Wood Carving

Method of Construction for Carving Wood

2011-05-16T03:24:00.000-07:00

When we do the wood carving to make the ornaments, there are some guidance which we need to know or learn so we can get the shape which we want. In this article we will learn the method on how to carve for a better result.

Ornament carvers, when making delicate carvings such as wall-light brackets, sometimes laminate sections with the grain of each piece running in the opposite direction to that of its neighbor. When glued up, these pieces support and strengthen each other.

A method of making toys in eight sections for the sake of strength, the grain in every case running the length of the thinner parts of the horse, the ears, legs, tail and body are all in separate parts. This type of toy is usually cut out on a fret saw, glued up and then carved by a knife in the hand. I have used a similar method of construction in making a carved horse in mahogany for a restaurant sign. The pattern of the pieces will vary according to the design.

In many woods, such as jarrah, which grow under very dry conditions, the grain is often wavy but straight in direction. This type of grain in no way impedes carving. Woods such as lignum vitae, have an interlocking grain and turn well on a lathe but can be difficult for an inexperienced carver. In carving lime wood, apple, beech, cherry, sycamore, pine, oak, and mahogany, you will not find any serious difficulty as far as grain is concerned, provided you remember the strength and the weakness of wood described in this chapter.

Carving a log In the previous article I have discussed the seasoning of wood and the desirability of using dry timber. There is a great risk of splitting if this latter rule is not observed.

However, I do not overlook the fact that you may have a log of wood in your garden just asking to be carved. If you are willing to take a chance on its opening up then by all means go ahead. Cracks are not necessarily disastrous and can be filled.

I have heard of carvings splitting completely in half but you may not be so unlucky. First bring the log under cover and jack it up on wood blocks in a cool dry place. If you can leave it for some months, do so. Many say that a log should be given a year's seasoning for every inch of its diameter.

I have heard a timber merchant say that the center of a large log is never seasoned. It is not easy to make rules about this as so much depends on the type of wood and the humidity of the atmosphere. In any case you should not hasten the process of drying by exposing the log to direct heat. If you paint the cut ends it will help to prevent splitting. If a log is kept in the dark, in for instance the cellar, and then suddenly exposed to the light, splitting will often take place. I know this from painful experience.

In medieval times wood carvings were often made from the trunks of trees that had been hollowed out from the back. This enabled the wood to contract and expand. If, therefore, you hollow out the center of the log it will help. This is not easy but you can bore a few holes up through the center with the auger. This may prevent the star shakes. In the oak carving by W. Soukop (PLATE XVI, page 56 ff.), the figure is built in sections and the center of the wood removed.

A carving in a large log of wood, such as elm, may develop cracks, but the wood is very tough and the whole mass holds together. When carving just to please your self experiment with any wood available, remembering that most of the fruit woods are excellent for carving. Do not, therefore, turn your apple or cherry tree into logs for the fire.

We need to know how to handle the logs so they still can be use for carving. From this article we learned that never dry the woods under the heat if it was stored in a dark room for quite long time.
Source: Free Articles

wood carving - Some Useful Equipment for Wood Carving

2011-05-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

Before we start the wood carving, it is very necessary to check all the equipment which are required during the process. Find out some of the equipments which are needed for the wood carving.

The screw cramp
This is of German design and used in the same way as the 'G' cramp.

Sash cramps
These range in length from 3 ft. to 6 ft. and are used by joiners for assembling frames. For this reason the jaws are only 2 in. or 3 in. long.

The carver will find them useful in gluing up large work if he uses them in pairs with a stout board on each side of his work. In figure 10 the arms of a figure are being glued up at the shoulders.

The sloping stand or table
With the help and advice of friends I have recently evolved this piece of equipment and have found it excellent for carving both wood and stone panels.

For anyone with a little knowledge of carpentry it is a fairly simple piece of construction. The framework is made of wood 2 inch x 2 inch and the main board is 36 inch x 16 inch The whole stand could be made smaller or larger, according to your own requirements.

You will see from the picture of the back view illustrated that the stand is adjustable on the deck-chair principle. This particular model can be used at three different angles. The hinges on the supporting frame should be of a heavy type and not less than 2 inch in width as they will have to stand up to a good deal of vibration.

The wood of the main board should be at least 1 in. in thickness. The wood to be carved can be fixed on by bench screws, 'G' cramps, or by ordinary screws. This stand can be easily bolted down to the bench. The advantage of a sloping stand is that you can stand upright to carve and step back to see your work.

