Woodcarving Alec S

Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal February 1987

Woodcarving Alec S. q Baxter"OAICI uPerintendent Radiographer, Weston-super-Mare Hospitals were asked when interest in came to carefully selected gouges will suffice, extra tools may be j!1 I my woodcarving would as their is A full tend to that it was 25 when my purchased application recognised. range j'feen say years ago , can or in young and indulgent wife presented me with a of tools be obtained by post person from the lpthday gift of a dozen woodcarving tools. On reflection, main specialist supplier Alec Tiranti Limited of Goodge it London and Theale in Berkshire. Perhaps was the production of a primitive Spitfire from Street, selected would-be carver must also learn to become pieces of grandfather's firewood at the age of The pro- nine, which first stimulated ficient at his tools. This skill is best learnt he my enthusiasm. Whatever sharpening start an fellow but if this is not my interest has grown over the years and from experienced carver, continue to take pleasure from the combination of possible there are a number of useful books available. I Craftmanship and artistic application that woodcarving learnt my sharpening skills from books together with a requires. great deal of trial and error. When first purchased carving My own do not have the so that idea of 'woodcarving' proper is that of the tools edge sharpened, sharpen- raditional relief style, complete with visible tool marks, ing always precedes carving. In order to get a good which can on a be found in many old churches. I consider free working edge gouge without destroying the original landing, smooth finished figures, either true to life or curve of the tool, a gentle, co-ordinated technique of abstract, as wood sculpture (see Figure 1). Whatever sliding and rocking is needed. At least two grades of Ossification it falls under, the product of the wood sharpening stone should be used as well as a specially Craftsman can afford much both to the shaped 'slip-stone' to sharpen the internal curves of the ar,d pleasure producer with soon (hopefully) the beholder. There is something very gouge. Working the hardest woods will blunt and cuts satisfying about able to 'free' a decorative gouges, the crisp required will be lost; with rorn being image within the grain of a block of wood. some projects one can spend longer sharpening the A first foray into the world of woodcarving need not be tools than actually using them! the skills of the carver can be e*Pensive. The tools of the average handyman can be Obviously, only acquired aêquate for a beginner, particularly if the project is an at the bench. The most important skill to master is the abstract form. For these it is the smoothness of use of the mallet, a technique not usually required by the lne pieces and The must be invitation for tactile appreciation that is required, D.I.Y. enthusiast. mallet heavy enough to than the intricate in the and direc- drive the gouge throught the wood without being too gatherl0r> changes shape of cuts for the constant use. In order to build a which are demanded by the more traditional heavy up rapport %les. A bench with the means between hand and tool it is useful to practise e strong of firmly securing using wood, leaving both hands free for carving, is one gouge and mallet to follow contours on a scrap block of essential for any beginner. wood. the finer of work the hand use of Specialist woodcarving tools are available in a multi- For shaping gouges is Uc'e ?f This is a two shapes and sizes, and the most important imple- needed. also handed technique, the gouge ments are held and hand the gouges. The difference between a wood- being firmly pushed by the right with the carvers first and second of the left hand on gouge and a carpenters gouge is in the position maybe finger resting to th kevel of the a the blade guide the tool on its correct As e cutting edge. On woodcarvers gouge path. always bevel is on the outside of the curve. This ensures that when handling sharpened tools, the golden rule is to When both and behind the It being used the tendency is for the gouge to come keep hands, fingers, cutting edge. p out of the wood rather itself is essential to practise on a block of scrap wood to get the lnt? again than bury deeper the block. 'feel' of the tools before embarking on any piece of work. There are The initial of wood in is many types of gouges available with various shaping any project performed en9ths of blade, shapes of handle, and size and shape of using the largest gouge and mallet; this is known as As the work more cutting edge. The cutting edge of a gouge may vary not 'bosting-in'. progresses, smaller, spe- n|y 'n width, but in the shape of the curve?from a very cific gouges are used to add finer detail and here the allow almost flat curve (for gentle paring) to a deep U hand replaces the mallet. (for on a Jâpe clearing large blank areas in the design), while Obviously, before embarking piece of woodcarv- .ê'V' shaped tools have differing angles for the intricate ing, one must acquire some suitable wood. In general the timbers are most suitable because will take a ?ncisions which provide the fine detail of a In harder they er design. level of detail and a types of gouges the shaft of the blade may be high give good quality finish. The or access to to this rule is Lime; soft it is ^rvede backwards forwards, thus allowing exception English although more the best wood of all. i intricate and partially hidden areas of the carv- probably carving 9- When the wood for the Some very specialised gouges have interesting choosing any project figuration arnes of Italian one can use or veiners of the must be considered. A lined nd influence; fluters grain large simple have is best done and can be the Macaroni, Fluteroni and Backeroni gouges on carving enhanced by using wood bench. with a bold open grain, walnut, oak, mahogany and elm, Tools a which are very specific to the woodcarver and whereas portrait could be ruined by selecting wood Cu'ptor such a are the 'rifflers', narrow double ended rasps with strong graining. A close grained wood such vailable as or box in many shapes and sizes. These tools can lime, apple would be best for small fine de- each the In their parts of a carving to which no other tool has tailed carvings. efforts to acquire suitable wood Ccess, woodcarvers can to making them an essential acquisition for the amateur reveal themselves be expert 0^nmitted carver. Another essential for the enthusiast is scroungers. A visit to an auction room may lead to the hell of a shaped mallet or preferably two, one large and discovery heavy and dated piece of furniture of nother rather smaller. pre-plywood age, which, when stripped of its lifetime of or the can beginner one mallet and as little as half a dozen polish, yield several suitable planks of oak or maho- Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal February 1987

