Mary, Very good. I learned so much. Thanks, can't weight to try out what I have learned on a big project that I started last year or was it year before last. Well thanks again. Keep carving
🙂 Yeah... that WOULD be a good idea. I think I need to have them as an option - that's for sure. The really nice thing about the metal ones is that if I ever have tall pieces where I need to raise them off the bench a few inches, they still stay sturdy. But... for simply holding a board - great idea. Oak? What are wooden bench dogs normally made of?
My round wooden dogs are Oak. My square ones are some sort of Asian mystery wood that's not quite as hard as Oak and readily available at the nearest big orange box store. It yields easily to edge tools.
The square dogs have a leaf spring of soft cedar that does a great job of keeping then from falling through the holes. The secret to the springs is shaving the end near the screw to be thinner than the rest of the piece, causing it to spring outward.
This is a pretty piece. My mother is one of those people with a theme house, and I grew up surrounded by grapes. Grape wallpaper, copper grape jello molds hanging on the walls, plastic grapes in basket cornucopias on the coffee table, just grapes everywhere. While I watched these videos, I was struck with an idea. You mention repeating the pattern on a frieze, I am thinking around the sides and up on the top of a small box, I think Mom would like that.
One question - I didn't see you do so, and at the end when you were turning the piece around, I only got a glimpse of the edges, but did you undercut the leaf at all?
Hi David,
I did not intentionally undercut this, but it certainly can be done, and would really make the leaf stand out. With basswood, I wouldn't try to undercut it too much, as it can get very fragile - just enough so you don't see the straight edges. If you do undercut, it's best to do this towards the end of the carving. Just keep in mind, when you make those initial vertical cuts that define the edge of the leaf, don't make them to deep, as they will show as cuts in the background - unless you lower the background to a depth below these 🙂
More than once, I've ended up making a background lower than originally intended. After digging a valley to get the knotty area smooth, the valley had to be eliminated by taking everything else down yet more. You make it look easy!
Thanks for another helpful lesson through a difficult part of the carving.
Pretty soon you reach the bench, and carving into the bench is not good.
And there is NO way you can make these cuts with the grain without something coming up and biting you. These can only be cut securely across the grain.
I'll get to working on these. Resin castings are definitely sturdier but material cost is considerably higher than plaster. I'll let you know when these area available.
From Larry Hartgrove on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
Go to comment2013/09/14 at 8:42 pm
From Thomas Reno on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
Go to comment2013/12/23 at 8:57 am
From Mary May on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Bob Easton on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Mary May on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Sándor Csata on Workshop Tour - Beginner Lesson #16
Go to comment2013/09/06 at 11:39 am
From Mary May on Workshop Tour - Beginner Lesson #16
Go to comment2013/09/09 at 9:59 pm
From David Taylor on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Mary May on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Bob Easton on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Mary May on Carving a Grape & Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Bob Edwards on Carving a Shell & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1
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From Mary May on Carving a Shell & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1
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