making a wooden wedge question

[Elkdreamer]

I know this may sound dumb but any way I thought I would ask
I have bought a DVD on carving the native american head Bust and the guy that does the carving is Jim redhawk he is a great carver but when he carves he always makes a wedge in the cotton wood bark and my question is what degree do I need to set my table saw at to make a wedge thanks for any help on this question
John
if you would like you can email me at jfinger@acegroup.cc again thanks

[bob easton]

It's hard to visualize what you mean. How is the wedge used? Is the wedge part of the carving? Or, is it a separate piece used for work holding?

Wedges used for work holding are typically cut 10 degrees from parallel.

[Elkdreamer]

this guy shaves the cottonwood bark into a wedge shape and then he uses a template over the wedge to mark the lines for the carving I guess to better under stand what I am tryng to get go to you tube and type in Jim redhawk he shows using a wedge and a template in witch I have it is Just hard to explane I guess
John

[Elkdreamer]

it is part of the carving
John

[Nomad]

I have the DVD and have carved several busts using the wedge. I scanned the template and made smaller versions of it for smaller carvings. I don't know the angle but you can use the template to trace the angle on a bit of plastic or cardstock, cut it out, then use that to set the angle on your table saw. This is what I did for my bandsaw.

[Elkdreamer]

good idea

thanks

John

[riverwood-dan]

I haven't seen the dvd mentioned. I did a native bust out of black walnut with Jeff Phares book Carving the Human Face (Fox Chappel). I was a little intimidated as this was only my fifth carving but I found the instruction to be straight forward. The wedge shape in question is shown in the book. Check it out. Dan