sheffield list goes like this: #1 = chisel #2 = skew #3 = FIRST AND FLATTEST gouge etc. Whereas Pfeil start their numbering like this: #1 = chisel #1S = skew #2 = FIRST AND FLATTEST gouge etc So the PFEIL #2 IS EQUIVALENT TO THE SHEFFIELD #3, both of which are the flattest gouge in their nomenclature. The so-called "2 1/2" that I've arranged to have made is based on a favourite old 'Herring' tool: flatter than either, and any other flat gouge I can find today. THIS FLATNESS ENABLES YOU TO CREATE THE LIGHTEST OF TOOLED SURFACES - this is the point. It's not so easy to see but the difference becomes readily obvious if you stab the edges into a piece of wood and move the cut along the sweep. I have now put some pictures up on the website page which demonstrate the difference: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/toolshop/ts_iles.html - Down the bottom of the page. =================================== **** QUESTION 3: V TOOL NOTCHING? **** "I have a Flexcut V tool. The other day, and all of a sudden, it started to cut poorly. (I was using the tool properly at the time!) I examined the edge and noticed a piece had broken off, leaving an actual notch about 1mm in diameter about half way up one side of the V. Is this tool salvageable? Is it just a question of grinding the edge back past the notch and then re-sharpening the proper bevels back?" **** ANSWER **** It might be a problem with the steel - sometimes, despite inspections, you get an 'inclusion' in the metal; a little speck of carbon or such. You have correctly assessed what to do: take the edge back to good steel and re-sharpen. If the problem reoccurs, I'd send the tool to Flexcut with a letter. _______________________________________ 3. ARTICLE LET'S TALK BANDSAWS BY CHRIS PYE _______________________________________ Let's Talk Bandsaws by Chris Pye The bandsaw is probably the most useful machine I have. I've maintained mine well and used it like a workhorse for nearly 20 years - a great investment! I know many other carvers feel the same about theirs However, after the quality of the machine itself, and maintaining it, and setting the guides correctly - which is the most important bit? In fact, which part of the machine really does the work? The blade - the blade is the business end. Unfortunately, bandsaw blades don't last; don't keep their cutting edge anything like the length of time that a circular saw blade lasts (which these days are tungsten tipped anyway). Bandsaw blades dull all to quickly and even a tiny misplaced nail can ruin the teeth. But carvers frequently resist changing them, and persist in using a dull blade. Why? Because it's a drag to change them. And because they are not cheap. But dull bandsaw blades are dangerous! Why? Because of the extra pressure you need to apply to the wood in order to force it passed the blade. (And never mind the stress to the motor.) If the blade hits fresh air unexpectedly, the wood may jerk forward suddenly and, before your brain has connected, you have shoved your fingers or hand right into the saw teeth... I've had a few close shaves over the years and heard of many others. I know of some carvers who have had quite serious injury. So it's common, this desire to keep using this blunt blade as long as possible - even though we also know it's stupid! Let's give more thought to this before accidents happen: * I think we must accept that bandsaws are more expensive to run than we might like - they simply get through blades quicker. * Add a small amount more per carving to pay for new bandsaw blades. Then you won't begrudge spending the money. * Discard blunt blades as soon as you recognise them for what they are - disasters waiting to happen. _______________________________________ 4. SHAVINGS... ________________________________________ 1) A CUNNING WAY OF HALVING INCHES (Thanks to Tom Horton, Glen Mills, PA) My cousin, Bradford B. Vass of St. Albans, West Virginia gave me a simple rule for dividing things in half - such as half the width of a board or any 1/2 of something most especially where a fraction is involved. EXAMPLE: You have a board 9 5/8" wide. What is 1/2 it's width? * Divide the whole number by 2 - forget the fraction. (In this case, 9 divided by 2, and you get 4.) * Add the numerator and denominator together. (In this case, 5 and 8. This gives you 13.) * Now DOUBLE the denominator. (In this case double the 8, and you get 16.) ANSWER: Reassemble your calculations and 1/2 the width of the board is 4 and 13/16". It sounds much more complicated than it is! I spend time while driving back home dividing things with fractions. You can learn to do the math. quite quickly in your head. 2) ARTICLES OF INTEREST TO WOODCARVERS: (i) Skew by John Whelan (Thanks to Frank (www.customrockinghorse.com) An article, perhaps a wee bit technical and not strictly about carving, on the impact that skewing a blade has on how it cuts wood: http://www.sover.net/~nichael/nlc-wood/chapters/skew.html (ii) Articles by Ian Agrell Ian Agrell is a top class woodcarver of the British tradition, Have a look at his site: http://www.agrellandthorpe.com Ian also teaches and writes about his craft and has very generously made available on his site, articles first published in Fine Woodworking: http://www.agrellandthorpe.com/school/articles/index.html 3) SHEEP ANYONE? CHRIS PYE'S HUNTING GROUND The village where I live is called Ewyas Harold - Anglo-Saxon for 'Harold's Sheep Field' - in rural Herefordshire, England. (Let me just add here, for no good reason other than feeling like it, that in 2000 I carved a coat of arms into a huge, oak, fireplace lintel in a Tudor granary, on a farm a few miles from my village. This farm has documents to show that it sent the FIRST Hereford cattle to the new colonies, later known as America: 5 cows, 1 bull and a stockman.) Anyway, the Ewyas Harold has now come up with a 'Village Design Statement' and it's now been put up on the web. Let me warn you now: IT'S A BIG FILE for such a little village - 17.3Mb! - and the format is PDF. Nevertheless there are lots of photos of the village, some taken from the air - although you can't actually see me waving... If you are interested in seeing more of where I live, use this link to view the Ewyas Harold Village Design Statement: http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/nfdefault.asp?menuid=929&header=yes - Head down the page, find the link, right click and 'save as'. Or use this link to go straight to the file and open it online: http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/files/Ewyas%20Harold7Aug03.pdf ============================================= That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: A poem to pin over your bench: A soaring, endlessly curving path; every few miles we have to rest. I look around for my friends. They've vanished in the wooded hills. Rain floods the pine trees and flows hushed among the rocks. There are silent words deep in hill water, a long whistle over the summits. When I look at South Mountain the sun floats white through the mist. A blue marsh is luminous and clear. Green trees are heavy shadows, drifting. When I am tired of being closed in, suddenly I come upon a clearing, and the mind is at peace. - Wang Wei (699-759) ____________________________________________________________ SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ ----------------- WOODCARVING TOOLS The FOLLOWING PAGES ARE UNAVAILABLE and being re-written: * 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 WOODCARVING MANUALS Over 10,750 copies of these ebooks have been downloaded in the last 10 months, of which 3000 have been 'Learning to Carve'. * The Accomplished V Tool 1 - Free evaluation copy http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ * 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 * Fundamentals of Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/fundamentals/fundamentals_ebook.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/toolshop/ts_iles.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) http://www.woodschool.org/ PROVISIONALLY: Sept 20 - 24 Ornamental carving (Mouldings) Sept 27 - Oct 1 Relief Carving Oct 4 - 9 Carving Tutorial Full details to be announced. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2003 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------