I have been practicing my chip carving lately. My plan is to use this skill to enhance turnings.
I like this craft because it is reasonably simple in concept and it only requires 2 knives as tools, also it can be performed almost anywhere you can sit down. Well maybe not a plane……. I’m guessing they won’t like the knives on board.
I can now sit next to my wife while we are watching TV, chipping and knitting!
Hint: its all about holding the knife properly! Once you do that right this craft is really fun and can create some impressive results. Get some basswood at your local craft store, I got mine at JoAnn’s (the balsa wood section.
I turned this pine plate you see in the photo, its my next chip carving adventure, will keep you posted.
The pattern for the plate above was done with SketchUp.
I got the pattern instructions from the Jan/Feb issue (#106) of Wood Carving.
I found some really useful resources:
My chip carving has a lot of free stuff including lessons and patterns. I highly recommend starting at this site. Buy some stuff from Marty so that he can keep providing this sweet service. For anyone interested in chip carving I found this site and its content all I needed to get started.
Wayne Barton is the well know craftsman in this realm (by Google search). I have a copy of “The complete guide to chip carving” and recommend it as a reference. The link will take you to My Chip Carving, I figure if you buy it from Marty you help both these guys :).
This “Point to point” spacer tool looks interesting even for us wood turners. Laying out a pattern on the circumference of a vessel is a pain and this might make that easier. I guess this a common tool that I was unaware of, they are sold at Woodcraft!
