GTFTS E2: Manual of Wood Carving (1891): Tools, Sharpening, and the Art of Indenting

GTFTS  Get the F to Sleep

Welcome to GTFTS — Get the F to Sleep.   Tonight’s episode is a word-for-word reading of Manual of Wood Carving, published in 1891.   We’ll be covering topics such as tool selection, proper sharpening technique, and the delicate, soul-numbing craft of decorative indenting.   There are diagrams in the original. You won’t see them. You won’t need them.   What you will get is quiet, precise, and profoundly unnecessary detail — ideal for slipping into unconsciousness.   No plot. No profanity. No music. Just pure, deliberate, artisanal boredom.   Good night.   #GetTheFToSleep #insomniarelief #fallasleepfast

Transcript

00:00:00Welcome back to Get the F to Sleep. Tonight, I'm delivering an hour of deeply unnecessary instruction from a

00:00:17woodcarving manual published in 1891. Topics include tool selection, sharpening, stamping,

00:00:29and the soul-erasing thrill of proper indenting technique. No plot, no music, no profanity,

00:00:42just pure, uncut, historical boredom. You probably won't make it to the end, and that's the point. Let's begin.

00:00:56Skill in woodcarving, as in every other art, is to be attained only by thoroughness. Let the pupil, therefore,

00:01:08bear in mind that he or she must be careful to master the first lessons and to go no further

00:01:19until these can be executed with ease and accuracy. This will be greatly aided

00:01:27if the book is read with care and not used for mere reference. Teachers will please observe

00:01:37that the work is in a regular series of progressive lessons, the first being extremely easy, and that

00:01:46these lessons lead so gradually to one another that the last are no harder than the first to

00:01:56one who has gone on carefully from the beginning. This will be found to aid teaching and self-

00:02:04instruction greatly. Every item of information will be found under its proper head and not scattered

00:02:16here and there through different chapters, for every lesson is complete in itself, and from the first

00:02:25pupil is taught how to produce some satisfactory work of its kind.

00:02:34Tools and implements. The first and most important is a strong and, if possible, a heavy

00:02:43table or bench. If the pupil cannot afford this, an ordinary small kitchen table must be found.

00:02:54It should be used for carving alone, as it will be necessary to bore holes and drive screws into it.

00:03:04But if the table cannot be spared for this, the pupil must make shift by putting a board at least

00:03:12an inch in thickness on a common table and fastening it with clamps. At a more advanced stage,

00:03:23he will carve standing up at a higher bench or with his work on a stand.

00:03:33Pupils in woodcarving shops often carve standing from the beginning.

00:03:42Carving tools are generally divided into two classes. Chisels, which are flat at the end,

00:03:51and in the blade, and gouges, which are hollow. Among professional woodcarvers, the former is

00:04:01generally known as the firmer in order to distinguish it from the chisel used by carpenters.

00:04:10A carver's chisel is always ground on both sides so as to form a wedge, like a very high, steep

00:04:20roof, while that of the carpenter is a stouter implement, its edge being like a wedge which is

00:04:30flat on one side, but it is only ground on the other. The object of grinding carver's chisels

00:04:42on both sides is that there are many cuts which cannot be executed by a carpenter's chisel at all,

00:04:52or at least not with ease, for one would be obliged while using it to continually turn it around.

00:05:00Carver's chisels or firmers are of many and all sizes, from an inch in breadth down to the pick,

00:05:11which, across the end or edge, is no wider than a small hyphen.

00:05:18To these may be added the skew chisels, also called skews or corner firmers,

00:05:31which are firmers ground off diagonally so that the point is on one side.

00:05:38These are also sharpened on both sides.

00:05:42These, of all widths, vary from the extra flat, which is so slightly curved that it might,

00:05:51at a casual glance, be taken from ordinary chisel to the ordinary flat. A little more bend or

00:06:01flat. A little more bend or convexity gives the scroll gouge. A semi-circle or any narrower portion

00:06:14of the same curve is a hollow gouge, the smaller sizes of which are called feiners,

00:06:24the very smallest of the latter being known as eye-tools. There are some differences of names

00:06:32for these among writers as well as workmen, but for all practical purposes the terms here

00:06:42used may be accepted and may be understood by all who sell the tools.

00:06:47Bent tools. Both chisels and gouges are made straight or bent or curved in the shank.

00:07:01It often happens that in deep cutting or in hollowed spaces, it is impossible to cut

00:07:10with an implement having a straight shaft, while with one differently shaped,

00:07:17the wood can be easily removed.

00:07:24Holdfasts. Carver screws and clamps, hand screws, bench screws, etc. As the carver holds his tools

00:07:35with one hand and directs it with the other, it is evident that some means must be taken

00:07:43to secure in place the piece of work which he cuts.

