[Irish]

Step 239: I am starting with a well honed chip knife. A sharp edged tool does not drag
or pull on delicate areas of wood. I am rounding over just the edge, I don't want to
lose any thickness at this stage either in the height of the stem or the width.

Step 240: As I began working on the second side of the stem I can feel the stem moving
from the pressure of the knife. I have set my holding hand, thumb and finger, onto the
table on either side of the stem. I am not pushing into the stem. Instead I am simply
holding my fingers in place firmly against the bracing board. That lets my fingers take
the pressure of the cut instead of the wood.

Here my thumb is catching the pressure of the cut.

When I start the outer side of the stem with the chip knife I have moved my holding hand down to the tip of the stem to catch the cut pressure ...

At no time have I cut on this stem without my holding hand acting as the brace.

With each change of the knife position I change the position of my holding hand or
bracing hand. This is one of those few times where I do want my holding hand directly
in front of the blade and the direction of the cut. Work gentle, work slowly and work
carefully through these steps.

.

[Irish]

Step 241: As I began working the tip I could 'feel' that I had tapered the tip slightly on the front side during the stem shaping stages. This means that tip is not resting directly on the board. Instead it is floating in air. So I have grabbed one of my white erasers and my chip knife to cut a small piece as a prop.

Erasers are great for this type of situation because you can cut them to fit the opening between the two leaf areas and you can shave it to the exact thickness you need to support that stem tip.

When you are done with this little bit of eraser throw it into the bottom of your tool kit. You will be surprised at how often it comes in handy as a prop in your carving.

Step 242: I can now safely use my chisel or wide sweep to taper that tip so that it will be raised away from the wall when hung. The eraser is catching the pressure of the knife.

Step 243: The stem area is done, just a little rounding over and tapering. So I am
finishing up along the back side edges. Yep, I'm back to chip knife then chisel then wide sweep smoothing.

Step 244: I have flipped my work back to the face side ofthe carving and am rounding over the top side of the stem tip with my chip knife.

Step 245: Opps! Sorry! I forgot to show you what the back looked like when it was dressed out.

.

[Irish]

Step 246: I am getting ready to cut the serrated points along the sides of the leave to make this into a grape leaf. Remember, I miss named this tutorial. Those serrations will have one side cut straight into the leaf. The other side will curve into that straight cut. You want the curve side of the serration on the center side of the leaf.

I have my thumb at the center vein of this leaf lobe and have marked some of the serration v's that I am going to cut.

Step 247: I am making that first straight cut. I am sure you realize that these
serrations are being cut just the way we added the extra points in his beard.

Step 248: Here's the second cut.

Step 249: Leaves do not have perfectly spaced serrations. So make a few close together and then some far apart. Make some shallow and some deep. Use lots of variety in making these v cuts.

Step 250: (This is outrageous, Susan ... 250! .... AHHH!) I have marked the second side for the serrations so that they also point to the center vein of the lobe.

.

[Irish]

Step 251: The second set of v serrations are cut exactly as the first set using a two cut process.

Step 252: When I reach the roll over edge of the leaf at the bottom tip of the leaf I want to work those serrations right on the leaf edge. This means that I am pushing the first cut straight into the edge.

The second cut tapers into the first, just as we have been doing. But again this v
cut is worked on the edge of that roll over.

Step 253: I have gone all the way around my outer edge with the serration cuts.

I am done the smoothing stage !!!!!!

.

[Irish]

Step 254: I am ready for one of my favorite parts of a carving ... Chasing Fuzz Bunnies!

Any one that knows my carving style knows that is what I call the last step of
cleaning out those little wood fibers that are still left, crisping up my corners and
joints and checking for double v-gouge strokes where there should only be one.
Now, there is no magic trick to this step. It simply is a repeat of what we have been doing during the smoothing stage. I am going to grab my terry cloth towel, my tools and settle myself in front of the telly for a while. I am going to slowly look over each and every area and do a little clean up where ever I think I need it.

I chose basswood for this project because it is an excellent wood for beginner's to learn how to use their knifes and tools and how to make your cuts.

Basswood has one major draw back, it's a stinker to clean up all the fuzz bunnies. Because it is a soft fibered wood and a tight grained wood it seems that no matter how hard you work there
will alway be a few fuzz bunnies left.

So, I set myself a time limit for fuzz bunny chasing, usually one evening of TV
watching. I start with the most notable fiber and corners then work towards the minor ones. At the end of the evening I'm done! When we do the oil stage you will see that many minor fibers will take care of themselves.

As you grow in wood carving you will start using other, harder woods than basswood. Most harder woods do not fiber or fuzz bunny that way basswood does ....

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[Irish]

Here's what I am looking for in the fuzz bunny stage. My apologizes the corresponding photo got posted to the one above this.

1. I have a double v-gouge line in the upper eye lid.

2. That's a wobbly v-gouge line I need to re-cut.

3. There is still some band saw cut left.

4. I need to taper a little more into the nostril.

5. I have a chip out along the curve to clean up.

6. I need to round that lower lip better.

7. I have a double v in that point that needs dressing.

Now, I call this Fuzz Bunny Chasing because those little basswood fibers are as difficult to capture as trying to trap the fuzz bunnies that grow under your bed with a dry dust mop

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[Irish]

Oh, this is a good time for questions, if you have any. And if you want close-ups of anything we have done please let me know.

Susan

(Girl! No one on this message board is ever again going to dare ask YOU to post each and every step you do in a carving. And I think I have blown away my bandwidth allotment for this board for at least the next year and a half .... sigh)

[Ashbys]

Susan,
I can not speak for the others , but I can not tell you how much this would have helped me when I first started, and is still!
Every book , every instruction that I read when I started left out cuts steps on doing a carving. I think it is really important to make everyone aware of how much really is involved with a carving. When studing teaching sticks, you would see extra cuts which were not talked about , this is the first I have ever seen that really showed all the steps. It is Awesome!

Now I must tell you one thing that I have been really impressed with, is the strength in your hands. In so many of your cuts your hand reflect the strength developed over carving for years, They are really impressive.

Garry

[Irish]

Garry, What a compliment, thank you!

Especially about my hands. My grandmother was a hard working farm woman from West Virginia. I remember as a child her hands were scared, worn, leathery and had these huge dark veins in her thin skin ... I remember thinking they were so beautiful because they showed how she had spent her life.

I will feel graced if my hands ever look as 'experienced' as hers.

Thank you. Susan

[Tidewalker]

I am sooo pleased that you undertook this great tutorial and put so much time and effort into this. I have been reading alot of books and other tutorials and none come close to being as this detailed. Thanks so much again Suasn.

Darren