trying to learn to carve with a knife

[CarvedTones]

This is rather embarrassing to admit, :embaresse but as much as I like to carve and aspire to make that the cornerstone of what I do in the shop, I am not very good with a knife. I can shape big stuff like instrument necks with power or a spokeshave or a draw knife (doesn't count ). I can shape smaller stuff for intarsia and segmentation projects using power. I can hollow with an adze or power and clean it up with gouges or power. I can do a reasonably good job on shallow relief carvings with my palm set and I am getting there with the mallet tools. Then there is the knife. I can cut strings to length and open packages with the best of 'em. :roll: I do have a "bench knife" that is a single bevel thick blade chip knife that I use to clean things up and I use and Exacto to cut veneer to various shapes, but that isn't carving.

So I have decided to address that deficiency. I chose a couple of things out of the most recent Wood Carving Illustrated magazine - a face that you cut on a board corner primarily using triangles and some chip patterns. I started out with the chip knife but found it isn't a good choice for general carving due to the thick blade and steep bevel; it tends to tear into the wood. I got a good pocket knife that has a coping blade and have had better luck with it:

My photos are pretty bad, but I will start with a closeup of a face I did. This is actually zoomed in - the actual carving is less than 3" high. It is not finished; this is just where I stopped:

The right side ("his" left) came out OK and the overall shape is OK, but I really butchered the left side. It looks OK from further away, but I am looking for advice, not praise, so I took a close up to expose its many flaws.

I also tried a little chip carving with mixed results:

I drew a single twist Celtic knot pattern by hand and roughed it in relief with my palm tools so I could feel competent for a few minutes.

These last couple of pictures are terrible photos, but you can still kind of see where I am with this.

I tried a couple on a found wood stick. This is probably the best of the faces I roughed out:

This one is an even worse photo, and the carving is barely begun, but I had something of a breakthrough - I gave him the expression I had in mind! It is way too early in the process to be doing that, but it is just a practice piece, so when I got the urge to do it I did:

In the background you can see the face I posted above zoomed in. From further away, you can clearly tell what it is and the flaws aren't so obvious. So it could be worse...

Anyway, suggestions and criticism are welcome.

 

[Mike Davis]

Andy,

I haven't carved with a pocket knife since I was a young lad, so if that is your goal I can't help. Except to say sharpen that knife!

If you want to improve your carving overall I'll say get the right tool for the job. I don't have anywhere near enough chisels, but I'm working on it. Slowly, but surely. Giving up one lunch a week will get you a new chisel per month or a good used one every two weeks if you get lucky and find one at a flea market.

The cheap sets are less useful until you regrind and sharpen the blades.

Can't stress enough that the major advantage is a sharp tool. Then practice.

 

[CarvedTones]

Mike,

I hone my carving tools often; probably more than needed. It's sort of like that Celtic knot I roughed out - I do it every now and then to feel like I know what I am doing.

Yes, my goal is to learn to knife carve well. I do also want to slowly grow my chisel and gouge selection. I don't want to carve solely with the knife by any stretch. I do need practice in all aspects, though I can follow a pattern for relief pretty well now. That knot is a little sloppy because that is how I drew it; I knew I was just messing around on a practice board.

I have a cheap chisel set that does serve me pretty well. I have one of the Lee Valley honing guides that I used to get the bevels consistent and the edges sharp. They won't stay sharp as long as better made tools, but while they are sharp they are as good as any. I have one Pfiel gouge and I fear it will be the ruin of my tool funds; it is far and away the best carving tool I have and I want more of them.

 

[PeteQuad]

I don't do much carving except fooling around, but one thing I have tried a bit more is knife carving. The great thing about it is that you can sit outside, away from the shop, and carve away, poking your head up to tell you kids to stop hitting each other every once in a while .

Your efforts are much better than mine though Andy!

 

[CarvedTones]

I don't do much carving except fooling around, but one thing I have tried a bit more is knife carving. The great thing about it is that you can sit outside, away from the shop, and carve away, poking your head up to tell you kids to stop hitting each other every once in a while .

Your efforts are much better than mine though Andy!

Thanks, but I have a long way to go. I do like that portability aspect. I did some of the carving at camp with my daugher when she wanted to just chill out at the cabin for a while. I also like picking up found wood and not worrying about how to properly dry it and cut if I want to use it; just unfold a blade and have at it.

The chain, huh? Are you doing the caged ball at one end?

 

[PeteQuad]

Yep, I messed up while editting for a typo and deleted that line. I am doing the chain and a cage with a ball at one end. I picked up a used bench knife from someone rather than a folding knife, and I even made my own strop out of a hunk of white oak and an old belt .

 

[ccccarving]

Andy,
The best advice I can give you is sharp knives and Good Wood. When starting out I would stay away from found wood. I made that mistake and cut the tendons in my hand. Needless to say I was stopped for several weeks. Faces are very difficult basswood holds the details best.

Good Luck Charlie