Chapter 6

Tools #2

Using the Gouge

As the types and shapes of the gouge can be numbered in hun­dreds, uses also are many and varied. Although for a carving in the round one or two can suffice, it is in the more complicated forms of relief and ornament carving that it is just as well to have a good selection. In the first stages of such carving and after the design is drawn on the wood, the gouge is often used in a chop­ping action, the tool being held in an almost vertical position. The curve of the gouge is selected to fit the curves of the drawing, the tool being driven into the wood almost at right angles. Cutting tools should be used in this way when establishing the design of a relief or cutting shallow detail on a work in the round. It is in fact equivalent to drawing. However, when you are roughing out or carving in the round do not drive the gouge in too deep. By doing so the gouge can get stuck or broken as you try to get it out. A safe method in this case is to let one corner of the cutting edge remain visible; often both corners are above the surface of the wood.

Hand-pushing the gouge

The hand-pushing of tools (plate x) plays a major part in wood carving. A skilled carver pushes, twists and is in a sense drawing the form as he cuts. This kind of skill takes time to perfect but you should practice using the tool in this way, and the tool must be razor sharp. The left hand that holds the shaft of the tool must rest on the carving and act like a brake. The tool is therefore in perfect control. Hand-pushing can be dangerous if this latter rule is not observed.

Fixing handles

As handles are usually sold separately you may be obliged to fix it to the blade yourself. The following method is quite simple. Wrap the blade in a protective cloth and put it in a vise with only the shoulder protruding. You will find that the handle has a small hole drilled in the end but it will not be large enough to take the tang. Press the end of the tang into this hole and hold­ing the handle firmly twist it back and forth. By this method the tang acts as a drill. When the hole is long enough for the tang to enter the handle to within an inch of the shoulder, tap the handle home with the mallet. The thick square end of the tang will hold the blade firm in the handle.

Abrasive Tools

Although abrasive tools are widely used in conjunction with wood carving, they can do more harm than good if used thought­lessly. Train yourself, at first, to do without these aids. You will make a much better carver if you rely on the sharp edge of your gouge and chisel.

Shaping tools

Tools such as the rasp have a long line of ancestors but the Surform tool with removable blade is a comparatively new arrival and has proved to be a very useful tool for the amateur wood­worker. This type of tool has to some extent replaced the rasp. It has the advantage of a smooth cut combined with rapid cutting action. The blades are flexible and I have used them at times without the frame. The blade is held in both hands and slightly bent while working. It is, however, brittle and should not be bent too much or it will snap. For large surfaces it is best to use the blades in their proper frames. These tools can be obtained in a number of shapes and sizes.

The rasp

The medium and smaller sizes are of most use to the wood carver. Very large rasps with heavy teeth need arduous labor to be really effective. The rasp should not be used near the finished surface of the carving as the scoring marks can go fairly deep. It can be most useful on large works, for 'pulling together' shapes that are too vague, for shaping sweeping convex or concave forms, for establishing a plane and opening the way to further cutting with the gouge. Used without thought, the rasp can weaken form or make the work dull and soft in character.

Rifflers (Fig. 17)

Fig. 17. Rifflers.

The riffler is a type of rasp which can be bought in all shapes and sizes and is therefore useful in awkward corners and for removing wood from inaccessible places. The riffler, like the rasp, has a fraying action on the wood. Again it must be pointed out that normally it is better to cut the wood. It is all too easy for the amateur to turn to rasps and rifflers when tools are blunt or a little extra skill is required.

Plate I. Above: Wood carver's home-made bench. Plate II. Below left: Mr Harold Board carving panels for the House of Commons using his hand as a mallet. Plate III. Below right: The late Mr A. G. Cole carving a remembrance stand in oak.

Plate IV. Above left: Tool rack. Plate V. Right: Cockerel; commencement of carvinginlime wood. Plate VI. Belowleft: Indian high rel ief, nineteenth century; Yootha Rose collection. Plate VII. Right: Sharpening a gouge.

'The Risen Christ in Glory': Plate  VIII. Above left: The glued-up block. Plate IX. Right: Using calipers on the carving. Plate X. Below left: Pushing the gouge by hand. Plate XI. Right: Further stage of carving.

Plate XII. Above: 'The Risen Christ in Glory' in lime wood; figure 8 ft. 6 in., cross 16 ft., by Freda Skinner, St. Paul's, Lorrimore Square, London, S.E.17. Plate XIII. Below: Detail of head.

Plate XIV. Left: Italian Renaissance, school of Rosselino, 'Head of St. John the Baptist', owned by Trinity College, Oxford, exhibited at the Ashniolean Museum. Plate XV. Right: Carved Dish in oak, 25£ in. by 12| in. by 1| in., by David Pye.

Plate XIV. Left: Italian Renaissance, school of Rosselino, 'Head of St. John the Baptist', owned by Trinity College, Oxford, exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum. Plate XV. Right: Carved Dish in oak, 25£ in. by 12| in. by in., by David Pye.

Plate XVIII. Above: Method of carving applied decoration; Harold Board's workshop. Plate XIX. Below: 'Cat with Fish', ebony, by Elizabeth Spun; J. M. Paynton collection.

Plate XX, Above: A carved hand. Plate XXI. Below: Copy of eighteenth-century mantelpiece in pine by Harold Board.

Plate XXII. Above left: 'Knight and Lady', fourteenth cen­tury, Clifton Reynes, England.
Plate XXIII. Above: 'Christopher1 in pear-wood, by Polly Hill Clarke.
Plate XXIV. Left: "Wolf's Head', totem pole, elmwood, by John Linfield.

Scrapers

The scraper is not often used by the carver. However, a small 1 in. scraper set in a handle can sometimes be useful for cleaning out the flat background of a high relief. It is held at a high angle to the work and used with a scraping action. A chisel can be adapted for this purpose. Frequent re-sharpening is necessary as the scraping has a blunting action on the tool. Do not resort to scraping if the wood can be carved in one of the usual ways.

Sandpaper

When using sandpaper, get a supply of all grades. Do not use the paper across the fibres of the grain as this will scar the wood and the scratches are very difficult to eradicate. Try to work with the grain, using the finest grades for finishing. The smooth finish given by sandpaper is suitable for rounded forms, flat surfaces, and for woods where the maximum amount of grain figure is desired. Used indiscriminately, sandpaper can blur small forms and take the sharpness from the detail. Remember that making a shape smooth does not automatically make the shape a good one. If what you intend is to give your carving a smooth finish, go all out for this. Tool-cuts with their edges just blurred over by sandpaper will give a very unpleasant result.

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