Chip Carving

common mistakes in chip carving

Six Common Mistakes in Chip Carving

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Do you make these common mistakes in your chip carving?

Too often a chip carved triangle is just not perfect. So let’s look at why these small errors happen and how to correct them to create the very best chip carving project you can!

common mistakes in chip carving1. RAGGED WALLS

Ragged walls can be caused by either poor quality wood or an improperly sharpened knife.  Basswood is a common chip carving wood that has finely packed, dense grain lines, and is considered an easy wood to work.  But not all basswood is adaptable to chip carving.  Avoid end grain plaques as you are cutting across the open end of the vascular bundles, which are similar to small soda straws that draw moisture up through the tree.  Also avoid ‘hardware store’ thin basswood sheets.  The 1/4″ and 1/8″ thick sheets are not the high wood quality of a 3/4″ plaque.

A dull knife tears through the wood grain instead of cutting it.  Learn how to properly sharpen your chip carving knife.  When you are concerned that your chips are repeatedly coming out rough, stop and take time to resharpen and hone your knife edge.

 

cutting triangle chips in chip carving2. ROUGH CENTER POINT IN THE CHIP WELL

Each chip should have a sharp, clean point at the center of the chip well.  This is caused because the angle of one of the side cuts did not fully reach the deep center point of the chip, where the three walls intersect.  Correct this by re-cutting that wall, taking your knife point slightly deeper.

Free form lines and straight wall cuts also can get misaligned at the center of the well.  Double check that you are using the correct hand grip on your knife and that your depth is even throughout the cutting stroke.

 

3.  STAGGERED WALL STROKES

This chip’s wall was cut with several staggered strokes.  During the cutting step either you changed the angle of your knife, or paused during the cut which misaligned the knife’s edge through the remaining stroke.  Re-cut that wall with one, smooth, clean stroke.

 

 

 

4.  THIN TOP EDGE

Your knife angle is just as important at the top of the triangle cut as it is on the wall and well.  It is easy to end up with a top edge that is not razor sharp, the preferred finish for any chip carver.  A simple wobble as you make the stroke can cause the knife to miss the fine edge of the neighboring chip.

Try turning the wood to recut the chip.  A new view of that top edge may help steady the stroke.

 

stab knife chip cuts5. WOBBLY EDGES

Every  chip carver discovers wobbly edged chip walls.  I find this problem often occurs when I am cutting through a spray adhesive paper pattern.  Both the glue and the paper can cause the knife edge to be pushed away from the pattern line.  Correct this by re-cutting the chip wall by thinly shaving just the bulge, not the points of the chip.

 

 

chip carving cuts6.  CHIP OUT

Chip outs happen and can be caused by several reasons.  If you are working on a heavy grain wood as sugar pine, the change in the grain can cause a small thin point to break free.

On soft woods, as basswood, the edge of the point can be lost because the knife was pulled out instead of lifted out of the cut.  To lift out the knife simply stop the stroke.  Gently pull the knife back along the stroke just a small bit, then lift the knife free from the cut.  Pulling on the tip of the blade at the end of the cut can add excess pressure that lifts a grain line.

Over cutting one side of the point, reaching the blade too deeply into the wood, can cause a point to chip out.  Try scoring the pattern line first by lightly cutting along the line with just the tip of your chip knife.  This pre-cuts and therefore pre-releases the wood grain at the point of the chip before you make the actual chip stroke.

Chip outs can be repaired by using wood glue and a tooth pick.  Place a small drop of glue on he board at the break out spot.  Use the toothpick to insure that the glue is deeply pressed into the chip area, not trapping any air space below the glue.  Replace the chip out and press firmly.  After about one-half hour of drying you can re-cut and sand this area.

NOTE – SANDPAPER FEELING TO THE CUTTING STROKE

It bares noting again that the greatest success with your chip carving comings with a properly sharpened chip knife.  So, please download a copy of our free, 38 page, pdf file on Easy Steps to Bench Knife Sharpening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chip Carving Workshop, written by Lora S Irish is available on Amazon.com.

Learn how to carve beautiful designs in wood with just a few basic knives!

  • Over 200 designs, ready to use, with layout ideas, grids, borders, and motifs
  • Step-by-step practice project helps you master the simple chip carving shapes and techniques you will need
  • Expert advice on knife selection & sharpening, how to prepare your wood blank, and how to transfer patterns
  • Tips & techniques for hand positions, knife positions, gang cutting, and how to handle a chip out
  • Blank practice grids so you can use your new chip carving knowledge to create your own designs

Chip carving, also known as spoon carving or “Kerbschnitt,” is the ideal introduction to woodcarving for beginners.

