The Art of Wood Carving
Carving is by all odds the hardest of all woodworking processes to learn and yet there are some simple forms of it that are at once easy to do and pretty to look at. While carving is an art in itself it can be used with fine effect in combination with some kinds of scroll sawed and turned work.
Your Set of Carving Tools.
—To begin with you can get along very well with a set of six carving tools. A set of this number is made up of a ³⁄₈ inch, a ¹⁄₄ inch, a ¹⁄₂ inch and a ⁵⁄₁₆ inch straight shank carving tools and two of these are chisels and four are gouges, so you see that they are just about the same as carpenters’ and turners’ chisels and gouges. Such a set of tools costs about $3.00.
A better set contains a dozen carving tools and this includes the above tools as well as a couple of bent fluting gouges, with ¹⁄₈ and ¹⁄₄ inch sweeps, a couple of front bent tools, a straight parting tool, and a veining tool, all of which is shown at [A in Fig. 22]; the sweeps, as the curved cutting edges are called, are shown at [B].
The tangs of these tools, that is the sharp ends which fit into the handles, have shoulders on them to prevent the handles from creeping and splitting. The best carving tools on the market are those made by S. J. Addis of London, and you can’t go wrong if you buy them.
 | A |  |
| STRAIGHT CHISEL | SHORT BEND GOUGE | |
 |  | |
| SKEW CHISEL | STRAIGHT PARTING TOOL | |
 |  | |
| STRAIGHT GOUGE | LONG BEND GOUGE | |
 |  | |
| FLUTING GOUGE | FRONT BEND GOUGE | |
 |  | |
| VEINING TOOL | ||
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| BENT FILE | ||
 |  | |
| B | C | |
| SWEEPS OF WOOD CARVING TOOLS | CARVER’S MALLET | |
Fig. 22. kinds and sweeps of carving tools
Carving tools as they come from the makers are sharpened but not honed, that is the tools are ground sharp, but the inside bevel of the tools must be rubbed up with an oil stone slip and most wood carvers like to do this themselves.
When you buy a set of carving tools you also want to get a carver’s mallet made of lignum-vitæ[15] with a face 2¹⁄₂ inches in diameter and, as you will see in [Fig. 22], its shape is quite different from the ordinary kinds. Also get a Washita oil stone, and an Arkansas carving tool slip, which is a small wedge-shaped oil-stone.
[15] Lignum-vitæ is a greenish-brown wood and is very hard and heavy. It grows in tropical America.
Fig. 23. markers for stamping in backgrounds
Two or more markers, which are stamps made of tool steel, are very useful for stamping in background work. A number of different designs are shown in [Fig. 23] and they cost about a quarter apiece.
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| A SNIB | A HAND CLAMP | A CARVER’S VISE |
Fig. 24. schemes for holding work when carving
To hold the work while you are carving it you can make two or more snibs as shown at [A in Fig. 24]. These little clamps are sawed out pieces of wood with an ordinary wood screw through the thick end, and when you want to carve a flat piece of work clip it with a couple of snibs and screw the latter to your bench. A better scheme is to use a couple of hand screws as shown at [B]. For carving in relief you will need a wood-carver’s vise as shown at [C].
The Best Woods for Carving.
—A wood that is suitable for carving must be tough, even grained and free from knots. For a beginner, and I guess you are one, yellow pine is a good wood to practice on as it is soft and easy to work but you must be careful not to splinter it along the grain.
Oak is much tougher but it is a fine wood for carving and you will not need to take the care to prevent splintering as with pine. Black walnut and mahogany are beautiful woods and are nice to carve, while for finer work apple, pear, sycamore and California redwood are largely used.
Kinds of Wood Carving.
—There are three kinds of wood carving in general and these are (1) chip, or surface carving, (2) panel or relief carving, and (3) figure carving, as shown in [Fig. 25].
When you cut your initials in the top of your desk at school you made a primitive attempt at what is called chip carving. Most likely you got the birch for it but it was only the savage instinct for decorative art that was trying to find expression in you, and so it’s not your fault. (But don’t do it again.) Any kind of carving on a flat surface is called chip carving, and some of it is very beautiful. It is shown at [A].
Fig. 25. kinds of carving
Panel carving is done on flat pieces of wood also but the design is made by cutting out or sinking the ground, as shown at [B]. Sometimes when it is desirable to make some part stand out in relief above the surface it is carved out of a separate piece of wood and planted on, that is glued on.
To carve a lily of the valley or a deer’s head out of a solid block of wood is not as easy as the other kinds of carving, but if you have a natural aptitude for using tools and an eye for art you can succeed as well as the next one.
Fig. 25d. a carved watch case holder
Chip Carving.
—You will need only three tools for chip carving and these are (1) a ¹⁄₄ inch chisel; (2) a parting tool and (3) a veining tool.
The first thing is to get the design you want to carve on the board. To do this you can either draw the design directly on the board, or, better, lay a sheet of impression paper on the board and then the design you want to transfer on top of it and trace it with a lead pencil.
Screw the board to your bench with two or more snibs and you are ready for work. Carve out the heavier lines with the parting tool and the lighter lines with the veining tool. Use the chisel to cut the corners sharp and make the lines clean and even. In chip carving grounds are never put in.
Panel Carving.
—In this kind of carving leaves, berries, scrolls and the like are carved out of the surface of the board and as the ground is sunk these objects stand out in relief.
Begin by drawing, or transferring, the pattern to the board as before; then cut it out with gouges and chisels as shown at [A] and finally use the veining tool for the radiating lines. The head can be carved out of a separate piece of wood glued to the ground, or planted on as it is called. The work can be oiled and polished but never varnish it. It is shown finished at [C].
To make a watch case holder like the one shown at [D] saw out a piece of walnut, or other wood, ¹⁄₄ inch thick and draw on the design.
Carve the cross and lower part of the case by chipping it; carve the leaves in relief and put in the veins with the veining tool. Now saw out another piece for the pocket 1 inch thick and carve out the front and the back to the shape shown at [D] so that it is only ¹⁄₈ inch thick when finished and glue it to the other part when you will have a watch case holder of the vintage of 1875.
Carving in Solid Wood.
—This ranges all the way from carving simple leaves as shown at [D] to the human form divine.
To carve out leaves on a flat surface draw the design as before and carve them out with your gouge to look as much like real leaves as you can and to give them the final touch of beauty cut the veins in with your veining tool.
For carving out heads, as for example the one shown at [C], mark the shape of the object which you intend to carve on the sides of the block as it would look if you cut it down through the middle. Now screw up the block in your vise and cut away the sides with your chisels and gouges, using the mallet to do it with. All you want to do at first is to get the rough shape of the figure.
When you have done this you can go ahead and finish up the work with your chisels and gouges. To give the carving a life-like appearance do not use files or sandpaper on it and do not varnish or polish it.