help needed

[canadiancarver]

hi everyone, everytime im carving and make a cut the wood tends to chips off i can carve most of the wood fine but then when i do something closer to the edge the knife doesnt make a clean cut and breaks off the end peace of wood what am i doing wrong?? thanks for the help

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

sounds like a dull knife?

[canadiancarver]

no the knife is super sharp it cuts perfect its just like when i get to the edge of the wood it tends to just split off instead of the knife cutting it off like on this dog im working on i was doing his nose making it pointy and then when i got to the end of the nose the end of his nose broke off

[dart]

If the knife is sharp, then it must be the grain in the wood or the nature of the piece of wood you are using. What kind of wood is it?

[Claude]

When you are in a delicate area, meaning on a nose, a finger, etc., don't push the knife edge like a chisel into the wood, make it slice instead. Consciously make the knife slice a delicate, thin, chip of the wood. Also, don't slice from the bulk to the delicate tip; slice from the tip back towards the bulk of the carving.

Oh, and when all else fails, use some Elmer's Carpenters Glue (yellow stuff) and glue the piece back on.

Claude

[canadiancarver]

thanks guys and im using basswood.. when u say slice so u mean cut the wood with the knife as if it was a saw?

[canadiancarver]

when i switched to a finer detail knife it didnt seem to cut into the wood so much witch worked good but for the dog he wont be a dog anymore just a practice peice of wood thanks for the help guys... i have another question though how do you rough stuff out if u dont have a bandsaw? without using a knife i find it easier to carve faces if the peice was cut out with a bandsaw?

[Mitchell]

^ yes....simply speaking. Don't go back and forth, but in one direction.

Think of it as if the knife blade is slicing or sliding into the cut and not being pushed straight into the wood.

This is a trick that works very well on small and delicate carvings.

[AlArchie]

No bandsaw???? For under $10 you can pick up a good coping saw and a few blades. This tool, like all tools, takes a bit of practice to be good with, and you will need some type of device to hold the wood while you make your cuts, but it can serve you well.

Make sure the blade is inserted with the teeth toward the handle so it cuts on the pull stroke, not the push stroke.

Take a 16" piece of 1"x6" and cut a "V" shaped notch in one end. clamp the other end to your work bench or table, put your pattern piece across the "V" and saw with straight vertical stroks around the pattern from one side. When that's done, either with hot glue or double side tape, put the pieces back together and then cut the other profile, just like you would with a band saw.

Hope this helps.

Al

[Just Carving]

Roughing out is like anything else in carving. If you don't have the best tool, use the next best tool. So, no bandsaw, use a coping saw--like Al said, or fret saw--like a coping saw, but with a deeper throat. You can even use a common handsaw and slice off pieces until you get close to your pattern lines. Then get closer to the pattern lines by using a chisel or gouge. Or, make lots of big chips with your favorite large chisel or gouge that you have. True, you can't tape or glue the first side back on to keep the block square for ease of cutting like you would on the bandsaw, but then, you don't need to. Just sketch the side view on the block, carve the front and back sides side off leaving about an 1/8" extra outside your pattern lines, rough pencil in the front view (and back view if needed), and then carve the sides off--again leaving an extra 1/8" since you are rough carving. The extra 1/8" leaves you a margin for error. Then begin to eliminate whatever wood in between that isn't needed and you've created a roughout. Then continue on to finish carve the piece.

Working with a gouge or large chisel IS extra work, and takes a little bit longer, and may be a factor if you are carving for a living. But if you are learning, you will learn a lot about the wood and its grain.

Bottom line, there is no set way to carve. You use your imagination and the tools you have at hand to get the job done.

And, remember, experience is your best friend when it comes to carving.