Recent Comments

Hi Mary,

With those of us on a very limited budget, which 3 out of the initial 6 tools would you say is the priority on ordering.

My budget isn't huge and if I have to factor in waterstones/slip stones etc as well.

Thanks
John

This question is not about the barn owl, but about a project I want to make. I want to carve some flowers for the top of a chippendale style mirror, but what I have drawn is one flower and leaf on top of another, like a bouquet. The space taken by the bouquet would be about 5" high x 7" wide, but I can adjust it differently as I am still in the design stage. I have 5 flowers, stems, and 6 or 7 leaves and parts of leaves, with parts of flowers peeking out from under other leaves and flowers. It more or less copies flowers in the tile to be used in the same room. Is this too difficult a project to carve for a "relative" beginner? I notice the projects you have chosen to demonstrate are not "bunched up" like that, so should I take that as a guideline that it would be best to spread the flowers out so that they are more or less on one level? I tried drawing it spread out, but it was not very interesting, and it meant carving down into tiny little spaces between the petals, stems and leaves to the ground level. I thought perhaps it might be more difficult to carve down in between the tiny petals than to carve one on top of another. What are your thoughts about this? Also, how to keep the levels clear in my mind? I have some very straight- grain stable cherry to work with, and I thought I'd cut the flowers out on the scroll saw, carve them as one unit, then glue in place. I planned to use ¼" thick stock, so nothing is very deep in this bunch of flowers. Do you have a lesson already in the school that might help?

When I started looking for tools to buy I was at a loss as to which brand to buy. Living in a small town in north west Washington none were available for me compare to so I decided to buy one from several different companies. I bought a #3-6 from Henry Taylor, #3-12 from Ashley Iles, #5-12 Pheil, #6-14 Auriou, #7-14 Dastra, #7-6 from Master carver and V from Two Cherries. When I received them Pheil, Auriou and the Ashley Iles came very sharp and were a pleasure to use. The Dastra , Henry Taylor and the Master Carver were not square across the blade, the Dastra was more then a 1/16 " off from one corner to the other. Thanks to Mary's videos on sharpening I have been able to straighten them out. The Master carvers steel is good but the poor quality of the manufacturing is quite noticeable when sitting next to the other chisels but it is about half the price of the other chisels. I have since a bought another Auriou, Ashley Iles and Two Cherries. I bought the Two Cherries because they were out of the Ashley Iles size I wanted. I got the Dastra squared and I like it a lot. Sometimes companies don't make the size I want so I buy from a different company. This is just my observation of what I did when I bought my first chisels. I use them all now equally but I do like the Auriou and Ashley Iles

Hi Mary,

I expect you already know this but for those who do not, Chipping Away has your beginning tool set at $167 plus shipping. Shipping to me in Texas is $20.

I've just started with your school and I really like what I've seen so far.

Kevin

About 40 years ago I started a tea table from FURNITURE FOR THE AMATEUR CABINETMAKER by A. W. Marlow. A year ago Idecided to finally finish it. I sure could have used this lesson to carve the legs.However, the carving is a floral design and I think more difficult than the acanthus in your lesson. Also I could have used the lesson on carving the feet that you plan to do as I think are more difficult than on straight cabriole legs. Thanks for all your lessons as I learn more from every one I watch.