Question re: carving gothic tracery

[pduck]

Hi everyone -

I am planning on adding a gothic tracery panel to a trestle table that I'm building. I am having trouble getting a sharp line where two carved edges meet at an inside corner. When both edges have been carved with a gouge to give a concave edge, it becomes rounded where they meet instead of coming to a nice sharp point, as if it had been mitered. The attachment shows what I would like to achieve.

Does anyone have any ideas on how best to proceed and what tool to use to get the miter effect?

Thanks!

Gothic Tracery.jpg

[mark yundt]

This is one of those things that's easier to show how to do as opposed to "talking " about.But I'll give it a try. Be sure you have accurate points of where the line should be where the two coves will intersect,,as well as the top line and base line of where the cove should continue.If you have used a router to "hog out" all the waste,,you'll have a rounded corner where the router bit would not fit. I'm assuming this is what you meant by a rounded corner.

First,,remove as much wood as possible in the corner to get it at least close to the shape you need. Don't fuss at this point to make the concave shapes,,just keep these flat,,and get these to meet in the corner.I normally start to relieve much of the wood to be removed by first using a "V" tool to indicate where the actual intersection will be. Depending on the tightness of the corner,,this might have to be done in stages as you have to clear out some of the wood on each side to allow the "V" to do it's work. As you start getting close to where the corner will end up,,you will also start carving the concave shape of the intersecting sides.Here though you most likely will not be able to use a gouge of the same shape that formed the rest of the piece right into the corner,,it probably won't fit.
Now ,,once you are that close,,the shape will have to be formed by cutting from the top down,,using a fairly flat chisel,,,number wise,,probably around a 2 or so.Here the very corner of the chisel will follow the intersection,carving from the top down,,and with a scooping motion ,,make the concave shape of the sides.

Depending on the size,,depth,,and severity of the intersecting sides,,you can find yourself in a very tight situation. I don't know if any of this makes any sense to you,,or even begins to help,,but if you need more info,,post a pic of your situation,,and some basic dimensions for reference,,and I'll see what else I could do to help you. I really enjoy the look of Gothic tracery,,once you get a feel for it,,you can knock it out pretty quickly,,and cover big areas with really interesting designs that look delicate and involved.I look forward to seeing what you have.

[pduck]

Thanks Mark. I think I understand the procedure. I'll post a picture when I get a little closer to completion.

[mark yundt]

Great,,glad it made some sense! It is a tough nut to explain,,but as you get close the wood will almost show you what you need to do. Looking at a big fat corner can be a little daunting. Get some of that wood out of the way,,keep your references at the top ,bottom and where the intersection is and it'll start to look like what you are going for.You have to keep a mental image of the corner in mind as you're working towards it.

When you get close,,or done,,show what you have and we can go from there if you need more help.