Monday 4 July 2011

Hen and Chips...





kuksa  spoon carving first steps

Recently I have been carving  Ale hens.
These hens are simple to make, and once you have confidence you can make them as stylised as you like...
I have decorated some of my hens with a very simple line of chip carving.
Using the back of the knife gently score a guide line around the cup.
You can just make out the scratch in the photograph.

chip carving spoon carving first steps

Then push the tip of a very very sharp knife into the wood at the top of the triangle. If you have trouble sharpening your knife then head off to the art shop and buy a scalpel. The scalpel tips are fragile so be careful. The blade must be angled toward the bottom left of the triangle...

chip carving spoon carving first steps

And keeping the blade point in the top of the triangle rock the blade toward the bottom left...

chip carving spoon carving first steps

Pull the blade out and replace the tip at the top of the triangle.
 This time the blade must be angled toward the bottom right of the triangle...

chip carving spoon carving first steps

And rock the blade down...

chip carving
Now the tricky bit...
Carefully push the tip of the blade into the triangle, at a slight angle. Push until your knife tip has reached the pinnacle of the triangle...

Spoon carving+jonmac+firststeps+kuksa+spoon spoon carving first steps

Once you think you have cut the wood fibres up to the pinnacle, swing the blade to the right...

chip carving spoon carving first steps

The chip should easily come free...

chip carving

Done !

chip carving spoon carving first steps

I have seen some extremely ornate chip carved treen.
This is the start point...

kuksa chip carving spoon carving first steps

I use the same three cut technique to form the eyes...

kuksa chip carving spoon carving first steps

And with a hot nail I burn in the pupils...

kuksa chip carving spoon carving first steps

The finished Hen...

kuksa spoon carving first steps

Not quite...

chip carving spoon carving first steps

Now Dolly says it's finished...

kuksa chip carving spoon carving first steps

I'm sure you're going to have fun with chip carving...

kuksa spoon carving first steps

ENJOY...J

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.

Carving a Dragon Kuksa.  I have been carving Kuksa from green Birch for 15 years or so, I’m self taught. From the beginning, I limited mysel...