making your rough-outs

[graphicgranny]

Hi,
I am a beginning carver that has only done a couple of relief carvings. I want to try my hand at carving the wolf on page 48 in WoodCarving Illustrated this month. I have drawn the wolf on my wood, side profiles, front and rear. My question is wouldn't it be more accurate to have a top view for your rough-out? I don't want to cut this out until I know I'm not going to ruin the wood as I am on a limited income.
Thanks for any help!
Nancy

[BobD]

Hi Nancy,
Good question, especially with a project like this showing movement.

I usually trace the outline of BOTH side views on one side of the blank. That way I can be sure that I won't cut off a leg. Cut a bit outside your lines and you should be fine. I would not try to cut the front profile on a bandsaw...I'd just carve away the excess.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,
Bob Duncan
Technical Editor

[graphicgranny]

Thanks for replying Bob,
Now I have another question for you... I don't have a band-saw, can I use my scroll saw to cut this out?
Thanks,
Nancy

[BobD]

Hi Nancy,
Most scroll saws won't cut wood that is 2"-thick. You may need to reduce the size of the pattern a bit. I wouldn't cut anything much thicker than 1 1/2" thick on a scroll saw. Use a large blade and take your time!

Bob

[graphicgranny]

Thanks so much, Bob!

[doris]

one can do every carving without saw at all ... of course a saw speeds up things, but if you don´t have the proper one, it is worth considering cutting everything with the chisels...its more timeconsuming, admittedly, but in particular when you are just beginning carving, the time spent on freeing the "roughout" from the block of wood is valuable, as you learn how your chisels work, how the grain is important, when your chisels cry for sharpening, how the carving looks inthe between stages that is how the form of the roughout develops, and many things more, ,,, all this you learn without fear on the wood you cut away, you even can make tryouts of cuts to see how they work, etc,,, just a thought...

[Dicky]

Right on Doris. I used to do all my roughouts with knives and chisels and I can't begin to tell how much I learned from that experience.

[graphicgranny]

Thanks Doris and Dicky,

I think I may try that this first time

Nancy

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

When my band saw was broken I used a jig saw with a long blade, worked just fine. To be safe I cut about 1/8 " outside of the line. Hope this helps.

Dave

[graphicgranny]

Thanks Dave,
I don't know why I didn't think about the jig saw. The blade is easy enough to switch to a long blade! My scroll saw takes larger pieces of wood but I'rn into a spot I couldn't reach so I will switch to the jig saw!
Thanks for the tip!,
Nancy