angle
of approach
the angle between the carving piece
and the carving tool.
back bent
it is a reversed gouge to carve into a hollow in an upside down
position.
background
the area around the carving subject, usually grooved or sanded in
relief carving
basswood
type of carving wood
preferred by woodcarvers.
bent carving tools
has a curve
or crank along their length. This allows them to get deeper into
recesses without catching the wood around the edge and juddering.
Always push the tool forwards to cut; never lever.
bevel
the
wedge-like metal between the cutting
edge and the heel. There
may be bevel on outside or the inside. Outer
bevels should be shaped to the required angle, and stropped to a
polish for cutting more easily through the wood. A correct cutting
angle is important. Inner bevels are usually not found on gouges
bought straight from the manufacturer, leading the inexperienced carver to
think that this is normnal. However an inside bevel of even 5° has enormous
benefits.
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chisel
if the
blade is flat with no curvature it is called a chisel or a firmer
chisel. Carving chisels are ground differently from bench chisels
used in cabinetmaking.
concave
cave is like the
hollow - which this term describes
convex
rounded edges
cutting
there are many ways of manipulating and
making cuts with carving tool. Some common terms used by
carvers:
running cut: a long cut with "V" tools, flutes or
deep gouges; as in lining in or decorating the wood surface
slicing cut: the gouge is given a sideways movement as it is
pushed forwards. This may involve simply 'drifting' to the side -
sometimes called 'sliding' - or rotating the handle a little, or
both. The cutting edge may be sliced to the left or the right and is
particularly seen with flatter gouges and vital for dealing with
instances of awkward grain.
sweep cut or sweeping cut: a slice cut with emphasis on
rotating the gouge by the handle along the sweep. It is particularly
seen in deeper gouges which can make full use of their perfectly
shaped sweeps to set in clean outlines.
rocking or rocking cuts are just short sweep cuts. The
principle way of carving wood. The handle is given a quick twist
(rotated) as it is moved forward, slicing out chip. This is much
cleaner cutting than simply pushing the tool along straight.
stop cut: a short stab cut which limits the extent to which
wood fibers may tear.
stab cut: pushing the cutting edge straight in and out of
the wood either for decorative purposes or as a stop cut.
cutting angle
the angle between the bevel and the
surface of the wood - it can only be measured if both faces are
flat. Find it by placing the carving tool on the bench; slide it
forward as you raise the handle and the tool 'bites' the wood at the
cutting angle. 15-20° is fine for the majority of medium density
carving woods. Rounded bevels raise the cutting angle and so
decrease tool control; and increase the size of the bevel 'wedge'.
cutting edge
the
cutting edge is defined by two things: the width of the blade at the
cutting edge and the shape of the cutting edge. The rule of thumb is
that wider tools work faster. The shape or profile of the cutting
edge is harder to describe. You can have a very sharp cutting
edge but a carving tool cut poorly if the bevel is incorrectly
shaped or at the wrong cutting angle. |
detailing
the final stage when all the surface decoration is carved. A very
common mistake is for beginners to put in details too early - when
they end up in the wrong place and fix the carving too early. They
do it because they are thinking 'surface' and feel safe with
something 'caught'. However details are never the problem. |
ears
sometimes the outside edges of the
carving tool blade edge is called the ears. |
ferrules
rings
(often made from brass) to hold the carving tool metal in the handle
of the tool.
finishing
may mean either 'finishing off' (detailed sanding if desired) or the
act of coloring, sealing or waxing etc of the finished piece.
fishtails
these are gouges
or chisels which splay suddenly at the cutting end from a long
shank. Lightweight with an emphasis on the corners for finer
finishing work. Easily overheated with grinding.
flute
a long deep channel with circular root. Fluting is the arranging
of such flutes in rows.
front
back
a pronounced curve at the cutting edge going one way. |
gouges
the most common carving tools are gouges - chisels with some sort of
curvature to them. Gouges come in a vast variety of curvature, from
nearly straight to a very tight arc. This is in addition to
the overall width of the tool. You can have, for example, a 12mm
gouge of a very shallow arc or a different 12mm gouge with a very
pronounced arc. The term for defining these arcs is called
"sweep" and the sweeps range from #1 which is a straight
chisel to #11 which is almost a semi-circle of the diameter of the
width.
heel
the ridge
where bevel meets blade proper. Smooth it over so to make sure it
burnishes the wood after the cutting edge, and not scratch it.
high
relief
a loose term, as is low relief, without a numerical value: the
background in such carving is relatively deep compared with the
width of the subject. It would be fair to say a background depth of
about a quarter of the subject's width is high relief. As high
relief gets deeper so the subject approaches full three dimensions. |
incising
this is literally
'cutting': any surface carving with gouge, "V" tool etc.
If a carving is only incised, it would not been grounded out. |
long bent
have a
gentle curve going the length of the steel shank,
for shallow recesses.
low
relief
a shallow, but arbitrary, depth of carving. As with high relief it
is not so much the actual physical depth of the background as the
relationship of this depth to the subject. A background at say a
thirtieth of the subject width would definitely be low relief. |
outlining
a good alternative word to lining in, although 'the outline' is
usually taken to be the principle one surrounding the whole subject,
with a background, whereas lining in can refer to separating any
subject from its ground.
over cut
carving past the carving pattern lines. |
parting tool
alternative name for a "V" tool and which points to a key
V tool function: of separating one part from another.
toe: the area 30-40° from the
bottom of the chisel.
leading edge: the leading part of the blade in the
wood. |
relief carving
somewhere between
painting and sculpture, with the depth dimension diminished and
subjects usually related to a virtual, original, surface plane and
set against a background plane. see low and high relief carving. |
safe lines
always draw a 1/8 inch
(3mm) to 1/4 inch (6 mm) safe
line around your subject to avoid carving into it.
shape
this is sometimes
used as an alternative to form. Shaping term as an
aspect of form, to mean the configuration of an edge or area, how
the surface of the three dimensional object appears. so shape is
something more two dimensional even if actually moving through space
shank
the varying length
or square metal between the shoulder (or handle if no shoulder
present) and the blade of a carving tool.
skew chisel
if the
blade is flat and cut at an angle to the tool it is called a skew
chisel.
step back
cutting against the
contour line at a 45° angle
and then moving back from it in increments of 1/8 inch (3mm) to 1/4
inch (6 mm).
shoulder
a flange which
prevents the carving tool from being driven into the handle and
splitting it proper. Also called 'bolster' or 'stop'.
short
bent
tools that have a
long shank with a (to a greater or lesser degree) tight crank at the
blade, for getting in deeper hollows
straight gouge
spoon chisel left corner
spoon chisel right corner
spoon gouge back bent
sweep
degree of curve, the higher the "# of sweep" then the more
curvature there is. Numbering may differ from one manufacturer to an
other. |
undercutting
this is also known
as backing off, cutting an edge or form horizon from behind to
increase the sense of thinness or relief. |
v tool
this is a very
important tool in the carver's kit consisting of two chisels meeting
at an angle of 60° (most common), 90° or 45°. The line along which
they meet is known as the keel. Used in particular for lining in and
creating decorative grooves. Also known as a parting tool.
"V" tool can be straight or bent. |
wall
the side plane of a
subject, having depth and to which a ground junction is made. It may
also have a surface edge. the term may also describe the side walls
of an incised letter |
