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astrid
2nd January 2008, 08:53 PM
Hello guys,(girls)
now we can get back to our real work.......






Entertaining children,..
can anyone tell me the basics for wood carving?
I got them 9 flexcut palm chisels between them and some blocks of kauri and QLD hoop pine. the hoop pine seems rather hard.
any better suggestions?
they've had basic safety training, a vice and a kevlar glove each.
now what do they do???

do they draw the basic shape first?
on an irregular bit of timber i guess you let the wood dictate the form.
but on a rectangular chunk?
couldn"t find a book on basics.

Cheers and happy new year
Astrid

robynmau
3rd January 2008, 08:46 AM
Hi Astrid

The kids will love it, I'm sure :)

Have you checked the web, rather than buying a book? I was wandering about the other day and found Chris Pye's website http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ has beginners instructions in his Slipstone area. I have one of his books and really like his work and thought I could try carving on my turning later on.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Robyn

astrid
3rd January 2008, 08:12 PM
Thanks robyn, this will help,
Astrid:)

Andy Mac
3rd January 2008, 10:29 PM
Hi Astrid,
see if you can get hold of some Camphor Laurel, a really nice timber for carving. I try to use it in my classes, and you can see the students enjoy it after trying other stuff on offer, like pine, Macrocarpa, silky oak or that horrid Chinese elm! The colours in Camphor can be a bit distracting though, with wild streaks of brown, purple and green amongst the pale straw that most of it has.

Cheers,

Groggy
3rd January 2008, 10:43 PM
I have a 10" x 3" disk of camphor that was for turning but had a bad section in the middle. I'll try and remember to bring it on Sat, it may suit carving if you only want small items. The smell should keep them entertained anyway.

astrid
4th January 2008, 12:07 AM
That would be really nice,
thanks Groggy

Astrid

flynnsart
13th January 2008, 11:55 AM
So how is the carving going? My dad suggested Jelutrong (spelling?) as an easy wood to carve.

Donna

astrid
16th January 2008, 06:27 PM
well as usual with kids there not interested when you have time to help.
my 10 yo is thinking about what to carve and the 14 yo cracked it when i told her she has to use the vice till shes used to the tools.
went all arty on me and told me she cant feel the wood.
tough titty.
Groggy gave me a nice chunk of camphor laural and i have sone Qld hoop and kauri' so this should keep em busy while im inmy shed with that chair

theyll get into it
Astrid



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echnidna
18th January 2008, 11:31 AM
Heres a video on carving

flynnsart
18th January 2008, 12:21 PM
That was interesting! Thanks for sharing it.

Donna

Ashwood
21st January 2008, 02:10 PM
Flynnsart - just for info, it's "Jelutong", which is a soft Malaysian hardwood (don't you just love the paradox of the term hardwood & softwood).

astrid
22nd January 2008, 03:30 PM
Thanks bob,
sorry i didnt get back sooner, I was exiled to Heywood for 4 days.
I think the vidio is the answer to their problems.
Theyve been tring to carve 3d, where as i think starting them on a simple relief animal or flower or MANGA stamp would be best.

Whats a good size for a child with limited concentration? not mine in particular but kids in general.

I have some kauri in 5" squares

this vid was great and even inspired me to have a shot, now I've got the chisels:B

Cheers
Astrid

SPIRIT
23rd January 2008, 05:42 PM
here is the web site that got me hooked into carveing the pic of the old carver l just love
a wood spirit is a great first carveing if you make any mistakes it doesn't matter http://www.blanchardwoodsculpture.com/home.html

clare
3rd February 2008, 01:43 PM
Just like to echo that camphour is a great wood to carve, although I started my (then) young son on carving years ago and he used Jelutong and it was like carving butter, but his flat project 'wilted' like butter with heat/humidity etc too.

I use camphour to make my rocking horses. I find the wood very stable, and a joy to carve, other than those frantic, busy red areas, where the grain goes off in all directions and can make a fury mess with unpredictable end grain popping up from nowhere. Still, I like to use it for ease of carving, but also because I know I'm not damaging any fragile environment with this wood. Where I live it's often bull-dozed up into huge piles and burnt. Such a waste of a brilliant resource, even if it's not native, but we humans can be a little remedial sometimes, repeating the same history over and over.........

But GOOD ON YOU for getting your child into carving/arts appreciation! :2tsup: Brilliant!!!

Clare.

astrid
3rd February 2008, 07:11 PM
Thanks Clare,
Unfortunately, HWMBO bought them Laptops:no:
Till they get this out of their system no carving is being achieved.
But their both pretty creative, there's no forcing the muse:roll:
Got as far as tracing a pier and seagull on a bit of hoop pine today:2tsup:

Astrid

Anne Zaisho
9th May 2012, 04:13 PM
Hi,
I just want to let everyone who doesn't know, Jelutong is a south east asian rainforest timber. It seems a shame to remove old growth rainforests from the world just so we can carve a little easier.
Check this site for more information if your interested.
http://www.wettropics.gov.au/st/rainforest_explorer/Resources/Documents/8to9/GoodWoodGuide.pdf

I personally prefer Hoop Pine, covers a diverse amount of projects :)

Anne