Carving in the Round

First exercises

In learning to carve wood it is a very good plan to start with a few basic shapes, if you have been inspired to start carving by seeing some elaborate piece of ornament, put this out of your mind for the time being. As a first exercise in the round attempt an egg as illustrated, or perhaps a cylinder, or cone. The actual carving of such shapes need not be a lengthy process, but in the course of making them you will learn some fundamental truths about wood and tools. You may prefer to carve an asymmetrical shape such as the lamp base (Fig. 25).

This was a student's wood carving in ash and made from a block measuring 12 1/2 in. x 4 in. x 4 in. Choose any shape that will enable you to carve broad surfaces. Do not start with a very small block of wood.

The egg form—large end uppermost—is recognized by the sculptor as a basis for the design of the human head, and if you manage to carve it you will be well on the way to carving a head in the round.

Whatever shape you choose, draw it clearly on the block of wood. Then saw off the unwanted corners, or roughly round the shape. The bow saw can be used for sawing curves. Secure the block to the bench by one of the methods described earlier. Commence cutting with a gouge of medium sweep or curve 1/2in. to 3/4 in. in size. Think of the sections of the form as you carve, working all over the shape; avoid making arbitrary holes in the surface. Keep to one gouge for some time. This will help you to carve consistently.

The spiral (see Fig. 26) is rather more difficult to carve, but is good practice in carving concave forms. For this exercise you should buy a 2 in. or 3 in. dowel from your local timber merchant. The drawing can be assisted by pinning a piece of string at the top of the dowel and winding it round spiral fashion. Draw a line along the string. Using a near flat gouge make a sharp cut on each side of the line at approximately 50 degrees and J in. deep. Now cut a groove with a fluter or deep gouge in a central position between the lines. Work down from the first cuts to the center groove by means of a shallow gouge. This would be a good moment to practice hand-pushing the tool as described in Chap­ter 4, page 47. Spiral forms are fascinating to carve. The curves can be various or graduated, and the wood could be of asym­metrical shape. It is not always easy to visualize a form such as a spiral in the round and a model can be quickly made in plasti­cine and would be a useful guide (Fig. 26B).

I have advised a broad treatment for the beginner but you may be forced by circumstances to work small, or, on the other hand it may be your natural inclination. In this case toy-like carvings can be made from odd pieces of wood, dowels, old tool-handles etc. The Knight's Head (Fig. 27) was carved from the end of a hammer-handle, the legs and arms of the other figures are carved from dowels. Figure 29 shows a nursery mobile made from small carvings. The arms of the mobile are made from cane, this is light and easy to drill. Strings, wires and split rings can be used for the attachments. The general pattern of the mobile will work well but you must adjust the design and balance to suit the weight of your carvings.

You should start making the mobile from the light end, that is where the fish appears in the diagram. If you use strong silk thread for the strings the objects will move freely. With wire the movement is more restricted and double rings at the junction with the cane will help. Some patience must be exercised but experi­menting with mobiles is a fascinating occupation.

Carving a Bird

A bird has a fairly simple general shape and would be a good choice for your first carving in the round. The legs are the only part that present any practical difficulty. In the demonstration drawings the pigeon is in a roosting position so that this problem does not arise. Remember that the strength of the wood lies along the fibres of the grain. In our example the grain should go the length of the bird, that is from head to tail. You could try out a number of sketches yourself based on this idea. It will be comparatively easy for you to invent your own design. You probably see pigeons every day, or you may have a caged bird to study. Remember when planning your design, that the carving must stand firmly on its base when finished. A base can be added or incorporated in the block. In the demonstration diagrams of the carving in progress you will see that the base is incorporated. Draw a side view in the actual size of the carving (Fig. 30). With tracing paper make a second drawing of the same design. Now make another drawing of the bird as seen from above. This will give you an idea of the thickness of wood required. Allow one inch to spare in thickness, if you can, and a little extra length at the head and tail. This will leave room for modifications. Now cut out one of the side-view silhouettes, making it slightly larger all round. Lay this template or pattern on the block and draw round with chalk. Now screw the base of the block to a stout board, and cramp it to the bench. Alternatively, use the wood-carver's vise (Fig. 7).

Roughing out

Before you start carving with the gouge, a saw may be useful in two ways. First the obvious: by sawing off the comers (Figs. 31, 32), or round the shape, with a bow saw or bandsaw a certain amount of labor may be saved.

The saw can also be used for cutting in toward the design and then splitting down in line with the grain (Fig. 35). This latter method must be used with great care so as not to saw too deeply and is not suitable for woods with a twisting or interlocking grain. Do not try to split the wood in lengths more than 3 in. at a time, as the grain may change direction. Never try to split the wood without the saw-cut 'stop' which keeps the splitting under control.

These stop-cuts can also be made with a sharp chisel when removing small pieces of wood. Wood such as mahogany can split very easily at times and too much wood can be lost by a careless blow.

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