00:07:51The simplest method of doing this is to drive three or four nails or screws into the table

00:08:00at a convenient distance. The work may be held between these to prevent it slipping.

00:08:12Holdfasts. Clamps or cramps. These cramps are small iron frames like three sides of a square

00:08:23with a screw in the underlimb. They are used on the edge of the table to hold the work

00:08:30firmly down to its surface. Two or more are always employed. Their fault is that they indent

00:08:41and damage the work. A piece of waste wood may be interposed between the work and the upper limb

00:08:51to prevent this, but such a guard is generally in the way and otherwise objectionable.

00:09:00Hand screws are a far better tool, entirely free from the above-named objection.

00:09:10They consist of two strips of hard wood rounded at the one end, or jaws, and two screws, also of

00:09:20wood, one of which passes through both jaws, and the other through only one, the end of the second

00:09:30screw entering a recess made in the other jaw to retain it in position. To use them, the handles

00:09:40are grasped firmly in the two hands, and the hands are revolved around one another away from you,

00:09:49which causes the jaws to open exactly parallel with one another.

00:09:55When the opening between the jaws equals the thickness of the work and the table, the hand

00:10:02screws are slipped over them, and the second screw then alone receives an extra half-turn.

00:10:12This throws the jaws slightly out of parallelism and affects a powerful grip upon the work at their

00:10:21points. They are exceedingly powerful also in holding work for gluing together and other purposes,

00:10:33and are made for all sizes.

00:10:39Carverse screws. These are iron screws about 12 or 14 inches long, with a finer pointed screw,

00:10:50like that of a gimlet, at the one end and a square at the other. On the screw is a winged or fly nut.

00:11:01To use them, the point is screwed firmly into the underside of the work, with the fly nut removed

00:11:10and used as a lever by one of the holes in its wings placed on the square on the end of the shaft.

00:11:20The shaft is then passed through a hole made through the top of the bench or table,

00:11:28and the fly nut replaced on the screw below the table to fix the work down to it.

00:11:37The screws are long, which is sometimes convenient, but if the work be thin, it is usual to put a block

00:11:48of waste wood on the shaft before the fly nut to avoid the tedium of having to screw the latter up

00:11:57a long way. Slackening the nut enables the work to be turned around to any required position,

00:12:07and there is nothing above the table except the work.

00:12:11Snibs or dogs. These are pieces of wood screwed down to the table, which hold the panel or other piece of work

00:12:21by a projection. They are easily made by simply sawing out a piece of wood fairly corresponding in thickness to the panel.

00:12:34Take an ordinary button such as is common on cupboards in country cottages to fasten the door.

00:12:47Saw out a piece of the panel, one or more inches square. Put the screw through the button and turn

00:12:55it over the panel and the little waste piece of wood. Two or more of these will hold the work

00:13:03perfectly fast. The simplest method of all is to leave about an inch at either end of the panel

00:13:13and pass screws through these extra portions into the table. When the work is carved, these ends may be sawn off.

00:13:26The scratch. This is a very convenient and ingenious tool.

00:13:34It is used for running small moldings and hollows where the lines are long and straight. It makes finer work than is possible by means of gouges.

00:13:47The cutters are made from pieces of steel barely 1 16th of an inch thick.

00:13:55Broken pieces of saws are generally used for cutters. They must be tightly fixed in the stock.

00:14:04It is worked backwards and forwards gently. When the cutters are filed to the required shape,

00:14:13they have to be finished with a slip stone to take out the file marks.

00:14:19They are sharpened straight across the edges.

00:14:25The router. This is a small copy of the joiner's plane of the same name. It consists of a block of

00:14:34wood with a perfectly flat sole. A hole through it at an angle carries the cutter and the wedge

00:14:43by which it is fixed. It is employed for flattening the groundwork after that has been partially

00:14:51excavated with the chisels. The sole of the router rests upon any margins left of the original surface

00:15:02and being worked about over the ground. The fixed projection of the cutter rapidly reduces the latter

00:15:10to one true level. These routers are made from about nine inches long in the sole

00:15:20to about three inches, the smallest, which little tools have cutters about 1 8th of an inch wide.

00:15:29Saws. There are various kinds. Perhaps the most useful is the fret bow saw. This consists of a

00:15:39light thin steel frame with screw jaws at the open end in which the thin saw blades are clamped.

00:15:48The handle is also formed as a screw by which its jaw can be advanced about an inch towards its fellow.

00:16:01To place the saw in position for work, the end of the handle is screwed around until its jaw

00:16:09has advanced about an inch. The saw is then fixed in the opposite jaw by its thumb screw.