Other methods of fixing a panel
If you want your work flat on the bench, and many carvers do, it is an easy matter to fix the panel. Bench screws can be used (see Fig. 9). The length of these can be varied by interposing a block of wood between the wing nut and the underside of the bench. You can also fix a frame of wood around your carving and drive in a few wooden wedges to hold it tight (Fig. 37). If you are working on a fairly heavy piece of wood, two wood stops screwed down at right angles to each other will be sufficient.

With all the guidelines which are provided in this article, now we know the things which are required for the wood carving. Check for some carpentry equipment available, which you might also need it during the wood carving process.
Source: Free Articles

wood carving - Marco Touch Wood Carving Sculptures

2011-04-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Some wonderful art work on wood sculpture

the art of wood carving

2011-04-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Woodcarving. The exhibition at the Museum Arsenyev Vladivostok

2011-01-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

On every face - an imprint of life as a unique pattern on a cut tree.

Vladimir Boyko was born in the village. Krasny Yar, Primorsky Krai. All his childhood he spent in the forest, where he met with Udege. At the mine "Far" in the area Kavalerovskom lived about 20 years, worked in the mines of Chukotka, a diligent Artel looking for gold, tin.

In the 30 years he wanted to cut the wood face Dersu Uzala And picking up a lime churochku, a tool was cut and I realized: it turns out! Vladimir Boiko only works with natural materials (lime, aspen, and occasionally Tim, deer fur, leather, horse hair!).

Most Vladimir likes to make "portraits" of the elderly Udege, although among his works is Slavic, Mongolian, African face. All of them are drawn from real prototypes. Grandma Ouzou - one of them. On every face - an imprint of life as a unique pattern on a cut tree.

wood Carving in chaina

2011-01-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

China Wood Carving

2011-01-16T03:34:00.000-08:00

The wood carving art has a history as long as other carving arts. Wood carving started from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of China, through Dang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties till now, year after year with constant innovation and development. Wood carving is one of the traditional carving arts in Guangzhou. It composes the three genres of wood carving arts of our country together with Beijing wood carving and Jiangsu wood carving.

Guangzhou wood carving is famous for its style of semi-cubic through carving, full board carving connected with multi-layered carving. Chen Clan Temple built in Guangxu times of Qing Dynasty had collected the artistic spirits of wood carving, especially the Chaozhou gold painted wood carving ghost pavilion in Qing Dynasty and the censer cover represented the unique style of wood carving with elaborate crafts and exquisitely carved. The famous carving art of Guangzhou rosewood furniture came from the Guangzhou wood carving art.

All Abut Wood Carving

2011-01-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

Choosing the Best Wood for Carving

2011-01-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

Wood like any others materials has come up in so many types. But we need to know their characteristic so we know how to use them for the wood carving. As each of the woods has different texture and color, we will need some guidance on which woods that we have to use for our purpose. In this article we will learn some tips of woods which we can use.

Wild Cherry (40 lb.) Like other American fruit woods, wild cherry is a very good carving wood. It needs slow seasoning and tends to split if dried quickly. The sapwood is light and the heart-wood a reddish brown. The texture is fine and even and it takes a smooth polish. It is used also in cabinet work, frames and other decorative work.

Sweet Chestnut (42 lb.)

This wood can be mistaken for oak but it is about twenty-five per cent lighter when seasoned. The silver grain present in oak is absent, however. It is easy to work and has been widely used for timber work in churches.

Ebony (63 lb.)

Ebony, not easily obtained, is black with a fine grain. The tools tend to blunt because of the rather gritty nature of the wood. It will take fine detail and a high polish.

Elm (36-37 lb.)

Elm, like ash, is a wood familiar in everyday life. We see it in wheelbarrows, furniture and garden seats, and like ash it is tough and strong and suitable for large wood carvings.

Douglas Fir (31 lb.)

This is a very strong wood and quite hard. It does, however, have a great tendency to check, split, shrink, and swell.

Holly (36 lb.)

This wood fine grained and heavy, is pure white in color. As the holly is of shrub-like proportions, its wood can be used, like boxwood, only for small objects and carvings, musical instruments, and inlay. Holly is fairly easy to work and will take detail without breaking or splitting.

Curly Jarrah (55 lb.)

