Thread: Simple Carving Question

Originally Posted by yahya

Ive been using just a normal quarter inch chisel trying to get down the basics and perfect my hand-control. But I cant figure out how to consistently have the background negative space come out flat without its surface level varying.

I see alot of people that pull it off... and Im sure its possible to do it without resorting to routers or other machines - so people that are able to do it by hand, do you have any tips/suggestions for me?

Much appreciated.

A router plane and or small scrapers would be what I would be looking at

Yep, an stanley #271 or similar router plane would be perfect for this. Study
patrick's blood and gore for details, maybe even knock one up.

Not entirely sure what you mean but i'll have a stab.

Use a sharp Sqyare/flat ended chisel and scrape it along the surface.
Hold it close to the end of the chisel edge.
For finer or softer stuff those classic razor blades are perfect.

Its kind of hard on the wrists but it gets there.

I won't resort to machinery if I'm carving as I reckon the piece is not genuinly carved . Just my own quirky opinion. I get the background space even by using a the head of a screw into a piece of say 20 x 20 timber long enough to span across the work. Set the distance of the screw head to the timber the same as the depth of the negative space and use it as a guage to constantly check the depth. The background won't be dead level as if you used a router but it will be the result of using a carving tool.

Smear the head of the screw with crayon to mark high spots. Shave away colored wood. Called "blueprinting" in machine work (doesn't have to be blue, of course), but works the same.

Joe