[XIII]
CHIP CARVING AND KNIFE WORK (See [31], [109])
"I like this new work better than anything we have ever done," said Harry one day when he and Ralph were up to their ears in carving, whittling, and designing.
Ralph smiled as he remembered Harry's intense interest in making moving toys. "As I told you once before," he replied, "this is not new but old. The people of northern Europe have done it for centuries, and the reason is not hard to find. In Norway during the long winter it gets dark very early, in some places at three o'clock in the afternoon, and does not become light again until nine o'clock in the morning. The result is very, very long evenings, when it is much more comfortable to work indoors.
"At an early era the people developed this beautiful art of carving, and spent their long evenings in working at it. They became very skilful and as most of the household utensils were of wood, it was not at all unusual to see the household furniture, even to their bread boards, beautifully carved."
"By the way," said Harry, "can't I make a paper knife now? You know you said I could after I had learned to use the knife!"
"Yes, I think you might try your skill on something of that character now. It will be quite a change from this flat work we have been doing. It will require a harder wood, however, than you have been using, as a paper knife must be thin and strong at the same time.
"The Swedish carvers use apple wood a great deal for their paper knives, but as this is rare with us, suppose we try rock maple. It is white in colour, close grained, and hard."
As usual, they worked up their design on paper first and sketched in the carving shown in [Fig. 79].