This wood is rich red in color and is probably the most important tree found in Western Australia. It can grow to as much as six feet in diameter. Jarrah carves well and takes a very high natural polish. It is extremely durable. The grain is straight but with a wavy or rippling character.

Iroko

This is the West African carver's favorite wood Exposure to air turns the wood from straw color to red and the surface hardens. Finally, however, it becomes hard all through and it is resistant to termites.

Kingwood (70 lb.)

This timber, not easily obtained, is found in Brazil and is similar to Indian Rosewood. Sizes are small, the maximum being 18 inch in diameter. The color of the wood is remarkable, almost violet with narrow, regular black stripes interspersed with wide, lighter bands. The grain is uniform and the wood will burnish to a fine natural polish.

Lignum Vitae (80-90 lb.)

This is one of the heaviest of all woods and is therefore widely used for mallets and tools where weight and toughness is required. The heartwood is dark greenish brown and the sapwood a contrasting yellow. The fibres of the wood are interlocked and it is impossible to split, though it can be carved with sharp tools.

lime (33 lb.)

This is a favorite wood for sculpture. It is firm and pleasant to carve. The color is whitish to yellowish pink. Lime takes stain or bleach readily, the latter turning the timber pure white. It is moderately hard and takes a very good polish. Lime is also used for drawing boards, hat blocks and cabinetwork.

Choose the wood according to their type. From this article we have learned that each of the wood have their own characteristics and typical. Before you start the wood carving, recognize the wood which you have so you will know how to carve it in the proper way for a better result.

Source: Free Articles

Wood Carving: How To Sharpen Straight Chisels ??

2011-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

If you're going to be a true wood carver, you really should learn how to sharpen your own tools. And straight chisels are the easiest carving tools to sharpen. Once you know how to do it correctly, you could sharpen any other straight-edged tool in your collection.

If you're just starting out as a wood carver, you'll quickly discover how wood chisels are used all the time. There are many kinds, many sizes. They'll need periodic sharpening and it's good to be able to do them yourself. It isn't very fitting to have to bring your tools to a professional sharpener whenever they become dull. You lose money, you lose time. And best of all, straight chisels are the easiest wood carving tools to sharpen.

Straight chisels can be sharpened in two steps. The first is to get the tool's edge to sharpness, and the second is to strop that edge to silky smoothness.

æ Straight Chisel Sharpening. This is sharpening for straight square chisels and it's very simple. Start with a coarse grade sharpening (honing or whetting) stone. Make the shaft vertical with the edge touching the stone. Slowly lower the end facing up until the edge's surface touches the wood. Stop right there. With the beveled face flush on the stone, you have achieved the correct sharpening angle.

While holding the chisel's beveled face flush against the stone, place your index finger on the top of the beveled surface for better control. Pull the stone towards you, away from the edge. Do this 10-20 times and then check for the burr. A burr is a feather-like sliver of wire that will come off the chisel's edge when you have achieved absolute sharpness. You slide your finger across the edge (never lengthwise!) and a burr will feel like sand or grit on your edge. If there isn't a burr, do another set of strokes until you've correctly raised it. If the tool has a second bevel, sharpen it as you have just done with the first bevel. Sharpen until you've correctly raised the burr.

After sharpness has been achieved with a coarse stone, move to a fine grade stone. You can do this with just one fine grade stone or with a succession of increasingly fine grade stones. Perform the sharpening strokes in the same way until you get a burr. If you've got a second bevel, do the same until a burr is raised. Be very sure that you've raised a burr along the entire length of the chisel's edge, and on both sides. If you won't make sure, just stop what you're doing and go watch television. I'm not kidding. If you're going to sharpen, do it well or not at all. It will affect how well you're able to carve. (If that doesn't matter to you, really, then what are you doing?)

There are a couple of different stroke techniques that are commonly used when sharpening straight chisels. With your index finger on the top of the beveled surface as you grip the shaft, place the fingers of your other hand on top of the first. Instead of pulling the tool towards you, you run it in circles. If not that, you can also push the tool sideways in one direction and then sideways in the other. There is no one specific method. Experiment and see which technique is best for you. I like the stroke that pulls away from the edge best. It's the simplest way to raise a burr and then detect it.

æ Skewed Chisel Sharpening. Skewed chisels are just a bit different from straight chisels. A skewed chisel's edge is at a slanted angle, a skewed angle, and joins the side of the chisel head at an acute angle of less than 90 degrees.

