Trying to carve for the first time

[Cuboodle]

Whew ....total respect for the makers that carve I tried the stabbing in method on a block of maple
I have a long long way to go but I had to start somewhere. I don't recall who said it but the drawing is
Also part of learning and I'm a bad drawer but may be ill get good enough to try it on a stock.

[Jerry V Lape]

I think it is very hard to practice carving for a rifle on a flat board.  Make  yourself a curved surface similar to the gunstock.  As to drawing, you need to think in three dimensions.  Your photo is two dimensional.  After you stab in the outline back away from the stab quite a distance to start background removal.  If you get a chance to take a carving class from one of the really accomplished folks it will help you leap ahead years in developing your skill and it is great fun.  There are periodically classes at the Log Cabin, at Bowling Green and several more places.  Meanwhile lookup the carving tutorial on this board. 

[Mike Brooks]

Make nice smooth curves draw, draw and then redraw. No sense in stabbing in a design like that if the drawn curves are all hinky. I mostly draw on a cheek side design one day, might take all day to get it like I want it. Then the next morning I'll come out to cut it in and realize it sucks and erase the whole thing and start over. You CAN learn to draw, you just have to keep doing it...all the time.
 I don't mean to blaspheme....but there are other ways to cut in carving other that stabbing. But master the "stabbers" are very good. Also, practice with the hardest maple you can find, and as was suggested before , on a roundish gun like surface. Also, when you build a gun work the hardest wood you can buy. Doesn't have to be fancy, just hard.

[rich pierce]

terrific that you are practicing. Can never do too much practice especially as a beginner or even somebody who has built a dozen or two but maybe only 1 a year.

[sz]

practice with the hardest maple you can find, and as was suggested before , on a roundish gun like surface. Also, when you build a gun work the hardest wood you can buy. Doesn't have to be fancy, just hard.
Mike Brooks is correct.  Read and re-read his advice above.

And one thing more........
Pencil and paper are your friends!
Learn to draw your art work really well before you start to make the cuts on wood.  Just spending a week or 2 on drawing designs on paper is worth the time.

[SingleMalt]

Not mentioned earlier, make certain that your tools are razor sharp.  Don't settle for what's available at Sears or Home Depot; they won't hold an edge.  Swiss, German, and English made tools take and hold the type of edge you need.  You don't have to spend a king's ransom on tools or stones.  Just don't buy junk.

http://www.woodcraft.com/category/ht115/carving-tools.aspx?sort=Bseller&

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,130&p=43701

http://www.woodcraft.com/category/ht141-01/sharpening-stones.aspx

Don't forget eBay.  You can get a sweet deal on vintage or new tools if you keep your eyes open.

[dogcatcher]

Look at this guy's site.  http://www.dimovengraving.com/  First click on the British flag to get the translated version.  That will roll you to another page, scroll down looking for highlighted "hunting gunstock".  On this page there are a lot of videos, watch how easy he slices through the wood.

Your chisels knives etc., must be super sharp, and the blades need to be polished.  Carving is 100 percent drawing and 100 percent sharp tools.  Anything less causes problems.  

Don't drool on the keyboard, the guy is an artist,, 90% of the world will never achieve his level.  

[M. E. Pering]

Cuboodle, I have to agree with what every poster has said so far.  If that is your first attempt, I say it looks absolutely fabulous for a first attempt.  But it does look like your chisels might be holding you back.  Remember that practice, even when it doesn't turn out right, is your friend.  Practicing on curved surfaces is even a better friend.  Try carving on half of a 3" sphere, or 3" hemisphere, and you will know what this means.

When I carve, I expect my chisel to feel like my pocket knife going through a chunk of parmesan cheese... There is resistance, but it does slide through.  If it doesn't slide through, I know I am trying to go to deep.  If it glides along much easier, then I am too shallow, and will have to sharpen my chisel much sooner.  With practice, you will get a feel for this.  But this requires a skill that is extremely important, and that is:

Very sharp chisels!  You must learn to sharpen a chisel to scary sharp condition.  The last straight razor I bought took me one stroke to realize they didn't know how to sharpen a razor properly at the factory.  But in order to carve you must learn how to sharpen, and keep you tools scary sharp.  Gravers are the same way, but much different in their sharpening.  But that is another subject.

