Making carvings “pop”

[LOZ]

When one is talking about stabbing in to make a carving pop which method is used? (See pictures)

[deepcreekdale]

Not sure I can clarify in words. I draw the design on a fully scraped/sanded stock, then stab in straight down, similar to your figure 1. Then, I remove the ground wood surrounding the carving so that it is parallel to the original contour, leaving the carving above the new surface level. The carving doesn't need to be that high above the ground work to stand out, 1/16 inch is plenty. Some people advocate making a slight cut similar to your figure 2 to accent the outline as it will catch the stain and show up darker. It does look good if done well, not so good if poorly executed. A good resource is John Bivens excellent chapters in the book Gunsmithing Tips and Projects by Wolfe publishing. He clearly explains the process. There may be other good resources including tutorials on this site but I like print media where I can read and reread until it finally sinks in.

[PPatch]

Acer had two very good tutorials on low relief carving but unfortunately they were wiped out during the PhotoBucket scandal, the photos are gone. David Price has one here...

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=46011.0

To answer your primary question, number 1. With caution because that back bevel on the chisel/gouge can cause problems such as driving the chisel forward forcefully and ruining your outline. This is Low Relief carving, very low. So not much force is used to make those initial cuts and the flat side of the tool doing the cutting is held vertical to the work. The general technique is to outline your work using whatever sized gouge fits your design. You then level the background using the tools that allow you to get into the corners as best as possible.

One way to proceed after cutting in the design is to use a V gouge to then cut along the background areas just outside those gouge/chisel outlines, by "just outside" I mean as close as you can without cutting into your design. It is after this V tool outlining that you employ method 2.

Hope that makes sense, not an easy process to describe.

Watch Mary May carve acanthus leaves on this chair leg - note that she is doing HIGH relief, not low.



dave

[Tracker0721]

For my carvings I like to follow #2 of those. On animals and such I’ll do a slight under cut which really throws a shadow and gives a good sense of depth. I also cut my lines with a sheepsfoot blade that’s maybe 3/4” to an inch long. Let’s me follow curves better. I’m still pretty new to carving though. Just what’s working for me. Also very gentle and thin slices.

[Stophel]

I do virtually all outlining now with a fine angle V parting tool.  Relatively quick and easy.  Just carve kind of like incise carving, maybe go a little deeper then level off your background.  Go back over the edge with the V tool to deepen/clean up as necessary.  This gives you a raised carving with incised edges.  This is what a great percentage of American gun carving looks like.