Ok, I have a carving pattern. But the pattern is on a piece of paper and I will carve a piece of wood. So, how do I put the pattern onto that piece of wood I'm about to carve or bandsaw? I saw a tool once that 'burnt' the lines on a Xerox copy onto the wood, and was told by a friend that that is often done by armorers with a steam iron sans steam. I tried that but it won't come out right. Has anyone had sucess with this method or perhaps has a better idea? Do they still make carbon paper?

You can use rubber cement to paste the pattern directly to the wood and then cut it out with a bandsaw.
Be sure to make a copy for carving reference first.

[AlArchie]

They STILL make carbon paper. Check Office Depot, Office Max, or one of the other office supplies. They also make a craft transfer paper, that is available at most craft stores, like Joanne's or Michael's, or any number of local craft shops. This stuff is a bit mor pricey, but has an erasable carbon transfer material, unlike the ink on the regular stuff. I've found that really doesn't matter with carving, as you're going to whittle away any lines eventually anyway.


Rick's suggestion is a good one; trace your pattern onto light vellum or semi transparent paper, cut it out and adhere it right to the block with spray adhesive.

Al
Al

[icarve2003]

I just take a soft leaded pencil (2B), and rub it on the back of the pattern. Then I trace over it. Sort of a poormans carbon paper. :

Chris

Mr._Munchkin,

All the methods Al, Rick and Chris mentioned are decent ways to transfer. If you are going to use tranfer sheets, pick up Graphite paper instead of carbon paper. With Graphite you don't have to worry about stray mark left on your carving from your hand hitting the tracing. Here is a sight who claims to have a better invention. It uses a special iron, but they claim the paper is the benefit.

http://www.woodcarvingstore.com/Patt...ternOnWood.asp

Hope this helps!

Chris,
How is the hand doing?

Carving Everyone!

Brad

[icarve2003]

Hi Brad,

Thanks for asking, the hands doing alright. The cuts all healed up and not much of a scar. I do have to have a minor surgery in a couple weeks to repair the nerve, but it should only take a few weeks to heal and I should have 80 to 90 % feeling back.

I built myself a bench with a carving arm on the weekend and started carving a woodspirit. Boy it was great to start carving again, and both hands were free to guide the chisel :

Talk to you later,
Chris.

[AlArchie]

that's great news, Chris, and I'm glad you are healing up well!

Al

Chris,

Glad to hear you are doing well!
Did you make the bench with Maple? I saw a bench top for sale on a site and it looked really nice.
I am almost done with the workshop. I just have to build a shelf for my girlfriend's holiday items and I will be ready to carve, But I have been studying all types of carving to get myself ready.
Let us know when you finish your woodspirit or any other prodject. Love the work you do!

Brad

I will use 'spray tack' or 'spray mount' that is available at craft stores for mounting pictures to position my patterns. I always make allot of copies of the pattern first then repeat the glue then carve process several times as I work down the levels of the project.
Ah Chip

Recently I did a relief carving in butternut. I traced the pattern using an old dry ballpoint pen. The pen left enough of an imprint on the wood that I could then go around the imprint with a pencil.