Sharpening a skewed chisel is done in just the same way as sharpening a straight chisel. There is only one difference. The skewed edge needs to be made parallel to the forward edge of the sharpening stone. Or the edge can be made perpendicular to the side edge of the sharpening stone. Either way works fine. Just be consistent if there is a second bevel.

æ Chisel Stropping. Your well-sharpened chisel now has burrs all along its edge. Well done. Stropping will remove those burrs and all other micro-bits still clinging.

You've got a couple of choices when it comes to stropping. First choice: You can use a free strap of leather to strop your edge in one direction and then the other. Lay the beveled face of your chisel's edge flat on the strap and pull away from the edge, parallel to the length-wise surface of the strap. Near the end of the strap, lift the chisel and turn it over. Place the opposite face of the chisel's edge flat on the strap. Pull in the opposite direction, away from the edge and parallel to the strap surface. Back and forth and back and forth until your edge is silky smooth.

The second choice for stropping your chisel edge is to use a stropping board, also referred to as a honing board. This could be in the form of a flat rectangular board, a paddle, a wooden bench or it could be one you make yourself. The technique for using a stropping board is just the same as the technique used on a free leather strap.

Leather strops and stropping boards are usually combined with a polishing compound. It facilitates the stropping process and makes carving much easier. It may be in the form of a liquid, a paste, powder or even a solid block that fits in the palm of your hand.

Stropping is a very important step in sharpening and shouldn't be dismissed. Think of it as you using a chisel with a dirty edge. It surely doesn't perform as well as a clean edge. And because it's dirty, using it will cause you to have to sharpen it much quicker than you usually would. So strop, and strop well. Your carving will be better for it.

Beginners need to be very careful when stropping. As novices in this art, the edge is often rounded instead of being polished smooth. That's because the edge isn't truly flat during the stropping process. A secondary bevel will be produced that thickens with each sharpening. Eventually, the only way to save the edge is to remake it. That would be a great loss in time and effort. Pay close attention.

When you've trained those hands to do a good job, you'll be able to sharpen any straight chisel, any skewed chisel in your tool collection. That's a lot you already know about sharpening carving tools. Keep it up. Just be so careful and watch out for secondary bevels.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world. If you would like to find out about - Knife Sharpening: How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them - Sharpening Other Edges (e.g. Lawn Mower Blades, Chain Saws, Gardening Tools, Axes) Find it here at http://www.MakeKnivesSharp.com .

Wood Carving: How To Choose The Right Tools ??

2011-01-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

If you're going to be a wood carver and not just a whittler, you'll need to select a number of tools. You could use just a handful and work with small projects. Or you could use a variety, including power tools, to work on really large projects. There's just no way around it. So what are the right tools for wood carving?

If you're going to be a wood carver and not just a whittler, you'll need to select a number of tools. There's just no way around it. So what are the right tools for wood carving?

Tools for Sharpening. Before the carving tools, it seems appropriate that tools for sharpening them should come first. After all, first we sharpen and then we carve.

At the very minimum, you should have a sharpening stone and a strop. The sharpening stone is used to get your edges to sharpness. Many sharpening stones come in different shapes and in different sizes. Some are very accommodating to the typically short blade lengths of wood carving blade edges. There are diamond coated slipstones that work very well to sharpen an edge. Some sharpening stones can even be found on a key chain or as small as a credit card. So very convenient.

A well-sharpened edge will have a burr and micro-bits of metal still clinging to it. A strop can easily remove all of these. This is very important in wood carving. Anything added to the edge will only slow your progress. You've got to get everything off. If you prefer, you could use a honing compound or a honing board to smooth out your edges.

If you're really serious about becoming a wood carver, it is highly recommended that you learn how to sharpen and strop a knife. Once you've learned that, you'll also be able to sharpen most other carving edges. The need for smooth sharp edges is a constant in wood carving. When you can achieve them, you'll be worlds ahead of the rest. No kidding.

Tools for Shaping. Each type of carving tool that is meant to shape wood has a specific function. At the very minimum, you should have carving knives, wood chisels, wood gouges, wood rasps and rifflers, a mallet and maybe even a power drill.

æ Carving knives. This is your most basic of all carving tools and there are many kinds. There are straight-edged knives, skewed knives, bent knives, chip knives, detail knives, special pocket knives modified for carving and folding knives with lockable blades. And these aren't all of them. There are even micro-knives or micro-tool kits, if you'd like.

