After the Carving...

[Irish]

When a little sanding can make a big difference in an area of a carving I sand. Since most projects will receive some type of sealer as polyurethane spray or oil finish the change in the raw wood sheen because of your sanding will be canceled out.

On your chip carving you can re-cut some chips to straighten the triangle line by taking a very thin slice of wood.

If you do sand I would suggest using a fine grit foam core sanding board ... a finger nail file board from the local drug store will do great. These boards can be cut into small sections to fit your chip work and since they are rigid they will keep the sanded area flat.

Susan

[ptofimpact]

Susan, and all, thank you for all the good advice and direction. I shall try the fingernail boards as well, and will work towards as little sanding as possible, but alas, my skills are lacking.
I seem to make my 'stop cuts too deep', then I am wrestling with removing the mess afterwards.....
Pete

[Irish]

Pete ... before you do your next chip carving project you might want to work a practice board where you really don't care if the chips are perfect to either the pattern, depth, or size.

I do this as a rule of thumb as I don't do chip carvings that often. The practice board lets me get back into the swing of the strokes.

Also I like doing an area of any chip carving as a 'gang cutting'. Let's say that the design is a line design of identical motifs. I will cut all of the top edges of each chip triangle in the design. Then I will cut all of the 'left side' lines for each and every chip. Finally I will work through all of the 'right side' lines.

That way I can make each cut the exact same depth and angle as any other similar cut throughout the pattern.

OK ... pictures always work better ... So I might cut all of the red lines first, then all of the green lines, and finally all of the blue lines to pop out the chip triangle. Since I am cutting all red lines at the same time they all get the same angle, depth, and stroke.

Susan

[ptofimpact]

Susan, thank you so much for your time and expertise. I have never carved anything prior, so presently kinda' working with practice boards as you suggest. I will try and attach a pic of the 1st practice board, just some stars I drew with a ruler. Its not great, please be kind..lol
I shall try the practice method you suggest, the gang cutting. Again many thianks
Pete

[Irish]

Pete .. how big are your chips? The motif that I posted I would carve at about a 2" square at maximum and more likely around a 1" square. Your problems may be that you are working much too large.

As for being kind ... I'm not telling how many cords of extremely fancy firewood kindling pieces I have made during my carving career ... Grin!

Susan

[ptofimpact]

Susan, thank you again, the pic posted is Basswood, the board is 8.5 x 5.5 inches, to give some dimension of things. The Large star is about 6 x 4 inches, the smaller ones are 2 x 1 1/2 inches.
It's hard to imagine 'you' turning fine wood into firewood, but now I have some 'hope', as I continue to wreck some wood, but it is enjoyable at any rate.

[TPJ54]

Sanding can leave a moldy look but it is easier to paint.