How are you sharpening?  Are you honing?  Once you conquer sharpening and honing, your carving life will be much, much easier.  I see some chip-out in your background, which tell me you are either cutting in the wrong direction, or your tools aren't sharp enough.  I also see some hard lines in your curves... What size is your stabbing chisel?  1/ 8" or 3/16"?  If so, use a smaller one.  I use a 1/16", and still have to compensate for chisel width in tight spots. 

I do like the artistry of the rough carving though.  Is that your own design?  I would invert it though if I were to actually try and put that on a rifle.  As is, it is hard to put in the somewhat triangular area of a buttstock.  But keep up the practice.  You are talented enough to do this.  Thankfully, I don't have any pictures of my first attempts.  They were worse than yours by a longshot.  Keep practicing.

Matt

[Jerry V Lape]

One more thing.  Learn to understand the grain.  It is important to cut down grain as much as possible, angled across if you have to, and avoid cutting up grain as it leads to disaster usually.  Also learn to use a scraper as they are needed frequently with carving.  My favorite tool is a thin piece of steel 1/2" wide, 2 1/2"  long.  It is essentially a carving tool many times.  All four sides are filed then finished on a stone as perfectly square as I can make it. 

[M. E. Pering]

Jerry is absolutely right, and I should have explained that more fully in my post.  Curly maple is a very hard wood to carve... It isn't like a wood like beech.  The grain twists and turns, and takes time to get to know.  And like Jerry said, there are times when a scraper will serve you better than a chisel.  But knowing when is something only experience will teach you, thus the need for practice, practice, practice.

Sandpaper was not common in the old days, and most stocks were scraped instead.  There were advantages to this over sanding, actually, but it can leave a rippling effect over the wood.  Even brass was scraped in the old days, as is evidenced in old rifles.  Then the stock and brass were usually burnished with burlap, at least as far as we can tell.  I still scrape my stock, but I don't try and get into the brass, when I have it mounted.  Making and sharpening a scraper is a much different subject though, and the archives should provide you with plenty of info on that.

Matt

[pushboater]

Your first attempt looks 10 fold better than my first attempt. I drew a couple C and S scrolls that had absolutely no relation to each other and didn't flow with the lines of the rifle. The rifle was in the style of Wolfgang Haga and My design had absolutely no corrolation with that particular school. I had no books to go by and no examples to examine. There was no such thing as the Internet, and the end result was terrible!  I eventually restocked that rifle and kept the old stock to have something to remind me of how far I've come, and how important research and forethought are.  Like Mike said, draw, erase, draw, erase, draw, erase.....then step back and take a long look. Readjust your drawing as necessary. Walk away and come back tomorrow. Take another long look. Does the design fit in with the particular school you're trying to emulate? Does it flow with the lines of the rifle? I've come to the point where the design phase takes me nearly as long as the execution phase.  Take your time and don't rush it. It'll still be there tomorrow!  Have fun with it! And like I said, you're leaps and bounds ahead of where I was with my first attempt in both design and execution!

Capt. David

[Cuboodle]

Thanks for all the pointers and tips I'll make up some curved sections with a cheek piece and continue to practice. I'll also be drawing.

[Jerry V Lape]

Before you draw too much, lookup some Rococo art references.  American long rifle art work is generally a rococo style comprised of organic forms.  Further you will want those forms to seem to be growing from the wood.  What you don't want is carving that looks like a handful of spaghetti dropped on the stock.  The forms have to flow from the stock and make a relationship with the gun overall.  Then there are the carvings which are folksy things like lions and griffons but those are rather rare. 

[Ron Scott]

I would  suggest you purchase the Video on carving the American Longrifle by Wallace Gussler sold by American Pioneer Video.  Wallace gives you a historical background on the tools used to carve, examines a group of Virginia Rifles and demonstrates the process of drawing through finishing. As an instructor myself,I find it hard to contemplate a better tutorial.