[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by Capt. Bandaid

Thanks for the suggestions! I have tried the tape and cut method and found that it works well most of the time. I think my problems may be in that I try to cut the pattern too close to the finished shape. Of course, my POS Craftsman 13" x 3 wheel band saw does not help. Fortunately, I can no longer find sawblades for it (odd length for 3 wheels) and I will have to buy a new one!!! For some reason, it never dawned on me to rough it out then make some final cuts by hand. I guess I am too anxious to get at the fun part!

Capt...go to www.suffolkmachinery.com they will make any size blade you want and in my opinion make one of the best blades.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Personally, I think too much emphasis is being placed on cutting the blanks and not enough on the mechanics of removing wood by actually carving. Too many times I see someone show up with a recently cut blank that followed a pattern in a book, magazine , etc. The carver ran the block through the bandsaw trying to follow the outline of the figure as close to the actual outline as possible. Unfortunately, that outline, traced from the drawing, is usually the finished outline of the carving. No allowance was left to carver off wood to get to that line. So, when any additional wood is removed by carving the finished piece will be reduced from the original!

If you work from a drawing or pattern always allow 1/16" or 1/8" outside that outline to give yourself some room to manuver with your knife. It will also aid you in cutting out the blank as there will be a lot less sharp corners and curves to follow.

Finally, remember that carving is a journey meant to be completed with knives, gouges and chisels not Bandsaws. Both the Carver and People submitting or creating patterns should always keep this in mind.

[santagibbs]

It sure would be nice if someone would make a DVD for cutting out patterns with a ban saw!!! Then maybe.. just maybe, I could learn.. grin.. Charlotte

[Kenny_S]

I believe Lynn is correct in some areas of his post.
Not enough emphasis is placed in allowing enough wood on the blank like Lynn indicated.
However, being and little more knowledgeable than the biginner, Less on tools and more on carvinging. Book after book, Author after author over emphasises the exact tools and sharpening. And not the cutting out the blanks and carving.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe in what tools and how to sharpen them but every book. About 3/4 of the books i have have several chapters on tools and sharpening.
But then, these books are geared for everry level of carvers. Just my 2 Abe Lincoln's worth.

[Capt. Bandaid]

Years ago, before 9/11, I had to go to Taiwan for 2 weeks. Since I don't speak Chinese, I would be without TV, Radio, and newspapers for this time. I brought a block of wood and some carving tools. I managed to get a small carving hewn out of the block but DANG! I did a lot of wasting to get to the carving part. I will still advocate proper attention to blanking the piece so one can focus on the carving part of the task.

[JIM QUILICI]

Capt,
ol "Pete" LeClair to the rescue ..... Pete has written 3 books and in ..two ...of his books he tells you step by step how to cut out a blank. that would be (1) carving Caricature Bust.....(2) carving caricature Heads and faces... when I started to carve I had no grampa , no club, no nothing, but a couple of books by old "pete' followed his step by step to learn how to carve. then went on my own . he was all I had. that was 9/10/03 ago. hope this helps.
Just old Jim

[Irish]

I have read, considered, and thought very hard over this thread since it began. As a pattern maker I believe you would have to have two separate patterns ... one for the rough and one for the final carved piece.

Now this can become a problem when you consider how precious each inch of column space is in either a magazine or book. Often it is just not possible to include two pages (one rough pattern/one finished pattern) in a manuscript.

When a book is about 96 pages - 30 of them are devoted to patterns and the rest to instructions .... now you have to add 30 more pages ... you either have to reduce the number of patterns offered to only 15 or reduce the instruction area by 30 pages.

All of this can become a 'robbing from Peter to pay Paul' problem.

So I would suggest, and this is just my opinion, that you might wish to do what quilters do. Assume that you need to add 1/4" seam allowance to any cutout design.

Just a thought.

Susan

[Just Carving]

Another solution could be to include a thin, dashed roughout line around the finished pattern. It would entail the image of the pattern being slightly larger but you would get the roughout, i.e. cutting line, and the finished pattern in the same image.

[Capt. Bandaid]

I had the same idea as Bob, include the blanking lines around the pattern lines. OK, so it seems so obvious but some patterns are not so straight forward.

[Eddy Smiles]

Gentlemen and Esteemed Senior Carvers....

All this discussion of band saws and blade lengths... What's a body to do if per chance they do not own a band saw and.......... can't afford the cost of purchasing roughouts or blanks through the mail? For any newbies that may be reading this thread the answer is do it the old fashion way.

I really appreciated Lynn's comment that more emphasis needs to be placed on the mechanics of removing wood by actual carving. And there is a whole world of old fashioned hand tools that will perform the same function as the band saw at a fraction of the cost.... if one is willing to expend a little elbow grease!

Plus, when the project is complete you'll have a whole bunch of folks wondering how you did the carving without the use of a bandsaw!

Does anyone have an hints or suggestions on cutting out blanks using hand tools different than those made for power?