00:16:19Then in the handle jaw in the same way, after which the handle is turned until its jaw has

00:16:27traveled back again the distance it had previously advanced, thus straining the saw by the tension

00:16:36of the steel spring saw frame. This saw is very useful for removing superfluous pieces from the

00:16:47outer line, both in flat works and when carving in the round. As will be explained, its primary purpose

00:16:58is for cutting out pierced and bowl and fret work, but for such work as the apertures cut

00:17:07do not always cut out to the edges. A drill is required to pierce holes to thread the saw

00:17:15through the work before it is placed in the second jaw to strain it.

00:17:27In addition to the tools already described, the pupil will need for more and varied work

00:17:34the following. The spade chisel and spade gouge. These are very light and are used for finishing

00:17:44by hands, as for instance in cutting around grapes or plums or in fine work.

00:17:55Knuckle bends are gouges scooped or bent in a curve like a knuckle. The macaroni tool.

00:18:04This is like three sides of the square. It is for removing wood on each side of a vein or leaf

00:18:13or similar delicate work. It is not very commonly used.

00:18:21The parting tool or V, straight or curved. This is a useful tool for outlining a pattern

00:18:30or veining leaves. Beginners find it, like the macaroni, rather difficult to sharpen

00:18:39or to keep an edge on it. It must not be used recklessly for carving as it is apt to break

00:18:47unless handled with care. It should be kept with a cork on the end.

00:18:56It is a question among experts as to whether the tools for beginners should have long or short

00:19:04handles, which is as sensible as if they should debate whether the pupils should have larger or

00:19:13smaller hands. General Seton, who is in other matters a good authority, declares that small,

00:19:23short, neatly turned boxwood handles must be avoided. They are nearly useless.

00:19:31Get good-sized beech or ash handles, quite five inches long, and if the steel is a four

00:19:43or four and a half inches long, you will have a really serviceable tool. Common sense teaches

00:19:52that between a child or a young lady who has a palm the size of a cardinal's seal,

00:20:01to borrow a simile from Benevinuto Salini, and a workman who would burst a number 10 glove,

00:20:10there must be very great differences in the size of handles, and it is certain that for young

00:20:18beginners, short ones are to be advised. If they are not to be obtained ready-made, then take an

00:20:27extraordinary long handle, saw it off to the requisite length, say from three to three and a

00:20:35half inches, round the sharp edge of the wood, firstly with a knife or a chisel, then with a

00:20:43rasp, and finish it off with glass paper. See that the tools, when set into handles, are well-ringed

00:20:53and firm. In most shops, it is usual to sharpen them if it be required.

00:21:02After becoming accustomed to such handles, the pupil may, as he progresses, familiarize himself

00:21:11with those which are in general use.

00:21:14There really is only one trouble in wood-carving. This is the sharpening the tools and keeping them

00:21:24in good condition. For this is the grindstone and oilstone are indispensable, and the beginner

00:21:33must take pains to learn to sharpen his tools well and readily.

00:21:38SHARPENING

00:21:43Tools which are as yet unground, or which have had the edge broken, may, with patience and care,

00:21:52be sharpened on a harsh flat stone, but round grindstones which revolve with a handle are not dear.

00:22:02You can, however, always get your tools ground by any carpenter. Every carver should therefore,

00:22:11if possible, own one of these grindstones. It will serve as well for a large class as for an individual.

00:22:24The next indispensable is the oilstone. This is to be found of different kinds.

00:22:31The ordinary turkey stone set in a block of wood will answer for firmers, skews, and flat gouges.

00:22:41For finer tools, the best Arkansas stones may be employed. Before using one,

00:22:50let fall on it a few drops of oil, which is to be kept in a small can with a narrow spout

00:22:58made expressly for such dropping. Have a coarse rag, and when you have done with the stone,

00:23:06always wipe it clean of the oil. Take great care not to wear a hollow in the middle of the stone.

00:23:16It is by far the best plan to get some wood carver or carpenter to show you how to sharpen the tools.

00:23:26There are very few places where there is not somebody who can teach this art. It is usual

00:23:34to have a box cover to the oilstone, which should always be over it when not in use,

00:23:41to prevent dust from settling on the surface.

00:23:46Very little dust, indeed, combined with the oil is a great hindrance to sharpening.

00:23:52Slips. These are pieces of Arkansas, turkey, and other stones made of a variety of shapes to fit

00:24:02the inside of such tools. This cannot be sharpened on a flat surface, like that of an oilstone.

00:24:13They require great care and handling, lest the fingers be cut. To avoid this,

00:24:21take a piece of wood and cut a deep groove in it, exactly adapted to hold the stone firmly,

00:24:31leaving as much of it projecting as may be required for use. If you cannot obtain a slip

00:24:40exactly suited to any particular tool, then grind or cut it to shape on the grindstone or with a file.

