Chip Carving 100 - What is Chip Carving?

My Chip Carving 100 - Chip Carving What is it? www.MyChipCarving.com Marty@MyChipCarving.com My first exposure to chip carving came about in 1985 when my copy of Fine WoodWorking arrived on my doorstep. I thump through the magazine as usual and came across an article called Kerbschnitzen, Two-knife Swiss chip carving. I did not read very much of the article because my attention was drawn to the bottom of the page where these pictures of chipped carved boxes were displayed. I was amazed at how intricate and delicate these carvings were. They could all be done by hand and I knew this was something that I had to learn how to do. I was also pleased that it only requires two knives along with a pair of sharpening stones and some basic educational materials and I could do the chip carving that I saw on the article. Now I have put together a chip carving kit for you, contain the same materials that I used when I first learned how to chip carve, a book, a teaching video, sharpening stones, the two knives that you need and practice boards. It is all there. Everything to get started and learn proper techniques so you can learn how to chip carve yourself. It was not long after I first started chip carving that I begun to carve Christmas ornaments for friends and family. Carving new design every year, give them away and some people even display them around their homes year round. At MyChipCarving.com I will also show you how to chip carve treasure keepsakes like this pegboards you see here. Similar to the box tops that were shown in the Kerbschnitzen article are these boxes that I chipped carved. The next statement that I am going to demonstrate for you how chip carving is done so you can see first hand that you can learn how to do this as well. To give you a little better feel for what chip carving is like, I can show the board that I used with my students in classes either online or face-to-face. What we start with is always proper technique in chip carving. You will find in lesson 101, I demonstrated how to properly hold that cutting knife and the stab knife. So I emphasize proper technique because with proper technique you will get consistent chips throughout your chip carving. Now on this practice board where we start, I always start with the three-cornered chip because this is a staple chip for chip carving. You see right here a positive three-corner border that I demonstrated in the upcoming lessons, a negative three-corner border, zigzag and the lace border. We covered these borders to start with because they involved some of just the basic techniques of chip carving. In a few weeks, you will learn how to do this and get some really nice results. From there, we move into how to layout and to chip carve a rosette. This is one style of rosette. There are just literally hundreds and hundreds of different styles of rosettes. Then I will show them how to layout and begin carving a 12-point rosette. We User a compass and a straight edge then I show them how to draw that and then we begin carving one section at a time. After we get into rosettes a little bit, then I like to introduce them to a gothic border, quite ornate, two different styles of a gothic border. We do some lettering and I find lettering and numbers, they are just wonderful. They personalized your chip carving work and they standout and they look so beautiful. And then if we have time I will show them how to layout and chip carve a swirl rosette. Through this time, I would like to show you how chip carving is done. I have laid out a pattern on my board. I will cover this in an upcoming lesson on how to layout patterns. Through this one I created a template from tag board because it is a repeating pattern along the board. Now a pattern like this, I will show you how it could be used, it could be use on the edge of a furniture and I will show you an item that I carved not too long ago using this pattern. It is a very simple piece. I am going to show you how to carve out one section of this board, so that you can just an idea. So just watch and I will carve this out. Chip carving is a matter of proper technique and with practice you will get proper depth on your chips. In my lessons, I will demonstrate for you and to explain to you how you decide which chips to take out first and then how you remove those chips one after another. It seems there -- you take out the outside pieces first. Next, I will remove this chips right here. Chip carving is done with only two knives. And one knife primarily as you see I am using here. This is the number one cutting knife and it does 90% of all the work in your chip carving. Now the chip did not come out quite a bit perfectly but there is -- now it is free and it comes right out. So next, I will move over to the other side and take these chips out. You do not have to be exceptionally strong with this. It is just proper technique and a good sharp knife. And you will get some very clean and crisp chips. Now this one is left up here in the top yet. The wood I am carving on is Bestwood. Bestwood is the premiere carving wood because it is tight grained and it gives you very smooth inside the walls on your chips. Just doing a little clean up here. I removed the background pieces. I can take these two larger chips out next. And then I will work on this inside pieces. I am doing all this carving on my lap. We do not need a workbench, which is something I really like. I like to just do it when I am relaxing if there is a football game on TV and there is always lots of commercials and lots of place that you do not need to see 10 times. So I keep my chip carving handy and be a little productive and have some fun while the football game is going on. Okay, I have done that side already. Okay, so there. I have taken out the background pieces and these inside larger chips in here. Next, I will work on this right here and finally those two smaller chips right there. And two smaller chips are all that remain. So, there is basic chip carving. Notice I held the knife in the same position for all those cuts and moved right along from cut to cut and what I would do then is I would repeat that same process for this next one, on this next one, however many that I have around the border of my table or whatever the pieces that I have that is signed on and a light sanding on top and everything is good to go and I will be demonstrating in the future lessons how to finish up your chip carving, how to remove any of the pencil lines. First, well, how to transfer your pattern to the wood, how to remove pencil lines that you have made on there and then how to put a clear finish on your work when you are done. If you go to the gallery page at MyChipCarving.com, you will see this item pictured their in the gallery. Now this is a small little toothpick holder and you can see the pattern that I just showed you how to carve, repeat it around the four sides of this little toothpick holder and how it makes such an elegant piece. I added some small chips along the top, around the opening out here and there you have just a wonderful little gift for someone. And to carve this it maybe took me an hour if not even a little bit less. So depending on what you are doing at the time, you can see that chip carving is just a wonderful hobby to learn how to do. And I hope you would take me up on my offer for many of this lessons on how to chip carve because I am very willing to help you along the way. The final paragraph in the fine woodworking article that drew me into chip carving reads like this, if you like objects with a handmade look and feel, you will like chip carving. Machines are often used for in the round carving but Kerbschnitzen is unique perhaps the only technique in the wood workers range of skills that a machine cannot duplicate. Please join me at MyChipCarving.com to learn more about the wonderful art of chip carving. To schedule a private online lesson: email: Marty@MyChipCarving.com Subscribe NOW! FREE patterns, FREE patterns, FREE chip carving e-letter Thank you! www.MyChipCarving.com