It's a matter of functionality. Each edge is target specific. When you've learned what each type of knife can do, and you've considered the carving project ahead of you, then you'll know which knives are best for that job. The best knives used for one specific task may not be the same knives that are best for another. That's why you've got choices.

æ Wood chisels. Chisels can be found with a bevel on only one side of the edge or they can be found with a double-sided beveled edge. The head may be slanted or square in shape. They may even be bent forward or backward. You'll have quite a selection.

æ Wood gouges. This is one of the most used tools in wood carving. There are many shapes and sizes. Some are very short and stout while others extend for a few inches with an extended blade edge. You'll probably end up with several kinds. That's not a problem. Surely, you'll use each one at some time or another.

æ Wood Rasps or Riffler files. It's easy to get confused when you're shopping around for these tools. Not all merchants agree. Really. Some stores call it a rasp, others will call it a riffler. And yet another will call it a rasp riffler. How to know, how to know. Well, the majority of merchants appear to agree that a rasp is a very coarse, straight file. The tool itself may be thick and rectangular like a sharpening file but don't be surprised to find those that are slender with a curving head, looking just like a riffler.

Rifflers, on the other hand, are usually slender with a curved head. Many times these curved heads can be found on both ends of the riffler. You can even find kits that offer you different shaped heads and at different sizes.

æ Mallets. These little hammers are invaluable in the right circumstance. They are a must for chip carving, relief carving and intaglio carving. (What am I saying?) Mallets are a must for all wood carving. You may need just a few millimeters off of here and no more, maybe add a little notch there, an indent over here, maybe create a shadow. It really is such a valuable tool.

æ Power tools. There are some pretty nice power tools for wood carving. There are power drills, rotor saw burrs, power chisels and mini grinders. You can even find power carving kits. There's even a wood carver's kit that offers its own selection of power grinders.

These tools are quite extraordinary in how much time and labor they can save wood carvers. Many consider them only for life-size or extremely large carvings. It's all up to the carver. Hey, how about a carving created entirely by power tools? (... Wonder how big that'd be.)

Tools for Sanding and Smoothing. When all the wood carving and shaping is done, you'll want to sand and smooth all surfaces. This is an important step that precedes any painting or varnishing. In doing so, you'll remove any remains from any previous finishing process and you'll also prepare the wood to bond with any non-penetrating chemicals. Sanding can be done using sand paper, sanding clothes or sanding sticks.

æ Sanding is often accomplished using sand paper. There are many grades, from very, very coarse to very, very fine. There's quite a selection. Something very similar to this is the defuzzing pad. It does as it sounds. It removes all fuzz still clinging to the wood surface.

æ There are sanding clothes that come in a roll and are available in varying grit sizes. Sections may be cut from the roll and rolled or folded as you wish. Best thing is, you don't have to worry about it cracking or falling apart on you.

æ Sanding sticks may also be found in varying grit sizes. You can also find sanding stick kits or sanding detail kits that can remove glue or minute remains of your finishing products. Mini-belt sanding sticks or sanding belts may be used for large sanding jobs.

Wood carving is an amazing craft to develop. You could use just a handful of tools and work with small projects. Or you could use a bunch of tools, including power tools, to work on really large projects. Either way, it's very relaxing, oftentimes exhilarating and extremely satisfying. Have fun!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Len Q. is a knife sharpening expert and protector of the natural world. If you would like to find out about ª Knife Sharpening: How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them ª Sharpening Other Edges (e.g. Lawn Mower Blades, Gardening Tools, Chain Saws, Axes) Find it here athttp://www.MakeKnivesSharp.com .

You Want To Be A Wood Carver ??

2011-01-10T21:29:00.000-08:00

Wood carving is a special craft that's been around since the days of cavemen. With time, it has become quite an impressive art to behold. It's also very relaxing, often exhilarating and extremely satisfying. If you decide to become a wood carver, there'll be several styles to choose from. So how can you know which style is best for you?

Wood carving is a special craft. It requires extreme patience that could flourish with a fine imagination. If you decide to become a wood carver, you'll have several styles to choose from. You could use just a piece of wood and a small knife. Or you could go so far as using power tools. So how can you know which style is best for you?

There are five main styles of woodcarving. Each style is distinctly different from the other. These styles are whittling, chip carving, relief carving, intaglio carving and carving in the round.