This simple traditional carving method uses just a few basic knives to remove selected chips of wood in small triangles, squares, and free-form curves, producing amazingly intricate and delicate results.

Internationally known woodcarving artist and author Lora S. Irish shows you how to get started in this venerable craft! Inside Chip Carving Workshop, Lora takes you through all the essential chip carving techniques, from tool sharpening and preparation to hand positions, chip cutting, and finishing.

You’ll discover how to use both geometric shapes and free form designs to create wonderfully detailed patterns. A step-by-step practice project shows you how to master the simple shapes that will allow you to cut any grid pattern in the book.

Hundreds of ready-to-use designs offer a rich treasury of chip carving layout ideas, grids, borders, and motifs for you to trace and reproduce in any combination or size.

Decorate household items and create artistic pieces in a variety of original designs: Hope chests, wooden spoons, jewelry chests, clocks, candle plates, serving trivets, and decorative plaques are just a few ideas for your new chip carving skills!

 

Six Common Mistakes in Chip Carving Read More »

Chip Carving Wooden Spoons – Free Pattern

Leave a Comment / Chip Carving, Chip Carving Projects, Spoon Carving, Spoon Carving Projects, Uncategorized / By

wood carving wooden spoonsClassic straight-handled, hardwood wooden spoons are a fantastic theme for the wood carver.   But there is so much more than you can do with that handle as chip  carving, oven rack hooks, and relief carving.

 

Click on the images for a full-sized free spoon carving pattern.

Chip Carving Seminar by Lora Irish
Chip Carving Seminar
Chip Carving Supplies
Chip Carving Graphed Patterns
Chip Carving Hand Positions and Grips
Chip Carving – Triangles and Square Chips
Chip Carving – Straight-Wall Chips
Chip Caved Game and Chess Board
Chip Carving Sampler Pattern Layout
Chip Carving Common Mistakes
Chip Carved Shortbread Cookies

 

 

Wood Carving
Four Methods to Cutting a Wooden Spoon Blank
Spoon, Fork, and Ladle Styles for Wood Carving
The Art of Spoon Carving by Lora S. Irish
Wood Carving a Basic Wooden Spoon
Wood Carving Wooden Spoons
Wooden Spoon Burning Patterns
Beginner’s Wood Carving, Spoon Carving
Wood Carving a Basic Wooden Spoon
Styles of Wood Carved Spoons

 

 

Oven Handle Spoon Carving PatternThis oven rack spoon handle is one of the many spoon patterns in Lora S. Irish’s book, Art of Spoon Carving, available at Amazon.com.

For your next new wood carving reading about chip carving, please see Lora Irish’s book, Chip Carving Workshop on Amazon.com.

This post does contain affiliate links, which helps us keep LSIrish.com free to you.

Chip Carving Wooden Spoons – Free Pattern Read More »

Free Online Chip Carving Seminar

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Let’s start this summer of fun with an in-depth look at chip carving with free chip carving patterns, step-by-step instructions, and lots of photos.  Hours of fun, carving, and learning!

Chip Carving
Free Chip Carving Wood Carving Pattern
Free Chip Carving Projects by L S Irish
Back to the Basics of Wood Carving
Chip Carving Common Mistakes
Chip Carving – Sampler Layout Pattern
Chip Carved Chess and Game Board
Chip Carving – Straight-Wall, Curve-Wall, Free Form
Chip Carving – Cutting Triangle and Square Chips
Chip Carving Hand Positions and Grips
Chip Carving Graphed Patterns
Chip Carving Supplies
Chip Carving Seminar
Free Chip Carving Pattern
Sharpening Your Chip Knives
Positive and Negative Space in Chip Carving
Chip Carving Shortbread Cookies
Sharpening Your Chip Knives

 

Free Online Chip Carving Seminar Read More »

Free Chip Carving Projects by L S Irish

Leave a Comment / Chip Carving / By

Let’s take an in-depth look at the chip carving technique by creating several chip carving practice boards, and working a classic needlepoint sampler layout, shown above, that you can use to carve multiple chip carved projects.  The pattern and photo sampler for this  Needlepoint Layout is available in both our  Chip Carving Pattern Package and in the Chip Carving E-Project.

Here is the link list to our Chip Carving Seminar by Lora Irish.

