The July project, Wine Bottle Holder, consists entirely of 2-sided and 3-corner chips. These chips are foundational to become a proficient and talented chip carver.
I know you want to be proficient and talented, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this email!
In the Chip Carving Essentials Course, before any cuts are made, I show you how to hold your knife. If you don't master this Basic, all of the techniques that follow will be a challenge. Most likely a challenge that's hard to overcome.
All MyChipCarving Knives have a 60 degree thumb notch on both sides of the handle. After wrapping your fingers gently around the handle,
locking the joint of your thumb in this notch will secure your grip at the proper angle. Watch this short video clip.
If your thumb doesn't hook out like mine does, that's okay.
Don't be concerned that your thumb is close to the blade. As long as your thumb remains in contact with the handle, there's no way you can cut your hand holding the knife.
Next time you're carving, take a moment and evaluate your grip!
Does your grip result in a 55-65 degree cut time and time again?
A common
mistake is made when making cuts directly across the grain. Because it's hard to cut across the grain, often chip carvers will roll their wrist in an attempt to get the needed depth.
Rolling your wrist will INCREASE the angle of your knife and make it harder to get the proper depth to remove the chip.
Keep this in mind the next time you pick up your knife.
Your grip should form a consistent angle that remains unchanged even when carving across the
grain.
For ALL of the Basics of chip carving, check out the Chip Carving Essentials Course! It's FREE with your Platinum Membership, or $29.95 individually.
The Essentials Course and ALL Courses, Videos, Patterns along with the Monthly Webinar is included with your Platinum Membership!
Last Tuesday night, during the Platinum Member Webinar, we took a dive into Chip Carving with a chisel, called Geometric carving by the chisel master, @sergiomonteirodecastro.
I'll teach this style of carving in August when my family and I make a trip to Guatemala.
I demonstrated how to carve a simple rosette and a grid pattern on some red elm. Here are just a few shots from our time
together.
The focus of this lesson
is how to avoid chip out when carving this pattern. I'm sure you'll learn a lot and get some good reminders if you've already completed the Chip Out Course!