æ Whittling. Whittling involves the removal of pare shavings or bits of wood with a cutting blade. It is the simplest form of wood carving, but not actually the art of wood carving. This is a significant distinction because whittling is, and should always be, very simple. A piece of wood and a knife are all you require. And because it is so simple, whittled objects don't have much detail, as is the case in all other styles of wood carving.

When you're holding a whittled object in your hand, you absolutely know it. Each knife stroke is clearly seen. It remains as simple as when it began centuries ago, during the time of cavemen. Isn't that amazing?

æ Chip Carving. Chip carving involves the use of several knives to remove small pieces of wood (chips) from a flat wood surface. These are specially made chip knives that are used to push or pull at the wood, cutting upwards or downwards to free each chip.

Chip carving has become so popular that it is now its own art form. The main technique is to chip varying triangular shapes from the wood. This creates complex patterns that are often geometric in nature. Free form lines are regularly used to accentuate these chipped patterns. You could really let your imagination go.

æ Relief Carving. This type of carving is done on a flat back cut of wood with images cut in 3-dimensional fashion. These are the wood carvings you see on walls or sitting on tables or surface tops.

There are two types of relief carving. A low relief carving is identifiable by the visual effect that is created. Without shadows to imply deep carving, the product appears very shallow and is thus considered low relief. In high relief carvings, a spectacular depth effect is created by the addition of shadows throughout. Both types result in carvings with good dimension and detail. The end product is polished to create a very smooth surface. Then it may be painted, waxed or varnished.

æ Intaglio Carving. This style of wood carving is very similar to relief carving. But instead of looking as though it is above the wood surface, it looks as if it is part of the wood. This is because the design is actually carved deep into the wood, below the surface. Think of old wooden rolling pins. Remember the cute little pictures that were carved into it? That's intaglio carving.

Many furniture makers really like the style of intaglio carving. It has come so far as to be fitted for a blank space, carved separately and then inserted into the furniture. How about that? It can even be found in dining tables and in bedroom furniture. It's wonderful for wood paneling. You can even see it in specialty plaques, as part of an existing decorative item or as the actual surface of coffee tables and end tables.

æ Carving In The Round. This is the most advanced style of wood carving. The product can be viewed from all sides with a full and easy view of all details. It is carved out of the wood and its base serves as a supporting platform or as a pedestal. The carving could be a person, an animal or a landscape nearly anything you can imagine. It could be life-sized or to scale. The sky is almost the limit with carving in the round.

This style of carving requires quite a number of tools. A variety of knives, gouges and chisels are a bare minimum. The use of power tools is not surprising and often expected. The final product then is usually quite spectacular. Oftentimes, a product of carving in the round is easily mistaken for a porcelain creation. The details are that impressive.

Wood carving has been around since the days of cavemen. With time, it has become quite an impressive art to behold. It's very relaxing, often exhilarating and extremely satisfying. If you're looking for a hobby, wood carving could be just what you're looking for.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Len Q. is a master blade sharpener and an adventurer who strives to protect the natural world. If you would like to find out about ª Knife Sharpening: How to Sharpen Knives, Maintain and Store Them ª The Fastest Way to Sharpen, Test for Sharpness, Stropping and more ª Sharpening Other Edges (e.g. Lawn Mower Blades, Chain Saws, Gardening Tools, Axes) Find it here at http://www.MakeKnivesSharp.com .

How to Carve a Wooden Horse Sculpture

2011-01-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

Woodcarving the Easy Way

Begin with an idea in mind. I want to create a small hobby horse wood carving, sort of like the horses of an old merry-go-round. This will a bit more involved and complicated than my wooden carved cat sculptures due to the shape of the horse. The head and neck of a horse rises higher than the body so a wider piece of wood is required. Other than this, the project is very similar and really easy.

I usually do my wood carving from a 2 X 4 beam and align the project lengthwise, such as my carved cat statues. Using a wooden plank that is two inches wide (that is, 1.75 inches but it is called "2 inches" I’ll explain why next) and 6 inches wide, we have the material to begin.