00:24:51Some carvers use a very coarse whetstone adapted to this purpose. The safe method of using a slip

00:25:01when not mounted in wood is to lay the back of the gouge at an inch and a half from the edge,

00:25:08on the edge of the table. The edge of the tool must be slightly raised, and the slip can then

00:25:17be applied with perfect safety and with great effect. The V, or parting tool, is difficult to

00:25:26sharpen, because until one has had practice with it, it is hard to cut down each side in exact

00:25:35uniformity with the other. For this, it is necessary to have a slip ground to a V edge,

00:25:44so as to exactly fit the inside of the tool.

00:25:51The strap. This is a piece of hard, smooth leather glued on a bit of board.

00:26:01This may be prepared with sweet oil and emery powder or Tripoli, to be renewed

00:26:09as on occasion as required, or with a preparation of lard and crocus powder.

00:26:18Emery paste sold at the tool shop will answer for all ordinary work. When no strap is at hand,

00:26:27a final sharp or razor edge may be given even on a smooth pine board, especially if a very

00:26:37little fine air dust might be on it. Sharpening the tools is like threading the needle in sewing,

00:26:47or putting a point on lead pencils when drawing, something which is a great trouble and a constant

00:26:55interruption to earnest work, yet which must be constantly seen to. Never go on carving for a

00:27:05second if you find that a tool is growing in the least dull or scratchy.

00:27:13There can be no good work whatever without really good tools in perfect order.

00:27:23It may be observed that tools are never ground quite so much inside as they are externally.

00:27:32Also, that this double grinding gives a sharper cutting edge, but gouges require

00:27:39very little edging inside. Should the carver be unable to obtain a Turkey or Arkansas stone,

00:27:50he may use smooth slate or almost any stone which is tolerably hard.

00:27:56Wood. All wood for carving should be of the best quality, well seasoned, and free as possible from

00:28:05cracks, knots, or other irregularities. Fine white pine or deal, being very easy to cut, is suitable

00:28:18is suitable for a beginner. Lime and pear tree wood, like pine, are even in the grain. American walnut

00:28:29is also easy to cut. It is of a beautiful dark color, which is much improved by oiling and age.

00:28:39With this, but tougher than the preceding, are beech, felm, and oak. Poplar, yellow deal, and the so-called

00:28:49American wood, known as poplar in America, middle states, are useful for many kinds of work.

00:29:00The carver should accustom himself as soon as possible to oak, as a hard wood is by no means

00:29:11hard to carve as soon as a little skill is acquired.

00:29:18Bone, ivory, and pearl shell, which at the first effort seems to be almost impenetrable,

00:29:26after a few days are worked with great ease.

00:29:34First lesson. Indenting and stamping. The first stage in wood carving is to decorate a flat surface

00:29:45in very low relief by a process which, strictly speaking, is not carving at all.

00:29:53Let the beginner take a panel or thin flat board, let us say one of six inches in breadth,

00:30:03twelve in length, and half an inch or less in thickness. For this kind of work, a finely grained,

00:30:13even, and light-colored wood, such as holly or beech, is preferable. Draw the pattern on paper

00:30:22of the size intended, with a very black and soft lead or crayon pencil.

00:30:30Place it with the face to the wood, and turning the edges over, gum them down to the edge of the

00:30:37panel. Then, with some very smooth hard object, such as a gate or steel furnisher, an ivory paper

00:30:49knife, or the end of a rounded and glossy penknife handle, carefully rub the back of the pattern.

00:30:59When this is done, remove the paper, and the pattern will be found transferred to the wood.

00:31:08If imperfect, touch it up.

00:31:11The pupil may now, with a pattern wheel or tracer, indent or mark a line or narrow groove

00:31:20in the outline of the pattern. The tracer is the same implement of the same name,

00:31:28which is used in repousal or brass sheet or metalwork. Its end is exactly like that of a

00:31:39screwdriver. To manage it properly, hold it upright, and run it along, tapping it as it goes with a hammer of iron or wood.

00:31:52In some countries, a stick of wood about six inches in length and an inch broad at the butt is used.

00:32:02Where the wheel cannot be employed, as in small corners, use the tracer. The pointed tracer,

00:32:11used in leatherwork and in carpentry, is often indispensable for the smaller patterned work.

00:32:21When the outline is all marked out in a groove, take one of the stamps or grounding punches,

00:32:29and with the hammer, indent the whole background. If there be corners too small to admit the stamp or

00:32:38stamps for the same pattern, then finish them up with a pointed nail or any point, such as a bodkin.

00:32:48The result will be like the simple design in figure 23.

00:32:55When this is done, coat the whole thing with oil, rub it in, and wipe it off with care.

