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
Hi Mary
Do you have any photos of a carved Fleur De Lis? I would like to include one in a relief carving with Acanthus leaf. I don't know where to start and the best tools to use. I joined your on line school 3 days ago and have already learned a whole lot about carving. Keep up the great work, thank you!
Steve
Steve, I don't have a photograph of one that I have done. Have you tried googling "Fleur Des Lis Photos"? Sometimes some pretty impressive images come up. That would be my best suggestion. I will also see if I can find any. If you find one that you like, let me know. It is a good project to do a video on.
I really liked the instruction, watching it go from block to hand was quite amazing.. thanks for all the great teaching.. you are an inspiration.... Papa
Keith,
Thats a very interesting question, and I hope I am able to help you. First of all, I need to tell you I am definitely not a finisher, and know very little about it. My time and energy has been spent focusing on making the shapes and I leave it to the experts to do the finishing. Quite often a furniture maker gives me the parts to carve and I have been absolutely spoiled in that I can hand it off to him to do the finishing.
Re: Sanding - My ultimate goal is to not have to sand a piece after I carve it. However, the reality of the situation sometimes veers me off that goal. Here are some situations: If I am carving in something that is going to be painted, than I have much more flexibility in the final surface, and will be more likely to sand it when I am completely finished carving. And then if I really want it to be obvious that it is hand carved, I don't touch it with sand paper - I leave all the gouge marks in the carving.
If it is an unpainted period reproduction piece, I try to match the surface of the original piece - usually lightly sanded to remove the facets of the carving tools - nothing that will actually leave scratches in the wood, however. One wood I really try to avoid sanding is walnut. The burnished surface of walnut after carving is so beautiful, that touching it with sandpaper can completely change the surface and cause it to be dull. Other woods which I would more likely sand - basswood and poplar.
One thing I tell my students is not to carve with sandpaper, or as David Reilly, my assistant at Marc Adams School, calls it a "50 grit gouge". If you have to sand it to reshape it, you might as well use a gouge - it's a lot quicker and a lot less dusty.
I hope that helps. Maybe someone who is much more knowledgable in the finishing aspect can throw in some ideas or comments?
From Tracy Lustick on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2012/11/09 at 5:32 pm
From Mary May on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2012/11/09 at 7:55 pm
From Tracy Lustick on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2012/11/10 at 5:23 pm
From Annette Nyqvist on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2021/06/01 at 7:30 pm
From MaryMay on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
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From Mary May on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2012/11/10 at 8:05 pm
From Siegmar Lengauer on Carving a Donut - Beginner Lesson #6
Go to comment2014/05/05 at 2:29 pm
From Steve Cofield on What videos would you like to see?
Go to comment2012/10/29 at 1:10 pm
From Mary May on What videos would you like to see?
Go to comment2012/10/29 at 1:20 pm
From Steven Palmer on Carving a 3-D Hand - Episode 1
Go to comment2012/10/16 at 9:48 pm
From Ed Looney on What videos would you like to see?
Go to comment2012/09/27 at 5:24 am
From Mary May on Carving a Turned Capital - Episode 1
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