Canute's Carving with hand tools

[Canute]

Well, here goes. I've assembled some cutting tools and the carving blanks. Glued the rough blank to a piece of poplar I had and had it sit over night under some weights. Set up nice and flat.

Downloaded the carving diagram so I could add the stop cuts, too.

 

Weapons of choice:

I've got a scalpel with #11 blade, an Excel # 11 blade, a 1" carving knife and a small micro chisel.

 

I added the stop cuts on the blank, working under my magnifier lamp. May switch to my Optivisor for this delicate work. Felt I was too hunched over, working under the lamp.

 

[CDW]

Looking forward to this tutorial!

[Canute]

DR, don't know how much tutorial you're gonna get. More like "don't do this because..." 

 

I love working with wood, but this is an area I can use all the help I can muster.

[CDW]

Ha- bet you are more skilled at woodcarving than I. 

[Jack12477]

Ken, nice looking knife - hope they told you it is a chip carving knife.  It'll work for what you're doing but just be careful.  Good luck and welcome to carving 101

[jud]

Have a Sheep's Foot blade on my Stock mans pocket knife that looks like your 1" carving knife, use it often because it is very handy for carving and making groves with the tip, also works well for digging splinters and other things out of your hide. Keep it sharp and don't take to large of a cut and control should be good. Been carrying a stock mans knife with that type of blade since I learned the short comings of my Boy Scout knife as a kid. Enjoy your new developing carving skills. A look at a good leather tooling guide should help in learning depth techniques and decorative curved cuts on uncarved areas.

jud

Edited November 8, 2016 by jud

[Modeler12]

Ken, my guess is that you are a 'lefty'.

The way you put your carving tools down  

How are you coming along with the carving?

[CDW]

Are you really Sherlock Holmes, disguising as Modeler 12?

Good observation. 

[Jack12477]

Ken, my guess is that you are a 'lefty'.

The way you put your carving tools down  

How are you coming along with the carving?

 

Don't understand the observation !  I am right-handed and the way the knives are depicted in Ken's photo is the way I lay my knives down with the blade pointing away from my hand.  A leftie would presumably point the blades to the right away from his/her left hand.  When you reach for the knife you don't want to accidentally grab the sharp blade with your hand or worse stab yourself in the hand reaching for the knife..

[Canute]

Sherlock, I am a righty from birth. I learned to respect edged tooled from Cub Scouts. They are normally parked in a rack, so I can pick one up without slicing away anymore parts of my fingers and hands.   I've had a couple over my checkered hobby career. As Mark Taylor says, I've put my DNA on a few of my builds.

 

I've dabbled with my #11 and the scalpel, but I've ordered a new carving knife from out west, per Jack's recommendation. So I wait and read and watch some Youtube vids on this carving activity.

[Modeler12]

Sorry, it was not important. I was just curious how Ken was coming along with his carving.

 

I am also right handed and when I put my knife down on the table, the sharp edge of the blade is usually pointing to the left.

Ken's were facing the other direction.

Perhaps that is why Ken was having trouble with the #11 blade  

[Canute]

Soon, Jay. Or as my Italian grandparents would say "aspeta" phonetic Italian for wait.

 

I'll wait rather than hacking up my blanks.

[the learner]

No matter how we look at it we all leave traces of DNA on most or alll of our projects...the important thing is that we do not lose any parts in the process.

 Look foward to seeing your carving Ken