A Manual of Wood Carving. John J. Holtzapffel
or cut it to shape on the grindstone or with a file; some carvers use a very coarse whetstone adapted to this purpose. The safe method of using a slip when not mounted in wood is to “lay the back of the gouge at an inch and a half from the edge on the edge of the table; the edge of the tool must be slightly raised, and the slip can then be applied with perfect safety and with great effect.” (Seaton.) The V, or parting tool, is difficult to sharpen because, until one has had practice with it, it is hard to cut down each side in exact uniformity with the other. For this it is necessary to have a slip ground to a V edge, so as to exactly fit the inside of the tool.
The Strap. This is a piece of hard, smooth leather, glued on a flat bit of board. This may be prepared with sweet oil and emery powder, or Tripoli, to be renewed as occasion requires, or with a preparation of lard and crocus powder. Emery paste sold at the tool-shop will answer for all ordinary work. When no strap is at hand a final sharp, or a razor edge, may be given even on a smooth pine board, especially if a very little fine air-dust be on it.
Sharpening the tools is like threading the needle in sewing, or putting a point on lead pencils when drawing, something which is a great trouble, and a constant interruption to earnest work, yet which must be constantly seen to. Never go on carving for a second if you find that a tool is growing in the least dull or “scratchy.” There can be no good work whatever without really good tools in perfect order.
It may be observed that tools are never ground quite so much inside as they are externally. Also that this double grinding gives a sharper cutting-edge; but gouges require very little edging inside.
Should the carver be unable to obtain a Turkey or Arkansas stone, he may use smooth slate, or almost any stone which is tolerably hard.
Wood. All wood for carving should be of the best quality, well seasoned, and free as possible from cracks, knots, or other irregularities. Fine white pine or deal, being very easy to cut, is suitable for a beginner. Lime and pear-tree wood, like pine, are even in the grain. American walnut is also easy to cut. It is of a beautiful dark colour, which is much improved by oiling and age. With this, but tougher than the preceding, are beech, elm, and oak. Poplar, yellow deal, and the so-called American wood (known as poplar in America, Middle States) are useful for many kinds of work. The carver should accustom himself, as soon as possible, to oak, as a hard wood is by no means hard to carve as soon as a little skill is acquired. Bone, ivory, and pearl-shell, which at the first effort seems to be almost impenetrable, after a few days are “worked” with great ease.
FIRST LESSON.
INDENTING AND STAMPING.
The first stage in wood-carving is to decorate a flat surface in very low relief by a process which, strictly speaking, is not carving at all. Let the beginner take a panel or thin flat board, let us say one of six inches in breadth, twelve in length, and half an inch or less in thickness. For this kind of work a finely grained, even, and light-coloured wood, such as holly or beech, is preferable. Draw the pattern on paper, of the size intended with a very black and soft lead or crayon pencil, place it with the face to the wood, and turning the edges over, gum them down to the edge of the panel. Then with some very smooth hard object, such as an agate or steel burnisher, an ivory paper-knife, or the end of a rounded and glossy penknife handle, carefully rub the back of the pattern. When this is done remove the paper, and the pattern will be found transferred to the wood. If imperfect, touch it up.
Fig. 20.
The pupil may now, with a pattern-wheel or tracer, indent or mark a line or narrow groove in the outline of the pattern. The tracer is the same implement of the same name which is used in repoussé or brass-sheet or metal-work. Its end is exactly like that of a screw-driver. To manage it properly hold it upright, and run it along, tapping it as it goes with a hammer of iron or wood, Fig. 20. In some countries a stick of wood about six inches in length, and an inch broad at the butt, is used. Where the wheel cannot be employed, as in small corners, use the tracer. The pointed tracer, Fig. 21, used in leather-work, and in carpentry, is often indispensable for the smaller pattern-work.
Fig. 21. Pointed and edged Tracer.
When the outline is all marked out in a groove, take one of the stamps, or grounding punches, shown on Fig. 23, and with the hammer indent the whole background, Fig. 24. If there be corners too small to admit the stamp or stamps for the same pattern, then finish them up with a pointed nail or any point, such as a bodkin. The result will be like the simple design in Fig. 23. When this is done, coat the whole with oil, rub it in, and wipe it off with care. Then with a piece of very soft wood polish only the pattern, and finally rub it off by hand or with a stiff brush. This kind of ornamentation is adapted to the covers of books or albums, as it can be applied to the thinnest sheets of wood.
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