Stops Cuts!

[Tom-H]

If this is the incorrect place for this, maybe a moderator will move it! But, I have been thinking about a way to teach or lead a newer carver to a faster finished face. Has anyone taught, learned, or coached how to carve faces, in a piece of wood that has been prepared with stop cuts already in it? The idea being that it may be easier for the learner to carve to a stop cut, that is already in the wood. The example in the photo to the left has the stop cuts in the wood. The example to the right has the knife cuts up to the stop cuts, with a bit of rounding. Anyone have any comments, ideas about this?

Thanks, Tom H

[BrandantR]

Tom, I would suggest that you first teach the students to make the stop cuts, since this is an essential part of carving. Once they can control the point of there knives, they will be ready to carve up to their stop cuts. Just my two cents worth.

[GaDoug]

Interesting idea, I'm usually teaching Boy Scouts and it is a requirement for them to learn the basic cuts so it wouldn't benefit them.
It would surely speed things up.

[Tom-H]

The main idea behind this thought is to provide some added motivation to stay with the learning. Early on, prior to the learning of stop cuts, provide the learner with a piece of the wood with the stop cuts. I think folks get motivated when they can "have something finished" as soon as possible.
Something that they can say they "carved". Of course the learner would have to move on to learning how to apply the stop cuts themselves. I will try this out tomorrow with some folks that are new to carving. It may not work worth a Damn, but then again....we'll see.

[BrandantR]

Go for it Tom. If it will keep the newbees interested then it's well worth it.

[Claude]

While it's more work for you, I don't think it will hurt their learning any. I tend to agree with Brandant - I'd teach them the stop cuts first. However, if this works for you and your students, great!

Claude

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Tom, I think it's a good way to start, once they master that then you could teach them how to do a stop cut. Just my thoughts.

Dave

[Mitchell]

Using stop cuts is one of the first things that a beginner should learn early.

I like the approach that you presented.... this way the beginner can see the benefit and then build upon that as they learn.

[Lightningbolt]

From someone who is working with kids every single week day, trying relentlessly to find better and more creative teaching methods that will enhance their catching on to the carving process... then I first must say good for you. Like your carving model, I also teach my new carvers to carve faces on the corner of a stick; some catch on quick while other kids are just really slow at catching on no matter how simple a concept that it is for most students.

I will always have my sequential face learning stick on hand then personally demonstrate how to make the initial stop cut under the nose, then use the push cut at an angle toward the stop cut, then I instruct them to continue this process of removing "layers" of wood until you've reached the desired depth. Most kids will understand the concept right on but about 1 in 20 really don't get it and I have to repeat it for them through 2 or 3 more layers of wood. They also have to learn early on that the best way to ruin their carving is trying to remove all the wood in one or two cuts... they have to be patient and learn to remove the wood in many thin layers.
Personally I find it much more educational and beneficial to demonstrate the stop cut at the begining of the carving than I would already having it done. Now that might not apply if I were teaching it to a class of 10-15 students at once but I'm definately a one-on-one teacher and my daily carving sessions rarely exceed 5 students at a time.

At the same time I can appreciate your efforts at trying to ensure a success with your students first carving because that is a very important thing to consider and if what you're doing is working then great. Lately my carving classes have been spoons, small bears, and small totem poles. With your same goal of ensuring success I always have the spoon blanks cut out ahead of time but they can still choose from a variety of handle shapes and designs. I realized that the latest batch of poplar that I was using was super dry AND super hard. This wouldn't have been such a problem in the shop where we could have used vises but my afternoon carving sessions are outdoors under the shade tree with only basic carving knives. Therefore to ensure success I have also begun using my reciprocating carver to just begin scooping out the bowl of the spoon which now gets them well on the way to success but it's still much in the raw and needs a lot of work. There's still a lot of wood removal remaining, shaping and sanding of the spoon but I do all of this to help ensure success. I work with each of these kids for about a year and I will increase the level of their challenges throughout the year and my expectations will increase but those first carvings can be a fragile moment for any wanna be carver and the goal should be focused mainly on success... or at least for the kind of kids I work with.

So yes, and before I end up writing a book here, what works best for me is demonstrating the first couple of stop cuts but they must take at least 50% ownership of that first carving themselves which isn't asking a whole lot and it makes them stretch their brains to comprehend the concept and purpose of a stop cut. Good luck and hopefully you can glean something out of what works for me.

Cheers!

[Soggy]

I believe that I'm in a position to answer this question, seeing as I'm a relatively new carver (less than one year). I think it would be a great idea, it would enable a potential carver to finish a carving that was somewhat presentable unlike the first few of mine. It would build confindence and hope if the carver were to continue. I would compare it to training wheels on ones first bicycle; very good for learning but don't get to depend on them ...............
Just my .02 cents worth
Wayne