gany. Driftwood is another source of material if one lives demonstrate a less complicated approach to what maY near a suitable shoreline. In recent years a drive through seem like the incredibly difficult task of creating a figure the countryside could lead to the acquisition of logs of or a face. For abstract carving one should acknowledge elm in quite large quantities. When one's hobby is re- the influences of Henry Moore, and follow his example vealed to aquaintances it is pleasantly surprising how collecting inspirational articles from nature, pebbles- many folk house odd pieces of oak or mahogany off-cuts bones, and queerly shaped pieces of wood. in the back of their garage which are too small for any Since wood carving is a three-dimensional craft, the household use but are ideal for carving. design must be made in two planes. For free standing Alternatively a visit to a timberyard which specialises subjects drawings made from four view points will be in hard wood may be necessary. If this is the case it needed to be transferred onto the block of wood. De' is important to have decided beforehand what size of tailed drawings and notes need to be kept close to hand- wood you require; although large quantities of suitable for once work has started on the carving, original mark' wood will be expensive, off-cuts may be available quite ings will be removed with the woodchips. When workin9 cheaply. on a relief design it must be decided beforehand whic^1 Having gathered together some tools and a piece of areas of the design will remain at which level and to keep wood the amateur carver then faces the trickiest decision a note of this?it is all too easy to casually chip awaV of the whole undertaking?choice of subject. Design is what was originally destined to be a raised leaf or scroll' at the core of any artistic craft whether the subject is to Having given an introduction to woodcarving practice5 o be taken from life or is to be abstracted. It is impossible I would like to illustrate my earlier points with example to reproduce exactly the texture of a feather or a leaf the finished product. 3 in wood, even the master of English carving Grinling The large abstract study (Figure 1) is carved from Gibbons had his limitations. As in all artistic pursuits, it piece of elm, found in a field whilst helping my daughter is in the interpretation of the subject and its adaptation then aged six, to gather dandelions for the family rabbit- to the medium used, that can make the work a success. The original idea was to produce a simple pierced forrfl< The most ubiquitous source of inspiration is nature. shades of Barbara Hepworth. Having embarked on the t>V Fish and dolphins in particular seem to lend themselves project however, the shape of the hole was dictated the t^e to the efforts of the woodcarver, their smooth surfaces direction of the grain so that the final shape of being combined with pleasing shapes and lines. piece evolved along lines determined by the wood itself' Unlike the medieval carvers, able only to use subjects The smaller abstracts are carved in pine and are exercis? from their own everyday experience, present day access pieces; experiments with interfacing surfaces and solid to television and books can lend us ideas from a multi- shapes reflecting hollowed shapes. Abstract sculpture allows a tude of lands and cultures. Stylised African carving can greater degree of artistic scope and is generally quicker to achieve than more traditional carving. t0 The next two carvings illustrate the use of wood depict quite different textures?feathers and leather (Figure 2).

