Model Ship's Carvings

[Charles Green]

The masterful carvings from the 1500's to 1800's seen on model ships in museums and books - done by people with talent beyond belief - but what of their work stations and tools?  The steel of their carving tools would be considered inferior today.  What about lighting - a sunny window?  An oil lamp?  And vision: When I was younger I could do close work right off the end of my nose, but I was too young to have acquired any talent.  Now I need a magnifying hood and with it I still can't see as well as I used to with unaided vision.  And this is with modern optics.  What did the old masters use/do to be able to see what they were doing?  

 

Were tool kits of any of the masters preserved?  Are there references to how they physically achieved their results?

[druxey]

Directional light, whether natural (sun) or artificial (candle, oil lamp) would have been best.  I suspect that many of the old-time carvers were either short-sighted to be able to work close, or wore spectacles. The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto has the 'kit' of a 17th century miniature carver along with his spectacles and examples of his amazing miniature work.

 

See:

https://boxwood.ago.ca/publication/making-gothic-boxwood-miniatures

 

and

 

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/705181

[mtaylor]

Charles, if you're interested there's a carving sub-forum here:  https://modelshipworld.com/forum/84-build-logs-for-the-carving-group-project/

Might be worth a look.

[Charles Green]

mtaylor:

 

Thanks for the tip on the carving group.

 

Charles

[Charles Green]

druxey:

 

Thanks for the links to other sites.  It looks like a kit of purpose-made tools is the way to go.  Micro-Carving kits with a pare of left and right skews and some gouges never did look adequate! 

[Roger Pellett]

Steel for carving tools was available in small quantities.  The springs in antique fire arms are an example of steel that could be heat treated to hold an edge.

 

Roger

[allanyed]

Charles, if you want to invest in a magnificent set of carving tools, I highly recommend those made by Mihail Kirsanov.  I usually enjoy carving, but these chisels make carving and joinery work a true pleasure.  Will there be a need for customized tools at times, I would guess this might be the case, depending on the situation, but these are probably 99% of what you would likely ever need.   There are a number of members here that  am sure will attest to the quality of this set of tools.   

Allan

[wefalck]

Workplace illumination was augmented by a sort of condensing lense, i.e. a glass sphere filled with sulfuric acid because of the high refractive index. Sometimes only water or a solid glass sphere was used, but the latter would have somewhat distorted the beam due to irregularities. These sphere were either placed in front of a window or a petroleum lamp. They were common in e.g. engravers' or clockmakers' workshops.

 

[druxey]

Wefalck:I can't imagine the result from the accidental breaking of one of those acid-filled globes!

 

Allanyed: I agree that, while expensive and in limited supply, the Kirsanov set are superb. If you are serious about carving in miniature and have some experience already, these are for you. Just use a light touch and keep them well honed. A heavy hand can result in breakage.

[wefalck]

Well, people then may have had different risk perception ...

 

Here is an image of a wood-cutter in his shop. These sphere were used by all sorts of professions.

 

From: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/1903_Holzschneider.jpg

 

Two such (solid) glass balls on stands are currently up for auction with Charles Miller in London: https://www.charlesmillerltd.com/auction/lot/322-two-19th-century-refracting-glass-balls/?lot=13664&so=4&st=refracting&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=1&g=1

 

[Charles Green]

wefalch: 

I have noticed those spheres in old drawings/paintings but did not know their function.  

[Charles Green]

allenyed:

 

I had never heard of Kirsanov's tools.  It looks like those I am familiar with only amount to wanna be's.

[allanyed]

Charles,

If you would like to contact him, PM me and I will send you his email address.   You will not find better chisels anywhere.   

Allan

[Charles Green]

Allen:

Work with me.  What is PM?

 

Charles

[Keith Black]

 PM = personal/private message

[allanyed]

Thanks for the help/response Keith. 

Charles, I received your message and sent you an email.

Allan