00:33:04Then, with a piece of very soft wood, polish only the pattern, and finally, rub it off by hand or with a stiff brush.

00:33:15This kind of ornamentation is adapted to the covers of books or albums as it can be applied to the thinnest sheets of wood.

00:33:32Another way to improve this work is to take the tracer and smooth down and depress the ground,

00:33:40especially near the patterned edge. This gives an improved relief. Then the ground may be stamped

00:33:49or matted. It may be borne in mind that people who masters this process of indenting with wheel,

00:33:58tracers, and stamps will be quite able to work patterns in damp sheet leather since the latter

00:34:08is affected in the same way with the same tools. Nor does the first step in the repousse

00:34:16or sheet brass work differ greatly from it. All the minor arts have a great deal in common,

00:34:26many of the tools used and one of being applicable to others. The pupil who begins with some knowledge

00:34:36of drawing will soon find it easy to work in any material. The pupil, having done this,

00:34:45has an idea of how pattern is placed or spaced and contrasted with the ground.

00:34:54He may now take another panel, and having drawn the pattern, cut out the outline in a light groove

00:35:02with a very small gouge or a V-tool or firmer. Let him be very careful to hold the handle

00:35:13in his right hand and guide the blade with the fingers of the left, and never let the

00:35:19ladder get before the point. Do not cut deeply or too rapidly. Before beginning on the pattern,

00:35:30practice cutting grooves on waste wood. Unless this is done, the panel will almost

00:35:37certainly be spoiled. It is usual among carvers to begin cutting with the groove

00:35:44with a V-tool, but it is well to prepare for this by using the tracer or wheel.

00:35:50Figure 27 represents the effect of a ground which is indented and, to a degree, ornamented by using

00:36:03round stamps of different patterns and sizes. Very good effects may be produced in this way,

00:36:12which resembles diaper work.

00:36:15To clearly recapitulate the process, let me observe. About to begin, the pupil must have a smooth panel

00:36:24without knots or imperfections. The pattern is drawn on this or transferred to it. The pattern

00:36:34should be entirely in outline, without any inside lines or drawing between the outside edges of the

00:36:43Take a wheel or tracer and indent the whole pattern very carefully and rather deeply.

00:36:56Not all at one pressure, but by going twice or thrice over the line. Then, with a stamp and hammer,

00:37:06indent all the background and spaces between the edges of the pattern.

00:37:14Having done this once, take another panel and pattern and, instead of pressing in the outline

00:37:22with a wheel or tracer, cut it with a parting tool or gouge, not too deeply. Then, indent as before,

00:37:33shown in figure 25. The stamping the grounds is often miscalled diaper carving,

00:37:43but the diaper is, correctly speaking, a small pattern multiplied to make a ground

00:37:50and not roughly corrugating or dotting with a bodkin or pricking. This latter is, of course,

00:38:00indenting. Diapers may be either stamped or carved like any other patterns. This process

00:38:10of flattening, wheeling, tracing, and stamping wood, though little practice now, was so common

00:38:18in the Middle Ages that there are very few galleries containing pictures with gold backgrounds

00:38:25in which there are not specimens of it. Very great masters in painting frequently practiced it.

00:38:35After gilding the ground, they outlined the pattern with a prick wheel, which is quite like

00:38:42the rowel of a spur, and often traced dotted patterns with the wheel itself on the flat gold.

00:38:51Black or dark brown paint was then rubbed into the dots. Sometimes the stamp was also used,

00:39:00and its marks or holes filled in the same manner. It is not necessary to gild the background to produce a fine effect.

00:39:11First, apply a coat of varnish. Polish it, when dry, with the finest glass paper.

00:39:22Then apply a coat or two of white oil paint. Toned with naples yellow and when it is dry,

00:39:32work it with wheel, tracers, and stamps.

00:39:36When dry, polish it again and rub dark brown paint into all the lines and dots.

00:39:43Cover it with two coats of fine retouching varnish, and the effect will be that of old stamped ivory.

00:39:55This first lesson may be omitted by those who wish to proceed at once to carving.

00:40:02It is given here because it sets forth the easiest and least expensive manner of ornamenting wood,

00:40:12and one which forms a curious and beautiful art by itself. With it, one can acquire a familiarity

00:40:22with the method of transferring patterns to wood, and with the management of the tracer and stamp.

00:40:29The patterned wheel should be held in the right hand and guided by the forefinger of the left,

00:40:36which is a good preparatory practice for the chisel and gouge.

00:40:43While the tools requisite for this work are few and inexpensive, it may be observed

00:40:50that tolerable substitutes may be obtained for them anywhere.