A "2 X 4" or any other board, beam or plank are these stated dimensions when rough-sawed at the mill. This is where the naming convention originates. Because this is rough lumber, it needs to be planed to smooth surfaces. Therefore, a "2 X 4" inch beam is really1.75 X 3.75 inches, a "1-in. board" is really 0.75 inches thick, and etc. It can be a little confusing with finished lumber being stated by their rough-cut dimensions but the figures are standard so once you are used to this reductive measuring system, it makes sense. Now, lets make the template for the hobby horse wood carving

Sketch your Design on Card-stock Paper, -a Horse

Create a cardboard template based upon this width of the beam being used (the height of the horse is the width of the beam.) I just lay the 2 X 6 plank across the white cardboard and trace the width and provide sufficient length for the project and base my design upon these parameters.

Using a pizza box as the template cardboard, I have traced the width of the beam onto the white underside and from that, sketched a fair approximation of the design that we will make. I decided after I drew this to make the horse body longer, depicted by the black arrows as a reminder when tracing to the wood. A clever shortcut here to avoid having to deal with the slender legs is to create this template from the body up, omitting the legs. Perhaps the horse is wading through water, perhaps the lower body is hidden in the dust stirred up by its passage. The imagination is yours. This larger surface area of the bottom will also make the final project more stable; it will stand upright and be less likely to tip

The Wood-carved Horse Template

Some minor sketch details are added to help visualize the effect we are after, and the template is simplified to the most basic outline possible. Save this template of course, for it is endlessly reusable and most helpful if you intend to create matched pairs of these horses.

Trace the Template Upon the 2×6 Wood Stock

Again, some detail is added here to the wood itself to help visualize the horse. I like to trace as many blanks onto the wood stock as possible and cut them all out at one time. This way I have ready-made ‘planchets‘ or ‘blanks‘ anytime I get the urge to do a little wood-carving. The hardest part is probably cutting all of these out. It is a bit time-consuming but the time you save now will be rewarded later.

As you can see, I try to squeeze an many tracings of the horse design onto my wood stock as possible. The planchets are photo-highlighted for detail. Note the three little triangular sections just ahead tail, the rear leg and just behind the front leg; Do not cut these out with the jigsaw! These are just visual guides traced onto the wood. The ‘recesses’ will be carved or sanded-in later. Cutting these ‘notches’ out now with the jigsaw will make the recesses too deep, leave tell-tale saw-blade marks and complicate the finish-sanding of the body.

Cut Out the Planchets using an electric Jig Saw

Notice that the three triangular recesses on each planchet as mentioned above are NOT cut-out.
Power tools are a must for these types of projects. I used to cut these out by hand, using narrow-bladed hand & coping saws. But for speed and accuracy, nothing beats a good electric jig saw such as the one shown here.
Use a medium-gauge blade for speed of cutting and for not producing too rough of a cut edge. Be sure that the blade is a sharp one. If the blade is dull from repeated use, change it. A dull blade ‘wanders’ from true vertical when cutting around corners and makes the planchets somewhat more difficult to render. I use my jig saw for many other projects around the home, not just my hobby work. So it is not uncommon that I begin projects like this that demand precision by changing the jig blade to a new one. Saw blades are cheap. When dull, don’t be hesitant to install a new one.

Wood Carving Made Simple! High Speed Rotary Cutting Tools!

Using the HIGH SPEED CUTTING BIT (shown left) in the rotary tool and wearing eye goggles and other protection, we begin to rough-out the general shape of the horse. The front legs will need to be delineated by carving-out the portion shown in hash-marks on the template. This is to suggest that the horse is perhaps taking a step forward with the left-front leg. The rear legs will be rendered more or less side-by-side.

The tail will be pared-down to a roundish ‘upside-down teardrop’ shape that grows more narrow towards the lower end of the tail, but will terminate upon the tabletop surface as a blunt stump perhaps the diameter of your thumbnail. The mane of the horse while it looks tricky to rough-out, is really easy. Just remove the wood that isn’t ‘the mane.’ This may sound simplistic, but this is all that wood-carving (or stone-carving, for that matter) really is about. -Just removing that which isn’t the subject. Try to imagine the desired object ‘inside’ of the wood, and remove that which isn’t.

The ears are separated and carved to point slightly sideways & forward. Most of these details can be fine-tuned using the SANDER BAND of the rotary tool. By the time you have reached this point (image above) you are pretty much an expert. The rest is just detailing with sandpaper, or the rotary sander first then switching to manually sanding with sandpaper.

The ‘hair detail’ of the tail and mane will be added later after sanding the body smooth and curvaceous.

thax to : http://factoidz.com/how-to-carve-a-wooden-horse-sculpture/

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