[Woodcarver] Fwd: What Happened??--a new topic---help

[Joe Dillett]

Hi Maura,

There a lot of interest in relief carving classes, especially the classical method. I found that a leaf design is easier to teach to a beginner level carver.

There is value in having the student transfer the pattern to the wood, not only to teach them the steps but it helps them become acquainted with the design as they transfer it. However most classes I taught it was difficult to have the average student finish the most basic design even without them transferring the pattern.

The difficulty with doing relief carving at most roundup's is the setup isn't right. In our shop we have the luxury of clamping the piece from the sides leaving the top clear to maneuver the tools and the bench height high enough to stand and utilize our whole body to power the tool. At most roundup's they have tables, so the clamps are on top of the piece getting in the way of the tool. Those tables are not the right height to stand, so using classical techniques it is very difficult to get enough power without using a mallet. Their carving time will be longer because the setup is not ideal. When I carve the project at a moderate speed I figure it will take the average student 4 times longer because they don't have all the necessary tools, not the right height to work, the clamps get in the way and if you have more then one carver per 8-foot table it's unstable.

One thing that helps is to make a clamping setup that allows the clamps to be below the carving surface. Mount the carving to a clamping board.

Many students will not have a full-size set of tools. Typically they come with palm chisels, which wouldn't be to bad except rarely do they have selection of larger tools. I generally have to take along a considerable number of tools to loan out.

Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552

(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.net [business web site]
http://www.carvingmagazine.com ['Ask Joe' column]
http://community.webshots.com/user/joe_dillett
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: linehan718 at aol.com 
  To: woodcarver at six.pairlist.net 
  Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2009 8:05 PM
  Subject: Spam:****, [Woodcarver] Fwd: What Happened??--a new topic---help


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  -----Original Message-----
  From: Linehan718 at aol.com
  To: abkinnaman at earthlink.net
  Sent: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 7:56 pm
  Subject: Re: [Woodcarver] What Happened??--a new topic---help


  All righty I'll open up a discussion if you'd all like to help me out a bit.  This year will be my first year of formal teaching at a woodcarving roundup.  This is basically a free class but I can charge for the wood blank.  What I would like to teach is an introduction to classical carving which really isn't being offered much at any of the roundups.  Classical carving, just to clarify things, means some tool specific carving.  This means minimizing the use of the stop cut and emphasizing either a veiner or v-tool to cut around and outline, chisels and shallow gouges for grounding out and gouges for doing rounding, the sweep of the gouges matching the curve of the carving, rather than whittling away with any tool till you get what shape you want. No power tools in this class.  I will be touching on the history of carving and an explanation of the sheffield numbering system and some advanced carving techniques, but imparting t hat knowledge during the course of the day rather than giving a boring lecture.  People in my class will range from beginners to intermediates.  I want to do a classical style relief carving which can be finished by most in roughly 6 hours of carving.  My original ideas were to do either, grapes and leaves, an acanthus leaf design or a traditional shell carving.  

  Now my topics for discussion are, if you were to come and take my class.... first which design would you be more interested in doing and why.   Would you rather the design already be on the wood or should I make my students transfer the pattern lines themselves?  Would you find this class interesting?  Any else you can think of would be great and all suggestions will help alot.  Thanks

  Maura
  www.Carvinginnyc.com



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