00:40:56Almost any knife blade, eraser, or screwdriver can be ground into a dull edge,

00:41:03which may serve to trace and press the wood, while a spike or very large nail can, with a file,

00:41:12be so crossed at the end to make a stamp.

00:41:15Second lesson. Cutting grooves with a gouge. We will now suppose that the pupil has a piece

00:41:30of smooth pine wood, at least six inches by six in size, and half an inch in thickness,

00:41:39fastened to the table before him. Let him draw on it two lines with a lead pencil

00:41:47across the grain, one-fourth of an inch distant from each other. Then, taking a fluter or gouge

00:41:57of semicircular curve, also one-fourth of an inch in diameter, let him carefully cut away the wood

00:42:06between the lines so as to form a semicircular groove. This is not to be affected

00:42:15by cutting all the wood away at once. A very little should be removed at first so as to make

00:42:25a shallow groove. Then this may be cut over again till the incision is perfect.

00:42:33Hold the handle of the tool firmly in the right hand with the wrist and part of the forearm

00:42:39resting on the bench. Place two first fingers of the left hand on the face of the blade about an

00:42:49inch from the cutting edge to direct and act as they stop to prevent the tool advancing too fast.

00:43:02Some place the thumb below the blade so that it is held between the thumb and the two first fingers.

00:43:12Gouge work. Keep your mind on your work. A careless movement may cause a slip of the tool

00:43:21and ruin it. Let every stroke of chisel or gouge be made and regulated by purpose and design,

00:43:30not haphazard or at random. Think exactly what you wish to cut or mean to do and leave nothing

00:43:40to involuntary action. The habit of doing this may be acquired in the first few lessons,

00:43:48if you try, and when it is acquired all the real difficulty of carving is mastered.

00:43:55Never attempt to carve anything unless it is fastened to the table. Pupils who do this

00:44:04fall into the habit of holding the panel down with the left hand, and the result is that the tool

00:44:12slips sooner or later and inflicts a wound, which may be serious. Always keep both hands on the tool.

00:44:25When the pupil shall have cut perhaps twenty straight grooves with great care with the gouge,

00:44:33he may then cut cross-barred grooves, and then curved ones. Two sections of a circle thus

00:44:43intersecting form, as may be seen, a leaf. One, two, or even three lessons may be devoted to this,

00:44:54but let the pupil go no further until he can cut these grooves perfectly. He will then find it

00:45:02excellent practice at odd intervals to carve grooves in circles, spirals, and other forms.

00:45:12Groove carving may be regarded as line drawing, for any pattern which can be drawn in simple lines

00:45:20can be of course imitated with a gouge.

00:45:26Very pretty decorative work may be affected by this gouge grooving alone, and in fact it was

00:45:33very common in the 15th and 16th centuries, as is shown by specimens in the museums.

00:45:42These museums are located in South Kensington, Munich, Vienna, and Salzburg.

00:45:50The wood chosen was generally a high-grained or strongly marked pine, the natural yellow color

00:45:59of which was somewhat heightened by staining, oiling, or age.

00:46:04The pattern, generally a leafy one, was then outlined with a narrow, say one-third inch gouge,

00:46:16and the grooves painted in with black or brown. This was applied in many ways,

00:46:23but especially to large cabinets or wardrobes. It is a very rapid and effective kind of work.

00:46:34Celtic or Irish or Runic patterns, which resemble ropes or ribbons crossing one another,

00:46:43can be very well imitated by running these lines with a gouge.

00:46:50No writer on wood carving ever seems to have noticed what beautiful,

00:46:56complicated, and valuable work can be executed in this manner alone.

00:47:02These lines can be painted in black, dark colors, or red, so as to make fine effects

00:47:10in decorative furniture.

00:47:15It may also be observed that when cut, they may be used for molds for plaster of Paris,

00:47:23paper mache, and leather. The pupil would do well to pass a few days in developing

00:47:32simple groove work which is worth perfectly understanding. There are few who cannot,

00:47:39with care, learn to cut grooves very well with a gouge after a few days of practice.

00:47:47I urge that the pupil shall do this with ease before going further. Secondly, that he shall

00:47:55actually realize what a great amount of beautiful work can be made with one gouge from one-fourth

00:48:04to one-third of an inch diameter, as, for instance, in inscriptions, interlacing bands,

00:48:12or any kind of design formed of lines or cords, Celtic decorations,

00:48:21interlacing ropes or ribbons, etc.

00:48:27The artist who proposes to master carving for general decoration

00:48:32should pay particular attention to this simple work.

