• From robert cook on Sharpening a V-Chisel - Beginner Lesson #5

    what kind of stones would you recommend as far as brand and grit

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    2013/04/23 at 11:55 pm
    • From Mary May on Sharpening a V-Chisel - Beginner Lesson #5

      I use the DMT diamond stones - 1200 grit and 8000 grit. Whatever stones you have, make sure they are the finest grit for that finished sharpening. Water stones, Arkansas stones, Washita stones, Ceramic stones are all good - just make sure it is very fine grit. Not all numbers are equal - such as 8000 grit diamond stone and 8000 grit water stone are not necessarily equal. Some don't even refer to grit, such as Arkansas stones (referred to as hard arkansas, surgical black, translucent, etc). So because no 2 stones are alike, I just recommend getting the finest possible stone for that finishing edge - where you can almost get a mirror surface to the bevel. I do sell the DMT stones on my site store if interested...

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      2013/04/29 at 12:52 pm
  • From dave richardson sr on Carving a 3-D Hand - Episode 1

    Mary do you agree that it helps to draw often so you can hopefully develope your hand eye exactness when it comes to accuracy such as you demonstrated carving your hand? Im afraid if I tried that right now my carving would look more like garden rake!
    Dave Richardson

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    2013/04/23 at 1:09 am
    • From Mary May on Carving a 3-D Hand - Episode 1

      Dave,
      Garden rakes are good too! Yes, it definitely helps to draw, but it is not absolutely necessary to be able to carve. However, I so often re-draw a design on the wood as I carve away my guidelines - that is where it really helps to be able to draw. And yes, it helps with the eye-hand coordination. There are often times that my chisels know a lot more than my pencil lines do, so the lines I draw are quite often just as a guideline, and not exact.

      Just start - and see how it goes!

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      2013/04/29 at 12:56 pm
  • From Frederick Quenzer on What videos would you like to see?

    Mary,

    I would love to see how you carved your coat of arms. And of course all of the above. Great videos.

    Fred

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    2013/04/18 at 2:47 pm
  • From Steve Cofield on Carving a Dragon & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1

    Great question David. I was thinking the same thing as Mary pounded through the walnut. I find myself stropping about every fifteen minutes, but I feel a little more confident to go longer after watching these lessons. I'm also looking forward to buying a Dastra from Mary.

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    2013/04/11 at 11:02 pm
  • From David Taylor on Carving a Dragon & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1

    Technical question for you - I noticed in Chapters 3 and 4 that you used that #7 for quite a bit of the cutting, and for a long time. How often did you strop or even resharpen that tool while you were going through that process? It seemed to never lose its edge. I know you have good tools, I can see the Stubai brand on some of them, and know you would have nothing but the best, but even my Stubai, Lamp Brand and my best Addis needs touching up throughout a project, especially in such hard wood. I realize you wouldn't show that part of things, being more focused on the carving, but I was curious.

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    2013/04/07 at 12:38 pm
    • From Mary May on Carving a Dragon & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1

      David,
      That #7, 14mm was a Dastra tool (which I will start selling on my website shortly), and they definitely do hold an edge for a long time. I would say on a standard carving project like this where I am using a mallet and also pushing the tool through the wood, I had to sharpen it on the stone once through the process. Then I would touch it up with a leather strop 5 or 6 times throughout the project if it starts to feel like it is slowing down or looking like it is leaving little scratch marks on the wood. However, this "roughing out" part is a little more forgiving with the tool sharpness. The harder you hit with the mallet, the better it goes through the wood! This works much better with hard woods than soft wood, as the soft woods will just rip apart with dull chisels. Of course, the best scenario is to keep them sharp...

      (Don't try this at home!) I remember teaching a very quick carving lesson to a group of 11 and 12 year olds, and I brought a bunch of my least favorite (is there such a thing?) and not very sharp gouges for them to work with and lots of mallets. Scarey, but they did a great job with some pretty dull gouges. What was even scarier was seeing the state of my gouges after they were finished. Even one of my mallets was shattered.

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      2013/04/08 at 12:04 pm