Hi Mary, Its good to see you carving some more diffiicult woods and getting a nice finish.Down here in Australia we really only have two good carveable woods ,White Beech and Huon Pine so seeing you manage this different wood has given me some new ideas on finishing with a nice tooled surface.
Thanks for this video, can we see a few more harder wood carvings ?
Dave
Hi David,
I'm glad you enjoyed this lesson. Please go to the Lesson Library here: https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/lesson-library/ and go to the very bottom of that list to see all the lessons categorized in the different types of wood. There are actually 59 different lessons (nearly a third of the total lessons on my school) showing how to carve in mahogany, and there are many other lessons showing how to carve in oak, walnut, and other harder woods. It takes a few seconds for the Lesson Library page to fully upload because there is a massive amount of content on that page that needs to load, so be patient! I hope this helps.
I've always had a set of the small Marples carving tools in the blue cardboard box, I purchased them in 1978. I used them very little, but when I became a premium member, I started making Christmas decorations with them. I am fond of the candle and bell you put out for carving and have made a few. The tools however, were unsatisfactory. Dulled right away, more sharpening than carving. I am sure you have been there and done that. I was waiting for your tools, but I couldn't wait any longer so I put a set on my Christmas list. My dear wife of 36 years decided to purchase the "value set" that was listed on lee Valley before Christmas. The tools were fairly long, good beech handles and the steel is very good. It polishes nicely on oil stones to an almost mirror and they get sharp. However.....I think blind men must have sharpened them. The factory grind was hideous! Long deep striations on the back, the largest sweep has a full 5/16ths inch horn sticking up on the right corner. The smaller ones have horns on both corners and a couple of them are rounded and one shallow sweep is ground flat on the bottom. I refuse to machine grind chisels and gouges so it has taken me a full 9 hours to fix the large sweep and 3 to four hours each on the small ones and the V tool has visible edges so it is not even remotely sharp. That will be the last time I ask for or purchase tools like that! I can hear my Father's voice in my head though telling me I got a bargain and so what If I had to put a little sweat into them to make them work. I should be thankful I have them....etc etc. Not this time Dad, Mary says a half hour! I am thankful however I have these lessons, this is the real bargain! I am glad I am retired and I have the time to learn carving from your videos which are great! I will probably be a premium member as long as I have the breath of life in me. Thank you for your great instruction.
Thanks William! Good for you for sticking with the sharpening. Most of the more expensive European gouges come razor sharp, ready to use (and sometimes it's worth paying the extra for just that). I know the tools you have purchased, and they tend to have quite thick metal also. And sometimes the angle of the bevels will need to be re-angled to around 23 to 24 degrees, as the angle tends to be a larger degree. I'm so glad you're having fun! My first sharpening experience took 20 hours to sharpen one tool... It just shows the dedication! Keep on keeping on!
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