1 Figure Figure 2 abstract (elm) and smaller abstracts Large (pine).(pine) Feathers and leather depicted in woodwood. Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal February 1987

The treecreeper was carved from a piece of oak which rescued from a year old window sill, and the lrd is sixty mounted on a 1 block of yew. feel that the of grain of oak lends itself to the impression Plumage and is why I chose this material. One of the Problems with this type of subject is that of undercutting wood to a which jhehe degree will give the impression that bird is sitting on the tree trunk without removing so 'T'L,ch wood that the is not Like e carving safely supported. woodpecker the treecreeper uses its tail to support when J^elf feeding, and this offered me an authentic boot Jhe (Figure 2) was a 'fun project' to use up an cut from the old large abstract; the model was one of my climbing boots. This subject presented several in- vesting problems but the final result is a pleasing c?rnbination of contour a Srna" and grain. The boot contains jam-jar so that it can be used to hold a flower f*rrangement. It is a distinct advantage for a carving to some kind of useful its ,.^Ve1 e role so that it does not spend gathering dust on an obscure shelf or window sill. The pair of dancing girls (Figure 3) are of walnut at a timber The lifelike was phasedquite a yard. posed girl Human are one of the most cult challenge. figures in that are that tl! e undertakings they the one subject general public have observed more than anything . Se< any fault in the proportions and pose of the figure ,e'ng easily noticed. I realise ut I the faults of this carving, rely on other people being either too polite or not servant enough to comment. One problem with figure arving is a finding way of supporting the torso whilst Preserving a recognisable human shape. In this figure lllsed the fabric of the long skirt to give continuity from

Figure 4 The Coat of Arms of the Society of Radiographers,Radiographers.

the base for support and stability. The abstract figure was certainly quicker to accomplish, and as a decorative piece I think that it gives more of a feeling of movement, but as a piece of woodcarving accomplished the other figure gave me more satisfaction. Relief carving is my first love, and as I indicated earlier I feel that it is the true craft of woodcarving. My first attempt, over 20 years ago, was the coat of arms of the Society of Radiographers (Figure 4), I aimed to copy the traditional medieval style in fairly shallow relief, using a plank of oak. The second shield (Figure 5) is the arms of the Chief of the Clan Macmillan inspired by a Scottish holiday and a surname of the clan. I chose sycamore for this piece because it will take much finer detail than oak and gives a smoother finish. A deeper relief gives this shield a much more bold appearance than the first; being a hard close grained wood I spent almost as much time sharpening my tools as using them while working on this project. The background on both these shields has been 'frosted', a multitude of small punch marks that gives texture to the background and hides imperfect levelings. The oval mirror frame (Figure 6) is mahogany which was donated by a colleague from the back of his garage. The design was original, although the shell shape and acanthus leaves were influenced by the 18th Century style employed by Adam. I had long wanted to try to depict the convolvulus flowers and leaves in a lifelike way. Mahogany was not the easiest wood to use for this kind of subject because the grain has a habit of changing direction; this caused more than a few problems. How- of this wood does com- Figure 3 ever, the richness of the colour for the it caused. Dancing girls. pensate problems Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal February 1987 I

Figure 5 Figure 6 The Arms of the Chief of the Clan of MacmillanMacmillan. Mirror frame from mahogany.

Having completed any carving, it must be finished and the grain and contour of the wood to the best advantage polished. Methods chosen depend on personal prefer- Having been persuaded to put pen to paper I ha^e th'5 ence, but the big 'NO' is polyurethene gloss. I have seen actually been very pleased to share my enjoyment in several pleasant pieces ruined by a quick coat of varnish. craft, and I hope that it will encourage another lateP1 I prefer a simple home made polish of beeswax and woodcarver to emerge. Most libraries will have book5 turpentine. about carving and some adult education centres ruf1 To attain the ultra-smooth surfaces which enhance the evening classes. I have listed below some of the book5 grain of the wood and the shape of the piece, scraping which I have found most useful and interesting. the wood with a sharp blade or even fine sandpaper or History and Practice of Woodcarving, Frederic* steel wool for some abstract shapes, will give the desired Oughton, Stobart & Son. effect. If the wood is then wetted and allowed to dry out The Craft of Woodcarving, Alan & Gill Bridgewater< the grain will lift slightly, the smoothing process can be David & Charles. repeated to a very worthwhile effect. Several applica- Creative Wood Sculpture, Graeme Bentham, Blandfo^ tions of polish will give the depth of sheen which shows Press.

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