[Woodcarver] Holding spoons for carving

[D WINDERS]

Thanks for all the good advice. I've got some non-slip matting which I'm going to try. I thought the problems getting tools in and out of the tool roll was my lack of dexterity, I didn't realise it is a common problem.
  Cheers
  David

Linehan718 at aol.com wrote:
  Gentle Dripplers :-) Please support our List with a donation: http://wwwoodcarver.com/WWWList/WWWList.html

    Hi,  I also prefer not to use any sort of hold down device when carving small stuff like spoons, although I would definitely like to see Ivan's method.  What I will do is to lay the carving on a table or similar with a rubber mat covering the surface. For the carving class I teach, I do suggest newbies also make use of a bench hook, or carver's sled topped with the rubber matt. The mat provides traction, yet it is extremely simple to reposition anytime I feel the need. The back of the bowl is left squared until it is nearing completion to prevent side to side wobble.  A lot of a spoon carving is done with me simply holding the carving in my left hand while carving w/ my right.
   
  As for winding up with your hand or body parts being in the path of your carving, It will take you a few years of carving until you train yourself to routinely carve away from yourself, after awhile it becomes second nature.  Ironically, the more I carve, the more I do carve towards myself now and then and have learned many different techniques for leveraging and bracing my carving hand/arm to prevent slippage.  This is an intermediate skill and not advisable for beginners.  I do stress that a beginner also use a glove until they lose the fear of scars and blood. I now rarely use a glove and I find my most frequent reasons are because the wood is rough to the skin of my hands or when carving a premium exotic wood as to keep my oils off of it, or to help keep a very white wood, white.  As with most experienced carvers, I find the most dangerous part of any carving is taking out and putting away tools.  Perhaps the solution would be to get me a shop apprentice who could
 deal with the dangerous setting up and cleanup.  Then again, that means I would have to entrust the care of my tools to someone else and honestly I don't see that happening anytime soon. LOL
   
    Maura Carving in NYC
www.carvinginnyc.com







    
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