00:48:36Beginners in carving are, without exception, so anxious to get ornaments or leaves in relief

00:48:43and to produce some kind of high-class artwork that they pass over grooving and curve carving

00:48:51or flat cutting as a very little consequence, when, in fact, it should be in every way much

00:49:01to their advantage to develop it to the utmost. The great reason why there is at present so little

00:49:10decoration of broad spaces in panels, scrolls, or furniture by means of carving, is because all

00:49:19carvers are devoted almost exclusively to more ambitious work, and ignore what may be done

00:49:27and ignore what may be done with a few tools by the simplest methods.

00:49:36Third lesson, flat patterns made with cuts and lines. There is an easy kind of flat or hollow

00:49:45carving, if it can also be so-called, which is executed with a gouge or v-tool or a firmer alone,

00:49:56but which produces flat patterns. Make the design and, as it is to be executed almost entirely with

00:50:06lines or grooves or small hollows, it must be so designed that the patterns are close-fitting

00:50:14or separated only by lines. Now and then, or here and there, a small corner or large space or cavity

00:50:24may be removed by a touch of the tool, but, as a rule, there is little work in it beyond mere lines.

00:50:35However, as in the gouge work of the previous lesson, although anybody can learn in a day or two

00:50:43the run, the lines, yet, if good patterns be available, remarkably beautiful and valuable work

00:50:52may be produced by it. It is as applicable to cabinets, chests, panels for chairs, or other

00:51:01kinds of decoration. Of course, the lines or hollows for excavations may, as in all cases, be filled in

00:51:11with color. This work can often be very well executed with the firmer or flat carver's chisel alone.

00:51:22And it will afford good practice to acquire familiarity with that greatly neglected tool.

00:51:33Flat or cavo cutting of this kind of work is only a little advance on grooving with a gouge,

00:51:43but its results may be very much more artistic. It occupies a position between gouge grooving

00:51:52and cutting out the ground. Each of these are separated

00:51:59as so many distinctive arts, but they lead to one another.

00:52:05The easiest way to prepare this work is to execute the pattern on the wood and Indian ink,

00:52:13then simply cut away all of the black. The lines and leaves, etc., must be very carefully run

00:52:22with the V tool. All the larger hollows should be cut with a gouge. If very large hollows or spaces

00:52:32or grounds are left, they must be executed as described in the next lesson.

00:52:39Observe in Figures 31 to 35 that all the carving is confined to simply cutting away the parts

00:52:49indicated by the black ground. The fine lines can be best executed with a parting or V tool,

00:52:59and, in many instances, with the same smallest gouge or veiner. Though not usual, it is excellent

00:53:08practice, when possible, to learn to do this with a small firmer or carver's chisel.

00:53:18These cut-out flat patterns are as easy of execution as gouge work to anyone who has learned

00:53:26to anyone who has learned the latter. They are not now much studied, but they are capable of a

00:53:36wide application in decorative art. The lines and cavities look best when painted or dyed.

00:53:44It is the next step beyond gouge work, which represents simple drawing of lines in design

00:53:52and corresponds to sketching. Contour or rounding and modeling, of course, correspond

00:54:01to light and shade, but plain gouge and cavil cutting is simple sketching. Any animal or human

00:54:10figure, a vase, flowers, or vines, may thus be carved, the only further condition being that

00:54:20the outlines shall always be broad and bold. Great care should be exercised not to make too

00:54:29many lines, especially fine ones, and, in all cases, to avoid detail and make the design as

00:54:38simple as you can. When in thus outlining an animal, as you have clearly indicated,

00:54:46with as few lines as possible, what it is meant to be, you have done enough. As in all sketching,

00:54:54the golden rule is to give as much representation with as little work as possible.

00:55:03It may be observed that familiar and extensive practice of the very easy gouge groove work and

00:55:11of simple flat or cavil cutting in hollows, if carried out on a large scale, as if, for instance,

00:55:20in wall and door patterns, gives the pupil far more energy and confidence and is more conducive

00:55:28to freehand carving and the sweep cut than the usual method of devoting much time in the beginning

00:55:37to chipping elaborate leaves and other small work.

00:55:43Therefore, it will be well for the pupil to perfect himself in such simple groove and hollow work.

00:55:54This was the first step in medieval carving, and it was the proper one for general decoration.

00:56:02It was in this manner that the old carvers of England and their masters, the Flemings, taught their pupils.

00:56:13Fourth lesson. Cutting out a flat panel with a ground. Let the pupil take a panel and draw it

00:56:23on a pattern. He is to cut this out in what is called flat carving and sometimes ribbon work.

00:56:32He begins by outlining, which may be affected in different ways, by taking a small fluter or veiner

00:56:41or a tooling gouge, one-tenth of an inch in diameter, and cutting a groove all around the pattern,

00:56:49just outside of it, but accurately close to it.

00:56:53If perfect in lesson two, this will be very easy for him. He may do this also with a V or parting tool,

00:57:04but the gouge is better for a first attempt. The outline cutting may be affected by taking a firmer

00:57:13or carver's chisel, one-third of an inch broad, and taking it up and down the groove.

