[Texas_Jim]

I have difficulty creating a clean cut between the perpendicular sides of a relief and the background. I have been doing a vertical stab cut with a tool that matches the outline and then using a #7 gouge on the background to remove the chip. The "joint" line is wavy or varies in height and the cuts sometimes leave little "fuzzies" in the joint.

My tools are sharp and I strop often and I am using bass wood or white pine.

Does anyone have some pointers in how to make clean joints and sides?

Thanks,
Jim

[wade clark]

A V-tool might work better. You'll have an expert opinion shortly, I'm an amature.
Wade

[Thor]

I also carve in white pine and basswood in relief.
I use a straight or shaped gouge to stop cut, and when the background is all leveled out with a gouge, and I want a smooth transition and clean edge, I use my carving knife to run along the edge of the raised surface rounding it out a bit, and even use a straight sometimes. It took me a long time to figure this out, and it works for me, but you may get better advice.
Thor

[Just Carving]

I wonder if a bent 90 degree v-tool would make an easier time of achieving the inside perpendicular corners?

[Irish]

Wade is quite correct that a v-gouge will greatly help in your joint area. You noted that you are using a gouge but didn't note whether it's a v-gouge or round gouge. ???

Joints can be handled in several ways. The v-gouge is great if there is space for the tool. In relief carving there are many times that one element meets another with little or no spacing between them. In this case I have a small round gouge that I have tapered the edges into a semi-circle ... the gouge is curved along the profile just enough that the edges drop back slightly. Hold the gouge upright and use it as you would a furniture scrapper. You can easily tease out the bench knife marks.

Straight chisels and bull nose chisels are great tools for scraping the background. This is a very old technique that we carvers get from chair makers. You chisels will act like miniature planes.

You can also 'tuck' in corners. Wood can be pressed into shapes. So in very difficult corners you can use the back (unsharpened) side of a bench knife to press into the joint. This presses the fibers into the position that you want.

If I have used a round gouge to drop my background I follow up with a bull nose straight chisel. The bull nose has a slightly rounded profile and is just fantastic for removing the wavy ridges left by the round gouge. I prefer the round gouge for the rough-out work because it just eats wood. But for the dressing stages it's the bull nose chisel.

Undercuts are also excellent for hiding hard to work joints in relief work. With an undercut you tip the bench knife point back into the wood to create a small, shallow overhang of the main element. You then use your round gouge or bull nose chisel on the background to slide into that undercut. With undercuts the joints are hidden. PLUS! They add wonderful shadows to your work.

One more idea ... then I'll get off my Teaching Soap Box ... try taking the side walls down slowly so that you never excede the desired depth with your stop cuts! Walk a side down, don't try to cut in to depth immediately. This way you have much more control over the depth and the joint at the bottom.

Susan
OOOPS ... I lied ... I have one more 'one more thought'. As many of us do relief carving on very small surfaces ... 12" or less ... some times the joint areas are so tight that you simply can not get a tool into place, especially a v-gouge. So - sand! Sanding paper can be folded, spindled, and mutilated to get into those very very impossible areas.

[BobD]

So what you are saying is that carvers are the diabolical serial killers of sandpaper--dismembering it, mutilating it--and even spindling it. That sounds like a medieveal torture so horrible that it isn't mentioned in the history books. It makes "wheeling" someone seem like a massage <Grin>


Bob

[Thor]

See this is why I wish I could watch over someone's shoulder.
Susan, all of what you described makes sense, but I can't see the tools or exactly how you are using them. Your expertise is priceless. I wish it was where I could see it.
Thor

[Irish]

Thor,
I'll see if I can't do a little WPI on relief and backgrounds ... sounds like a fun idea to explore how many ways you can make a joint look nice.
Susan

[Thor]

I can use all the help I can get. I carve every day, and I think I'm getting better. My son just ordered your book on Wood spirits and Greenmen with Chris Pye for me as a present...can't wait to get it.

Your relief chicken with the paint on it inspired me to try this painted greenman shelf. I'm carving another one now, but I'm trying to get more relief with the eyes. I actually carved the eyes off to make them deeper.

I used oil paint directly on the wood, and like the results. The rest of the wood is just oiled with linseed oil. It's just white pine.
Thor

[rales]

I agree totally on v-tools and using bullnosed gauges for scraping. In really tight areas I like to use dental tools - especially the "carvers." My favorite is the Discoid Cleoid No. 3-6. http://www.cetllc.com/operative.html (you can find better prices than these - or ask your dentist for old tools) This one has a pearshape that comes to a point on one end and a round shape on the other. I have several that I have modified by flattening them to various other shapes. They are great for cleaning up fuzzies in corners and can be used as both scrapers and burnishers. Keeping them sharp on a stone is easy... Dental burnishers are also very handy.

My one piece of advice - always scrape as a last resort... any time you can carve - it will leave a cleaner surface.

Good Luck, rales