Those look pretty good to me.
Thanks very encouraging coming from you. Just like woodturning, making two curved things the same is hard!
I'm finding that out! A symmetrical pattern is the hardest, trying to get both halves the same. Letters are easier.
Good news! Looking forward to letters especially. The sort-of-horizontal leaf pieces on the bottom sure look good.
Thanks, but it wasn't in one cut. Opened it up after fouling up the first cut. The hard thing is making each chip come out clean without junk in the bottom of the "v" - I read that the goal is to always make each cut perfect in one pass and never have go back and make a second cut to clean up.
I'd like to do that for sure! In that respect it is better to cut a little too deep than not quite deep enough. I did come up with a secret technique to "heal" the bottoms of a chip or curve if I did cut too deep and left a noticeable cut line on the bottom. I might even share it if interested.
Consider me very interested!
I think I cut cross grain first then long grain but I'd have to actually make some chips and try to pay attention. I think the ends of the crossgrain cuts serve as a stop for the long grain since it is easier to go too far. I always paid close attention to the grain to avoid slips and unintentionally following the grain, especially when one side of a triangular chip was close but not parallel with the grain. Almost impossible to avoid when making long curved chips as in your patterns but should still be controllable with a sharp knife. I've done most of my chip carving in very high quality basswood, though - maybe the wood you are using is more challenging.
Maybe? I usually cut cross grain first on my TS & BS saws & router ending with a long grain cut to clean out burrs. Sounds like this could apply to carving. On the pother hand I wonder if it would be a good idea to stop just short on the final long grain cut, then cut the final short distance in the opposite direction???
Everyone has trouble with sharp turns. That is one advantage of the "modified" knife the the mychipcarving guy sells. The point is narrower from spine to edge allowing tighter curves without fighting the flat of the blade so much.
Did you grind the sides of your knife until they are almost one long bevel from edge to the top, very thin?
No I didn't. It came with a distinct, but shallow bevel. I've been sanding/stropping at at angle that is shallower than the original bevel as noticed by the sharpened surface creeping up the original bevel. I'll put it on my small belt sander tomorrow with a fine grit, then a 600 grit belt to finish grind to your sketch dipping frequently in water to keep the temper. I'll then sand on a flat surface with 600 grit followed by 1000 grit wet paper. To finish it off, hopefully to establish a repeatable base for the blade, I'll put it on an 8,000 then a 12,000 wet stone followed by stropping to polish it off. If that doesn't produce a very sharp knife I'll grab a beer & scratch my head a few times. If not, that might help with both normal chips and flowing curves. I posted this before but here it is again - a diagram that's pretty close to what the cross-section of my three knives look like at the equivalent places on the blades near the tip:
chip_carving_knife_angles.jpg
(Please disregard what look like horrible scratches on the sides of the blades. The lighting makes them look bad but they are actually quite polished and the scratches are nearly microscopic.)
I never sharpened every few minutes but I did strop every few minutes on a piece of leather with some polishing/honing compound applied. My favorite strop is a thin piece of pig skin glued to a flat stick. I just rub some green polishing compound into the leather or better, the yellow compound sold for "sharpening" general carving chisels. The first piece I had came in a Flexcut sharpening kit but then I found it on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZRZQIO
I should say that all of the basswood blocks, planks, and sample boards I've ever bought (and even the rough-sawn boards given to me) have been absolutely perfect. No splits, cracks, knots - nothing but clear, clean fine-grained wood. Another thing, on advice from a chip carver I keep the basswood in plastic bags to keep it from drying out too much. If too dry it is harder to carve and chips more easily. If you lived close I'd cut some practice pieces for you so you can see the difference!
Thanks for the offer John, appreciate it. but I live in NH and will just keep looking to find a source, plus I need to develop my skills on wood that i would use in my projects.
Also, I can't ever remember making thumbnail depressions in the wood. I don't think my thumbnail gets anywhere near the wood surface.
I have to be holding the knife wrong, too vertical - will work on that. I'm not in the shop now so I can't grab a knife and try it to be sure, but I think just the skin of my fingers and hand touch the wood. I wish I had a photos of my hand positions (both normal and backhand/reversed, harder but a real time-saver on occasion) but all I can find is this one where I'm not carving on a flat surface:
chip_ornament_carvingIMG_43.jpg
This week I'm way overloaded but maybe this weekend I can get out the knives, think about the grain, and take photos of hand positions. I'm sure my hands will be photogenic - I smashed one finger with a hammer and got abrasions and cuts on both thumbs working on the remodeling and got blood everywhere. (My little grandson observed recently that it is better to keep your blood inside your body. Hmmm...) I also stepped on nails twice so I'm limping - whine, whine, whine!
Going forward in any pursuit includes the pain and sacrifice of getting there to be successful. You obviously have paid the price judging from your work.
John, as usual you've given me some insightful advice that will help me advance my carving skills. I just transferred the same patterns onto another piece of Aspen. This time I sanded the wood with 220 grit paper & the graphite image came out bolder. I'm slowly getting there.
Do you use the second position that Wayne Barton describes, i.e. pushing down with the thumb on the blade? So far I seem to be more comfortable with the first position, same as you use.
JKJ