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Thread: Tutorial: Simple Carved Fan

  1. #16
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    Charlie - I do not use the V-tool on the horizontal edges. I use a chisel (or #1 gouge) to set the line and once you get any depth the V-tool doesn't work well. The reason is that the "wall" forces you to turn your V-tool sidewards much more than you ordinarily would, which takes too much off the flute that's there - so that side of that flute would be flattened much more than you'd round the other flutes.

    What I do is use a flat gouge (maybe a #1 or a #2) to cut downward at an angle to round the flute and deepen the cut at the wall. A gouge with some sweep works better than a #1 because you're cutting along the grain. A #1 could cause splitting, but with a bit of manipulation, you can use it.

    I only have 60* V-tools. Maybe if you had one with a smaller angle it would work. They make 45* V-tools.

    I can't think of any other scaling issues on the fan but I haven't tried to make really big or really small fans. If you were going to put a drawer pull in the center, you might be forced to make that center half circle a certain size which might make if proportionally larger on a really small fan - but I'm just guessing here.

    Mike

    [That's one problem with tutorials. I would not have thought to discuss that particular cut but a beginner could have problems there. If I was teaching it in person, I'd demonstrate the cut or see that the student was having problems and demonstrate/discuss it.]
    Last edited by Zahid Naqvi; 01-07-2009 at 12:51 PM. Reason: fixed the text referenced by Mike below.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #17
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    well, I finally got my fan started. got the center round made up and shaped it to the 1/4" dept. I have started sloping the back ground from the edges of the out circle inwards. Lot more work than I thought it would be, but it's on going. Depending on how much time I get during the week, this may end up waiting until the next weekend.
    The means by which an end is reached must exemplify the value of the end itself.

  3. #18
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    plunge cut

    Mike I am trying to do this fan and am wondering if the plunge cut with the 2/8 on the outside of the flute is straight or angled back to the center, its hard to tell from the picture.
    Rusty

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rusty Elam View Post
    Mike I am trying to do this fan and am wondering if the plunge cut with the 2/8 on the outside of the flute is straight or angled back to the center, its hard to tell from the picture.
    Rusty
    Rusty, what you're trying to do is make a cut straight down (perpendicular to the face of the blank), but with a curved bottom. So I hold the gouge "upright" but I angle it so that I cut more in the center of the flute than on the outside of the flute. The gouge is not angled towards or away from the center, but is angled side-to-side.

    I hope that explains it. This would be easy to demonstrate but it's hard to describe. Think about what you want the final thing to look like and my explanation may make more sense.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #20
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    A comment here about the v-tool question. I do, in fact, use a v-tool to do the outline cuts on fans, but as Mike stated, you really need a 45 degree v-tool to do this, for the reasons he stated.

    From the standpoint of historical accuracy (i.e., how was it done?), some of you might be interested that most of the Queen Anne fans from the period (1740 - about 1780) that I've been able to examine have curved ends on the rays, which would indicate a technique and tool as Mike's described.

    One related question about this is whether or not v-tools were common to carver's kits in the 18th century. As some of you might be aware, carver's tool kits that survived intact from the 18th century are exceptionally rare. I know of only one that's in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, and there's a unhappily brief description of it in "Working Wood in the 18th Century". It does not appear that a v-tool was included in this kit, and I've heard supposition that a v-tool would not have been a commonly manufactured item during that time period because of the difficulty of getting a consistent thickness on the two wings. Instead, there's substantial evidence that carver's used "veiners" as we would use v-tools today - as outliners and groovers. Typically, a "veiner" would be about #9 sweep in the sheffield system, in about a 2-3mm width.

  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by David Keller NC View Post

    From the standpoint of historical accuracy (i.e., how was it done?), some of you might be interested that most of the Queen Anne fans from the period (1740 - about 1780) that I've been able to examine have curved ends on the rays, which would indicate a technique and tool as Mike's described.

    .
    Dave, can you elaborate on this for me, or maybe post a picture of what you mean? I think I understand but I just want to make sure.

    Mike, thanks a million for taking the time to do this, I have one of these to do on the lowboy Im working on and this tutorial is just what I needed.

    Thanks!!
    If at first you don't succeed, look in the trash for the instructions.





  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kountz View Post
    Dave, can you elaborate on this for me, or maybe post a picture of what you mean? I think I understand but I just want to make sure.

    Mike, thanks a million for taking the time to do this, I have one of these to do on the lowboy Im working on and this tutorial is just what I needed.

    Thanks!!
    Holy cow folks...he's gonna do it!

    Classic Lowboy Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Dewey

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  8. #23
    We can now round over the flutes. You have to be careful in doing this because of the way the grain runs. On the top of each flute, I used the #2/8 and cut inward. But on the other side of the flute, I used the #2/25 and cut downward.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    Okay, let me see how my time goes.

    Mike
    Mike,

    Just found this thread and enjoyed it. I carved a shell last yr for a lowboy and one thing I had trouble with was rounding over the flutes neatly. I don't quite understand what you mean by cutting inward at the top of a flute and downward at the other side. Is the other side the bottom of the flute near the small circle on the bottom of the drawer front? Also unclear on what is inward and what is downward. Thanks.

    Woody Dixon

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by woody dixon View Post
    We can now round over the flutes. You have to be careful in doing this because of the way the grain runs. On the top of each flute, I used the #2/8 and cut inward. But on the other side of the flute, I used the #2/25 and cut downward.


    Mike,

    Just found this thread and enjoyed it. I carved a shell last yr for a lowboy and one thing I had trouble with was rounding over the flutes neatly. I don't quite understand what you mean by cutting inward at the top of a flute and downward at the other side. Is the other side the bottom of the flute near the small circle on the bottom of the drawer front? Also unclear on what is inward and what is downward. Thanks.

    Woody Dixon
    It's been a really long time since I did that tutorial but I think that "inward" refers to cutting into the center of the fan and "downward" refers to cutting towards the outside of the fan. But I just don't remember.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  10. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    It's been a really long time since I did that tutorial but I think that "inward" refers to cutting into the center of the fan and "downward" refers to cutting towards the outside of the fan. But I just don't remember.

    Mike
    Thanks Mike

    Woody

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