It's perfect for this application (I'm going to do a blog entry on the stones in the future). I have a Arkansas and medium India stones pair that I have been using since the 1980's. In general for carving you want oilstones as they are harder and don't dish or groove nearly as much waterstones. Chris can teach me technique and ways of seeing things, but tactile understand comes from practice and paying attention to the practice.įor my next assignment I have to condition a 1/16" #11 gouge and carve an outlined carving. My cuts are smoother, getting more consistent, but most important I'm developing an understanding of how the tools feel when I make a cut and the feedback I need to understand to be able to control the tool. And what Chris means I think is that my actual carving isn't any great shakes yet, but setting up the workbench, starting the exercises, getting practice with the tools, and having something to show him, is important because getting good is not about just reading the material, it's about finding the time, getting into the shop, and actually doing stuff. "95% of success is showing up" - said Chris Pye quoting Woody Allen. I don't think he is particularly impressed with the actual work but he was very pleased with my overall progress. So for the followup on this first lesson I reported into Chris and he quizzed me on whether or not I had seen the required videos (there are more on his website), which I had, and I showed him my workspace and the work I had done so far. ( Click here if the embedded video does not work). His talks on design are really important for me as I am so weak in that area. The video amplifies a recent article in woodcarving illustrated, and I learned a lot from watching it (especially the wiggling he does at the end of the cut to cleanly sever the fibers. Chris has put some videos on YouTube to give you more of a sense on how his video workshops work. I'm basically a book guy, so that's my first line of attack, but the videos have been really helpful because no matter how well written a book is you can't beat an active video demonstration on things like grips and basic cuts (which is what I am learning now). I'm studying with Chris using a combination of books, videos, email, and skyping. The piece in the foreground is the end result of being about to do some sort of very simple design, using the basic handholds, and doing my best to carve it cleanly. I know I'm not there yet, but I should be in a couple of weeks. The wood blocks in the background of the picture are practice. In other words I get no brownie points being able to cut 30 straight lines to a stop mark in a row UNLESS I can cut them all perfectly evenly with EITHER HAND. I can do the cuts pretty easily but what I need to do is practice so that it's consistent. The goal is to practice the basic handholds. The first exercises as outlined on Chris's website are straight and curved cuts. I'm not there yet but I will do something soon. Chris suggested a pullout shelf under my bench for my stones and maybe another shelf for the tools. As a newbie I am still fussing with them. Don't know what that is yet.Ĭonditioning the half dozen or so tools that I needed tool took a lot of time and while I have cases for my big stones I need to figure out what do to with my slips. So I'm using a Lee Valley Wonder Dog - which works well and I like it so far but I am scouting around for something better. While I love my holdfasts I would rather keep them out of the path of my carving tools and so far I have not managed to be able to do that. One in the middle for a woodcarver's screw, two on the sides for a clamp. It fits in my office nicely and when I work I can work on all sides. My solution was a small wooden top and a set of adjustable legs. I'm the sort of person where if something isn't convenient I won't do it so this part of the assignment was really important for me. This was actually part of my first assignment from Chris, setting up a place to carve, assembling the tools I needed for the lessons, sharpening them up and getting ready. So, in addition to my day job of selling tools and getting ready for the holidays, in the past weeks I have been setting up my carving workstation and tools. After the initial work on carving I realized that I needed a higher bench. Rome as they say, was not built in a day.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |