A Sharpening Fixture for Gouges

The hardest part in sharpening a gouge is keeping the tool at a constant angle to the stone.  After an investigation for commerial devices to assist in sharping carving tools, it was determined that the devices available were either too expensive or would not do an adequate job.  It was decided then to see what one could produce in a home work shop that might assist in sharpening gouges.

A fixture was made and used to verify the design. The fixture consists of a base with two rails that will hold a sharpening stone securely so that it does not move inadvertently, the stone being held securely with a pair of wedges.  To make the wedges use a piece if 3/4 by 1 1/4 stock and saw it on a diagonal. 

One of the rails is higher and has a 70 degree angle on the top edge to produce a 20 degree bevel on the tool.   The height of the rail will be determined by the height of the top surface of the stone.  Dimensions are only sugested and can be modified  to reflect different sized stones.

Generally a 20 degree bevel for wood carving is ideal.  If however a mallet is to be used , a greater angle may be called for.  A shallower bevel will be more fragile.

To use the fixture, lay the gouge flat against the beveled edge and rotate the gouge as you move it back and forth.

Sanding Sticks

When I have finished with one of my carvings, I sometimes like to sand the surfaces to relieve the marks made by my tools.  The carving invariably has areas where it is difficult to sand.  The usual practice is to rip up pieces of sandpaper and by folding them in a certain way, it is possible to sand those areas.

I do something different. I take a piece of scrap wood and split it into lengths that are about 3/8 of an inch wide.  I then shape the end of the stick with my carving knife appropriately.  I cut up pieces of sandpaper and using super-glue, glue the sandpaper to the end of the stick that I just carved.  I use various grades of sandpaper to get the finish I want.

The sanding sticks are easy to make and require only a few minutes of work.  They are quite effective in getting into those areas missed by regular sanding.

Some Thoughts on Acquiring a Skill

Some Thoughts ...

How many times have we heard someone say, I wish I had the talent to paint (or to carve wood or play music or whatever) but talent isn't the answer and in my opinion,  the word should be stricken from the language. Talent only allows a person to learn something faster than he would otherwise. One of the problems with learning any skill is that there is a lot of things that you have to learn. 

I look at it like this.  Every student in any discipline must face two things if he wants to learn.  The first thing is humiliation.  In a teacher - student relationship, the teacher knows far more than the student.  It's like basic training in the army.  When the drill sargeant says to move, you move. Once past the first shock of humiliation he has to deal with it on a continuing basis and the student is faced with acquiring a whole lot of skill-sets he does not have. 

  The second thing the student has to face is frustration.  The teacher has the power to correct and to judge and that entails a certain power over the student.   It will take time and a lot of effort to learn the necessary skill-sets.  There were be failures and the student has to be able to accept the failures for what they are, necessary steps to acquire the knowledge of the craft.  

This is the same process that any student has to go through whether you are talking about ninth grade history, calculus 101 or wood carving.  I wish someone had taught me this when I was a kid.  I wish the teachers I had in school knew this!

Learning is hard!    

Bench Hook in Action

The improved bench hook in the previous post did not show the actual device so a photo is included here.  Note, at the bottom left corner of the bench hook is the lock, shown in the rotated position.  By rotating the lock counter clock-wise it is possible to use the bench hook, flat in a normal position. 

Also note that the stop at the bottom has been replaced with two smaller stops that can be rotated to accomodate ovals.

The angle formed by the top of the bench hook and the work bench is about 28 degrees, which seems about right.  When applying a lot of pressure during carving, a c-clamp is used on the hold down as shown at the bottom right of the photo.

Improved Bench Hook

It was suggested to me by Arlie that my bench hook would work better if some how it could be at a slant.  He pointed out that normal lighting, being from above, casts shadows that are the secret of relief carvings and that it would be beneficial for the carver to see the work in progress as it would be shown.

So with a little dilligence, the following resulted:

The purpose of the hold down lock is to keep the hold down against the top of the work bench.  By rotating the lock 90 degrees, the bench hook can be used flat like a normal bench hook.

Reference Lines in a Perspective Drawing

How to Create Reference Lines

Often, in the process of carving in relief, it is desired to texture the depiction of buildings. Drawing reference lines can help in determing the shape and the alignment of singles, siding, windows, doors etc. In a perspective drawing, parallel lines are drawn to meet in a vanishing point. There are three different types of perspective drawings, namely one point, two point and three point perspective.

One can use a long straight edge and experimentally determine where the vanishing points are. By rotating the straight edge about the vanishing point, reference lines can be established for the carving.

Another way of determining reference lines is as follows. Let's say that it is desired to draw lines on the roof of a building indicating shingles or roofing.

• Lay a ruler along edge of the roof and rotate the ruler until some convienent number of steps aligns with the peak of the roof and the edge as in step 1. In the example shown a scale ruler was used but any convienent ruler will do. The steps can be in 1/16's or 1/8's or even in millimeters. Step one  shows the scale with 0 at the edge of the roof and 19 at the peak with steps of 3/32  inches per step.
• At every division place a dot where it is desired to have a reference line.
• Go to the opposite end of the roof and do the same thing. The ruler will have to rotated slightly because one side will be smaller (or larger) than the first side. Line up the same divisions as before (0 and 19 in this case) and mark with a dot.
• Connect the corresponding dots creating a series of reference lines.

The reference lines can now be uses as a guide to carve or burn detail into the relief carving.

A Bench Hook for Relief Carving

One of the problems faced by any wood carver is: How to secure the wood while carving on it.  A bench hook can be made that holds the work surprisingly secure.  By using the bench hook in lieu of holding it by hand, the carver runs less risk in cutting oneself.  Also, both hands can be used, making it easier to make precise cuts.

To make a bench hook you need the following items:

• 3/4 inch plywood, sized to fit the work
• Several pieces of 1 by stock
• A few 1 1/2 inch screws
• 1 - 2 inch by 2 inch by 10 inches (for 2 wedges)

Basicly a bench hook consists of a piece of plywood with a stop on either side (bottom and top).  The bench hook is placed on the work bench so that the stop on the bottom rests against the side of the work bench.  The second second stop on the other side of the plywood will have the work piece placed against it.  A clamp can be used to secure the bench hook to the bench if a lot of force is to be used on the tool.

In this version a second stop is added to the bench hook.  The 2 by 2 is ripped on a diagonal to provide two wedges which are used in opposition to hold the work piece in place.  If the work piece is in the shape of an oval, two smaller stops are used in place of one of the stops.  The smaller stops should be free to rotate to accommodate the oval.

To accommodate different sizes of work pieces, blocks can be added between the stop and the work piece.