carving for a woodworker

[don G]

hello my name is don and well Im not really a woodcarver,I'm a woodworker, and would like to add some simple carving designs to some of the cabinets and drawers that I make, I've looked at chip carving but that seems to be used mostly on softer and tightly grained woods, I've also looked at various power carving items but not sure if they would work for my purposes, though I was hoping that they might help in making up for my lack of skill at this. I would be thankful for any comments.

[TreeWizard]

Good luck, carving can be an addiction. You might see if their is a carving club in your area ( if you let us know just where you are located someone can probably put you in contact with a club) and ask if anyone can give you some pointers on carving in relief.

[carver33]

Welcome aboard Don.

Any wood can be carved. I've seen Cherry furniture that has been chip and relief carved. I don't think I would want to tackle Oak with chip carving, but there is a lot of Oak furniture with relief carving.

Check out the Club Search link to the left to see if there are any clubs in your area. They are your best resource. However, if you post specific questions on this forum, I'm sure you'll get lots of help.

[Hooked on Carving]

Good furniture woods to carve are Cherry, Mahogany, Black Walnut(mallet needed for these and various gouges.) Poplar, White and other Pines and Maple are softer. The best wood to carve for detail is basswood and what you could do is relief carve or chip carve something and glue it to your cabinet door. An easy design to start with would be a shell. You would need a 3/4" inch #9 gouge to start for this one. I'm pretty sure there is one in a back issue of Woodcarving Illustrated. To draw one on your own, use a protractor and draw a line every 15 degrees. Oak is too hard and dulls tools quickly. It also doesn't hold details well and is difficult for a beginner to work with.

[jwd]

Have you ever considered using an inlay techinque. Subsistute butternt for walnut and sassafrass for oak etc. These are softer woods and the grain matches exceptionally well. On a stained project these woods will blend perfectly with proper staining.

[Donsexton]

Originally Posted by don G

hello my name is don and well Im not really a woodcarver,I'm a woodworker, and would like to add some simple carving designs to some of the cabinets and drawers that I make, I've looked at chip carving but that seems to be used mostly on softer and tightly grained woods, I've also looked at various power carving items but not sure if they would work for my purposes, though I was hoping that they might help in making up for my lack of skill at this. I would be thankful for any comments.

Hello Don and welcome, I bet you want to carve stalks of wheat and rose buds and things like that or grapes on the vine and oak leaves with acorns. That is traditional high or low relief and is best accomplished with traditional full size tools

[carvendive]

Don,
I was a cabinetmaker for 13 years commercially. I still do quite a bit of it but have made the move over to furnature and handcarved millwork. I started this hobby cleaning up a router burn. Since then it's been more and more of an obsession. Given your stated goal of something simple to start with, you might want to look as some detail to the cabinet stiles on a focal piece. It could be almost anything from just a plynth or apron detail to maybe a relief carving in the face of a vent hood or one set of raised panel doors. Doing 30 drawer faces would be a job in it'self.

Another idea would be to make cabriole legs carved with claw feet and perhaps a scroll top. I make them for my powder room sink cabinets.
And finally, keep this in mind when deciding on what piece to carve. The kitchen is kind of like your workshop - only for someone who likes to cook - meaning that it can get messy and needs to be cleaned often. Cleaning out chipcarved drawer faces would not be fun.

You could start with a plain box from the craft store and add medallions and other pieces that you carve. You could stain it and maybe paint on some details.

[carvendive]

Regarding the tool portion of your question, I can only tell you what works for me and then you have to judge for yourself.
For large rough-out work I use whatever is fastest. If it's a router, molder, bandsaw or my #11 or #12 - great, rough-out is about speed, safety, and what I consider minor accuracy. I do my carvings using full size chisels. I know they look expensive but you would be REALLY surprised at what you can do with just a limited number of them. Stick with the full size. They only cost a couple $ more than the intermediates and palms and they allow you better control. Also, you get a lot more re-grinds (sharpenings) out of them.
Lots of folks figure that full sized hand chisels in hardwood, requires a mallet. So did I and I have several lignum vite mallets that I turned sitting in my carving tool chest to prove it. And for the most part, there they sit. I bring one out when I'm setting in some lines for stop cuts but that's about it.
Effort: I've done maybe 3 pieces in basswood (soft). I have no idea how many pieces I've carved in rock maple, white oak, mahogany, teak and other hardwoods and other than those cuts which can not be skewed on cross grain (stop cuts mostly), all I need is the pressure from my hands to make the cuts. The only reason I say all this is to illustrate to Don that carving in hardwoods does not mean you have to use power tools. As a matter of fact, I think my results are better in hardwood.
One other thing. If you are like me, you may be a woodworker that didn't have to do much sharpening. If you do decide to go to chisels, be careful of you selection of sharpening tools - I started off with all kinds of stones before I finally came up with a fast, effective system that worked for me. That learning curve cost me a bundle. The stones were slow and the results were never identical. I use my stones when I'm away from my shop but otherwise I'd recommend a system that allows a quick learning curve to a point where you can get a fairly precise, repeatable angle, in a minimum amount of time. My current sharpening system cost me about $200 but for that I can get chisels and knives that have nicks or chips dressed and scary sharp in under 5 minutes.