Sailboat Basic Carving Techniques Tutorial
By L. S. Irish
Roughing Out Level 3
It’s time to drop Level 3 to it’s general depth. This is done exactly as we have worked the roughing out stages for Levels 1 and 2.
With Level 3 we can look at how a v-gouge can be used to establish lines through out your pattern. Previous to this we have used a stop cut made with the bench knife. The v-gouge creates an open trough with square sided walls. The angle at which you hold the v-gouge determines the angles of the walls of the trough to the board. Example, if you hold the v-gouge so that one side of the gouge, the side against the line, is perpendicular to the board that side of the trough will be at a 90 degree angle to the wood. Tilting the v-gouge to one side or the other will tilt the walls of the trough.
The difference between the bench knife stop cut and the v-gouge trough is how sharply the two walls of the joint meet. A stop cut creates a very sharp, crisp joint line where the v-gouge leaves a softly rounded joint. Many carvers use the v-gouge exclusively to create their joints because of this soft flowing line. Try both techniques and decide for yourself which is your favorite look!
The start a v-gouge joint line I start with a very shallow stop cut made with the bench knife. This stop cut creates a guide for the v-gouge to follow. Work the v-gouge with the grain of the wood, otherwise it will tear out the grain line as you cut. You may need to cut a line in several sections, depending on the grain. Develop the depth of the trough slowly taking thin layers at one time.
The corners have been cut first in Level 3 with the Chip Carving stroke. Next a shallow stop cut is made along the joint lines. A v-gouge is then used to create a trough.
Here you can see the corner cuts where the pier meets the sand, the stop cuts along your left side of the rope, and the v-gouge trough along the right side of the pier. Note the nice wide trough the v-gouge creates.
The remaining wood has been removed from Level 3 using the round gouge, chisel, and skew chisel. Be careful to follow the grain of the wood when chiseling the sail line of the boat.