Chip Carving Seminar
Chip Carving Supplies
Chip Carving Graphed Patterns
Chip Carving Hand Positions and Grips
Chip Carving – Triangles and Square Chips
Chip Carving – Straight-Wall Chips
Chip Caved Game and Chess Board
Chip Carving Sampler Pattern Layout
Chip Carving Common Mistakes
Chip Carved Shortbread Cookies

 

We will explore:

free Irish chip carving patternSupplies needed for chip carving
Creating basswood chip carving practice boards
Wood preparations
Knife sharpening
Transferring a chip pattern to your board
Knife angle
Common problems
Positive and negative space
How to cut the different styles of chips
Learn triangles, square, straight-wall, curve-edge, free form, and accent chips
Using chip styles in your patterns
Work a set of chip progressions
How to turn a corner

 

Learn how to prepare your wood board, three methods to transfer your pattern, and how to set up a chip carving practice board.

Please stop by Art Designs Studio, (a.k.a. CarvingPatterns.com) Lora Irish’s wood carving, pyrography, and chip carving pattern website.

Chip Carving Basics E-Project, Everything from this Chip Carving Seminar and more!  Learn how to create a wide variety of chip carving designs using different styles of easy-to-cut chip motifs, by Lora S. Irish.  37 page, PDF file format, easy to print e-project and the full cp015 Chip Carving Pattern package with 110 ready to print chip carving patterns.

On sale through March 31, 2019 at only $7.95

 

Free Chip Carving Projects by L S Irish Read More »

Chip Carving Common Mistakes

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We have spent the last week looking at the wood carving art of chip carving in this free, online seminar by Lora Irish, which includes free chip carving patterns.  Today I thought we might  take a few minutes and look at some of the common mistakes that can happen in your wood carving.

 

Chip Carving Seminar by Lora Irish
Chip Carving Seminar
Chip Carving Supplies
Chip Carving Graphed Patterns
Chip Carving Hand Positions and Grips
Chip Carving – Triangles and Square Chips
Chip Carving – Straight-Wall Chips
Chip Caved Game and Chess Board
Chip Carving Sampler Pattern Layout
Chip Carving Common Mistakes
Chip Carved Shortbread Cookies

 

 

 

Let’s look at a few of the common problems and errors that can happen in chip carving.  Please note that if you are working a practice board you may find that the basswood is not the high quality that you might find in a prepared basswood wood carving blank.  Small chip outs are more common when working practice board quality basswood.

common mistakes in chip carving

1.  Ragged walls can be caused by poor quality wood or because of an improperly sharpened knife edge.  A poorly sharpened knife, or an incorrect bevel to the knife edge are the primary causes for cutting problems in chip carving.

The craft basswood boards available at your local hardware store often show some ragged wall cuts.  A dull knife tears through the wood instead of cutting the wood.  When working on a high quality piece of basswood, check your knife edge as soon as you discover a ragged wall.

2.  Each chip should have a sharp, clean point at the center of the chip well.  Correct this problem by re-cutting along one side of the center point piece.

3.  This chip’s wall was cut using several, staggered strokes.  Re-cut the wall using one full stroke that covers the entire wall side.

4. In this sample the knife effect began the wall cut slightly away from the intersecting joint line between the two chips.  You can re-cut one of the chip walls to thin the intersection.

5.  Every chip carver discovers a very wobbly edge chip walls.  I find this problem most often occurs when I am cutting through a spray adhesive paper pattern.  Use the blade’s edge to shave just the curved area of the line, avoiding the two end points.

6. Chip outs happen and are caused by several reasons.  If you are working on a heavy grained wood as sugar pine, the change in the grain pattern can cause a thin point to break free.

On soft carving woods as basswood the point can chip because the stroke is pulled into the point.  The pulling action tears the point away from the plaque. Try cutting your finest points with a push stroke instead of a pull cut.  With a push stroke you literally lay the edge of the blade along the line and push the blade down into the grain.

Over cutting one side of the point, reaching the blade point too deeply into the wood, can cause a point chip to break away when the second cut meets the first.  Try scoring the point lines first by using a light pressure in the blade and cutting an extremely shallow cut.

Chip outs can be repaired by using wood glue and a tooth pick.  Place a small drop of glue on the board at the break out spot.  Place the broken chip back into position.  Allow the glue to dry thoroughly, about one half hour then re-cut the chip.

7.  If your knife feels as though it is cutting through grainy wood – a sandpaper feeling – check your knife’s edge for sharpness.  It bares repeating that the biggest problem in chip carving is either too steep a blade bevel or an edge that has lost its hone.

Chip Carving Basics E-Project by Lora IrishPlease stop by Art Designs Studio, Lora Irish’s wood carving, pyrography, and chip carving pattern website.

Chip Carving Basics E-Project, Everything from this Chip Carving Seminar and more!  Learn how to create a wide variety of chip carving designs using different styles of easy-to-cut chip motifs, by Lora S. Irish.  37 page, PDF file format, easy to print e-project and the full cp015 Chip Carving Pattern package with 110 ready to print chip carving patterns.

Chip Carving Common Mistakes Read More »

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