Thread: Tatiana Baldina - AMAZING chip carvings on boxes

And, she appears to be selling pre-printed practice boards. Probably very fussy about wood selection.
Not very many different tools required. Three, I think.

Is this typical of chip carving, cutting towards your digits with a very sharp knife? I wouldn't like to try that on any Oz hardwood.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Is this typical of chip carving, cutting towards your digits with a very sharp knife? I wouldn't like to try that on any Oz hardwood.

very sharp, means very little force, so little chance of a slip.

also, in the pictures I saw, the fingers were either behind the cutting edge or below the plane of travel should a slip occur.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Is this typical of chip carving, cutting towards your digits with a very sharp knife? I wouldn't like to try that on any Oz hardwood.

Yes, it's normal. If you look at the final video you will see her fingers are right in line with the blade and only 20mm away.

If you do a knife carving course you will be told that there are only 4 (or maybe 5, can't remember) basic knife cuts recommmended, and one of them involves pulling the blade backwards directly into the thumb (so to speak). You need to learn to do it to become accomplished as with some cuts there is no other practical way. I could never get comfortable at it.

A 'slash glove' is a solution. A surprisingly comfortable glove with stainless steel thread woven in is available from Kmart for $7.00. It's made for filleting fish.

I have been Chip Carving for about 14/15 years now and have only ever used one knife, and only use Huon Pine. Have used a little of the wood that Tatiana uses but have never found a supplier in Aus who stocks it, very easy to carve no grain to speak of and very soft timber unlike Huon. The deep cuts in some of her work are almost impossible to achieve in Huon due to hardness/density.Brian.

Originally Posted by ian

in the pictures I saw, the fingers were either behind the cutting edge or below the plane of travel should a slip occur.

I was looking at the second video on the practice board. The cuts show her pushing the blade into the wood directly in line with the thumb or forefinger and using the hand to clamp the board down with the palm sometimes in line with the cut. Granted it's a very sharp blade and the board looks soft enough to brake the blade as it is diving down, but watching it again still makes me cringe.

Originally Posted by Durham Lad

The deep cuts in some of her work are almost impossible to achieve in Huon due to hardness/density.Brian.

Thanks for clarifying that. I've always wondered if it was just me.

I occasionally buy basswood from Trend Timbers in Sydney, but it's just blocks and pretty expensive.

Is there any reason not to use Jelutong? It's very soft but it does hold very good detail. I know most people dislike it's featurelessness, but in chip carving that's more of a plus, isn't it? It's cheap too, compared to Huon.

Cheers
Arron

My local place Monaros Timbers sells Jelutong ($92plm for 300x75 - decent price??).

Im going to grab a bit and give this a bit of a go. Im hoping that my Loving Wife might be interested so she can embellish my boxes

I'm not really sure about jelutong on a box. Jewellery and keepsake boxes come in for a fair bit of mishap, laying around on dressing tables and exposed places generally. Long term, it will show the signs of wear.

I guess I just answered my own question posted above.

Matthews timber is the cheapest place i know for Jelutong. They sell a lot, apparently as break-board in the movie industry. Cheaper then $95 I'm sure, though that isn't too bad either.

Basswood = Linden = various species of the genus Tilia. Wood from northern/cooler climates here is vastly superior for carving
to any grown with hot and humid weather. Due to the production of reaction wood, tension wood in this case, branches are junk.
Jelutong would be a dream wood to use for this. Looks really blah and featureless but I don't think that matters.
It's the design skill and technical carving ability that I admire in chip carving.

Get up here to British Columbia and go into the Lee Valley store on Marine Drive in Vancouver.
Up on the wall behind the staff is a panel of chip carving samples.
Probably 100+ squares, maybe 10x10cm each, and no two even remotely the same.

As much as I hate to carve towards myself, there are "moves" in chip carving which can't be done in any other way.
Buy yourself a good quality butcher's stainless steel glove. Also very common in the fishing industry. They fit really sloppy.
BUT, they will NOT protect you from a stab cut. Don't even dream they will.
Don't buy sporting goods crap. You like your hands? I love mine.

A lot of Pacific Northwest crooked knife carving requires pull strokes. Straight towards my chest.
Just too deep a cut and rather than start over, just give the knife a tug.
It jumps out and hits me in the chest. Wrecked a few shirts and got cut a couple of times.
The canvas of my apron is so heavy and stiff (airlines flight bag) it will stand up on the floor.
Been hit a lot but sure is easy on shirts now!