00:57:24Close to the pattern, but sloping outward, giving it a tap, the mallet so as to sink it in

00:57:33a very little way into the wood. Do not cut straight up and down, but so as to make a sloping bank.

00:57:44There is yet another way, which is more difficult and seldom practiced, yet which, if mastered,

00:57:51gives you great skill in carving. Take the firmer or flat chisel, and holding it with great care,

00:58:00run it along the edge, sloping outwards, so as to cut the line accurately. By means of this method,

00:58:10the whole work may be very well outlined. It is not urged as absolutely necessary at a first lesson,

00:58:20but it is advisable to practice it sooner or later.

00:58:28When the outlining is done, let the pupil take a flat gouge, if he has cut the line

00:58:35with a small gouge, and very carefully shave away the wood from the ground.

00:58:42Let him cut at first very little at a time, but for his object is now not to make something to show,

00:58:53but to learn how to manage his tools. Do not finish all the cutting in one part at once,

00:59:01leaving the rest untouched, but go all over it gradually several times until it is nearly perfect.

00:59:15Let every touch tell. Remove the wood at every cut and leave no edges or splinters.

00:59:24To do this well, you must also always watch and consider the grain of the wood at the particular

00:59:31spot you are operating upon. It is easy enough to see whether you are cutting with,

00:59:39that is, in the same direction as the grain or across the grain, but it is something beyond this

00:59:47that has to be looked to. It is invariable that all wood, whether cut with the grain or partially

00:59:54across the grain, will be found to work better, smoother, and with less tendency to splinter,

01:00:03either in the one or the other direction, that is to say, when cut from right to left,

01:00:11or the reverse, from left to right. The required direction in which it will cut the smoothest

01:00:19is at once shown by the behavior of the wood itself and the quality of the results. Hence,

01:00:28should the work or surface show a tendency to splinter, if possible, cut it from the opposite

01:00:37direction and turn the work round on the bench, should that be necessary to enable you to do it,

01:00:46that is, if you cannot use the tool in either hand. Be aware, above all things,

01:00:56of letting the hands work mechanically. Think of what you are about. By learning to cut clean and

01:01:06flat, you are taking the first step towards the sweep cut, which will come afterwards,

01:01:14and which requires both deliberation and dexterity.

01:01:21When all is cut out nicely and carefully, take an extra flat gouge and clean the floor,

01:01:28removing every trace of unevenness. Then take a French round nail or bodkin, and with the mallet,

01:01:38fill the ground with little holes as to make a rough surface. Or you may use one of the stamps

01:01:48for this. This requires care, so that the shape of the stamp may not be apparent. It is advisable

01:01:57to trim with a very sharp small chisel, and with great care, the edge of the pattern. For this

01:02:06lesson, it will be the best not to cut away more than one-fourth of an inch to form the ground.

01:02:15If the outlining is done with a chisel and mallet, before cutting away the ground,

01:02:22go over the outline and cut it a little distance from the line already cut towards it,

01:02:29so as to remove the wood and form a v-shaped groove as one digs with a spade.

01:02:40Teachers or pupils are begged to remember that the sole object of this lesson is to learn

01:02:48how to handle and manage the tools, that is, to become familiar with them,

01:02:56and how to learn to cut a ground with skill and confidence. To do this, there should be

01:03:04much occasional practice on bits of waste wood. Therefore, it is earnestly urged that no beginner

01:03:13shall go further than the work described in this lesson, until he or she

01:03:21can execute it with accuracy and ease. When this is gained, all that remains to be done is easy.

01:03:33The reason why the V tool is not specially recommended to beginners for outlining,

01:03:41is that for the most difficult of all tools in ordinary use to sharpen, the small gouge answers

01:03:49every purpose for the work in hand. To recapitulate first, we have the cutting away

01:03:57from between the outlines of the pattern. If the panel be half an inch in thickness,

01:04:04it should not be more than a quarter of an inch in depth.

01:04:11Cut over the hole very lightly at first, and then go over it again and again. Do not dig or cut out

01:04:20the whole quarter of an inch in one place at once, leaving the rest as yet untouched.

01:04:30Should you do this, you will be led to cutting too deeply in some places. When the hard work

01:04:38is effectively executed, and nearly all the wood is roughly cut away, the work is said to be

01:04:49bested or sketched, a word supposed to be derived from the French or the Italian meaning the same thing.

01:04:59After cutting, the pupil may proceed, which is simply an amplification of the same.

01:05:09This concludes our reading on woodcarving.

01:05:15You've made it through, or you fell asleep mid-stroke. Either way, mission accomplished. Good night.

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