Step 34: Undercutting the lower neck and beak
Using a bench knife undercut along the lower neck, head, and beak area of the goose. Use your wide sweep, straight chisel, or bull nose chisel to cut free a small sliver from the background wood.
 |  |
Step 35: Create the facial features of the goose
Begin this step by re-tracing your pattern for the facial features or by marking it onto the wood with a pencil. Note that the beak sets in the face of the goose not on the front of it. There is a v-shape at the bottom of the beak that sets well into the lower chin area of the face.
Using a v-gouge cut along the division line between the forehead or skull area of the face and the goose’s cheek area. The eye falls on this line. Also v-cut along the intersection of the beak and face and along the separation line between the upper and lower beak. The v-cut does not need to be very deep.
 |  |
With your straight chisel or bull nose chisel round over the skull away into the v-cut and the cheek area. The eye is not worked at this point. Roll the front of the face into the beak line.
 |  |
Round over the eyeball area using the tip of your bench knife or chip knife. As I worked the head of my goose I decided that my cut line along the bottom of the beak was not flat enough – I had a ripple look to the cut. So I have re-cut this line with my bench knife. To make the small nostril hole in the upper beak area I have upended a small round gouge. Holding the gouge at a slight angle I can make a simple small push cut. Turning the board 180 degrees I can make a second small push cut which releases a little lemon wedge shape.
Step 35: Taking time for a quick clean-up using your bull nose chisel, 220-grit sandpaper, and rifflers.
Work just enough to remove the rough loose fibers and dress out any wobbly stop cuts.
Step 36: Creating a dip in the wings
To add a little movement to an otherwise very flat area in both wings I will be adding a teardrop shaped dip in the wings. Pencil mark the dip area as shown in the photos, we will return to this area in a few steps.
 Song BirdsEleven patterns including Chickadees, Blue Jays, Gold Finches, Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, and more. |