Hi Joyce,
I generally like to test tools on basswood, but make sure you carve across the grain. If the grain catches and "shreds", then you need to work on the sharpening more.
Good luck!
Mike,
I tend to use the DMT stones - 1200 (very fine) and 8000 (very very fine). Arkansas stones are good. I have had the opportunity to use a Shapton stone too and was very impressed with them (on my Christmas list).
Spending the time teaching drawing and encouraging us to draw is very helpful. I get a much better appreciation for a shape if I have to draw it first.
Thanks also for the extra lighting. It really helps with the darker wood.
Hi Mary, I'm getting ready to begin carving this Newport shell in black walnut. I've never carved walnut before. Any tips or things to look out for before I begin? Your course was great, thank you.
Steve
Hi Steve,
See the amount I use the mallet with the mahogany? You will probably use it more with the walnut. However, walnut is really a beautiful crisp wood to carve. If it is possible to leave the almost burnished gouge marks on walnut it is wonderful. However, for this Newport shell, sanding is usually needed to finish it up. I'm sure it will be beautiful! Make sure your walnut has a nice straight grain. Because the grain in walnut is so much more visible, it is sometimes easier to visually figure out the grain direction.
Have fun! I'd love to see photos of the finished piece.
Hello Mary,
I love all of your videos and teaching. Did you glue-up the wood blocks which was turned to make the blank which you carved? I'm curious if you have any advice to share about wood selection and gluing up the wood to make the blank, such as orientation of the grain, etc. Also, I noticed that while carving, a cut must proceed from one wood block into another (blocks glued together). For example, the seam between two glued blocks is in the middle of a leaf. How do you make successful cuts when presented with the change in grain and/or hardness between the two blocks? Or...am I worried about a challenge that really isn;t a big deal? Thank-you in advance for your answer.
Jim Maas in Seattle.
Hi Jim,
So often the furniture maker that I am working for prepares the wood, so I often do not have to deal with issues of gluing up the blocks myself. However sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes not. There have been times where I receive a glued up block where that area where the wood is joined caused the grain to completely switch directions. That is when I wish I would have done it myself. If you find yourself in this situation, the best way to deal with this is to work on the technique of cutting across the grain. It's the only way to do it. Going in one direction with the grain is fine - run into the join - and your going against the grain. Stop at that join and cut straight across the grain in a slicing motion. Even when you are not dealing with glued up pieces of wood, you will run across this where the grain decided to take a different direction. Again, stop and cut across the grain. It is probably the most valuable cut that I have discovered - it gets me out of a lot of those places where it otherwise would be impossible to clean out.
Mary, very confusing but good lesson. Haunted by the donut was a good way of putting it. One ?, what surface are you working on, your work bench. It has a vise or clamping system I do not have. Have you any videos discussing clamps, vices or various hold downs?
Must be rough running a school and carving..I hope it's still fun for you. I made a big purchase of Stubai tools on Wednesday, they came today. As excited as I am to have them, i'm very intimidated at the different sizes. I'm going to send you what I have purchased so far and if you have time, could you help be see what these are for on your list and what others I still need?
Tracy,
That's very funny! The more you play around with the tools, the less scary they become. After 20 years of carving, I can still say I love to carve - when I do finally get to the shop to carve, I sort of feel like "this is right - this calms me down - this fits - everything is right with the world". Can't get much better than that, can it? The video school is just another dimension, and I'm excited to see where it goes.
@Tracy, auch ich habe mit Stubai-Werkzeug aus Tirol eine gute Erfahrung gemacht, bin aber später auf die Schweizer Marke PFEIL umgestiegen! M.f.G. Siegmar
Translated: Tracy, I too have had a good experience with Stubai tool from Tyrol, but I am switched later to the Swiss brand ARROW! M.f.G. Sigmar
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From Mary May on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
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From Siegmar Lengauer on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
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