Total # of Attendees: 26
Notes:
1. Mike opened the meeting at 7:25 PM. Jim is under the weather.
2. New person, Emil
Looking for maker spaces and found the guild
Currently working on a table for his kitchen
3. Dave doesn’t have an update on treasury
4. John Owens has volunteered to pinch hit on carving
Been with the guild about seven months
Titled “Everything I know about carving”
Thinks of himself as an antique furniture carver; a lot of the furniture of the 17th and 18th century had carvings on it (finials, carved feet, etc.)
Went through many of the “niches” of carving (figures, finials, etc.)
Going to cover a lot of the basics, maybe have a second session for more advanced
Hadley Chests, birds, totem poles, carousel horses, reliefs, Acanthus Leaf – all sorts of things to carve
A good beginner project might be a face on a pole. Sort of a caricature, like a cowboy
Discussed power carving with Dremel and power carver
Light is key item – need both regular daylight, and lamps with raking light – carving is all about shadows.
Showed a variety of ways to hold the wood down for carving (very important)
Also showed some safety gloves for those who hold the item and carve with their other hand
Talked about some of the tools used
i. Chip carving knives
ii. Gouges
iii. Chisels
Has a large number of tools, kept in a series of boxes
Used cheap dollar store plastic “totes”, used cut up hula hoops to create “slots” and large sheet of foam
He drilled holes for the hula hoops. Result is simple, cheap storage for the tools
Good woods to use: Basswood is best, mahogany is good, and poplar is your best for a cheap option.
Walnut and soft maple will work, especially for crisp lines
Suggestions on what tools to start with
i. Pick your project, and then just buy the tools to do that project
ii. Expand afterwards
iii. Classes will often provide a list of tools you will need
iv. Colonial Williamsburg carvers often only use 5-7 tools
For tools, best to identify a brand and stick with it (so you don’t buy something that you already have)
Gouges have a variety of widths and angles of curvature.
Some angles have fishtails, spoon bit and bent back
Also V-shaped tools – very useful, used for carving reference lines
Skew chisels
Do not buy spoon gouges unless you really need them. Same with dog leg and macaroni tool
Finished up with descriptions of some of the projects he worked on
5. Next Meeting on Thursday, October 3rd
6. The meeting concluded at 9:24 PM.
