Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Using Accuracy and Precision when Wood Carving

By Joseph Tranturder


Accuracy and precision are two of the most important elements which need to be utilized when wood carving. There is actually not that much strength of force required in order to achieve good effects with this hobby.

When wood carving, it is always better to work with sharpened tools than with dull ones. This is because dulled edges and points require a lot more effort in order to be able to cut into and shape wood, and people are a lot more likely to slip when using them.

When you first start, you will want to invest in wood carving tools that are going to help you through the wood. There are some tools that become dangerous simply because they are so hard to push through the wood that they start to cause erratic movements with the carving tools.

You should be working with carving tools that you can put to the wood and direct through the wood. Depending on how serious you are about wood carving, you will want to set yourself a budget and then get the best knives that you can afford for the carvings that you are going to carve.

The first thing that should always be kept in mind when wood carving is the importance of safety. Safety is something that cannot be brought up too much, because it is essential for keeping everyone safe while encouraging better results.

As such, it is best to keep things sharp all of the time. A whetstone is one of the most common tools for the job.

People who focus on being safe are naturally going to be more careful with their movements, so it is going to be work that is done in a more deliberate fashion. Deliberate movements are going to be more controlled as a result, which allows for better control of the evolution of the piece.

This can be very difficult to do safely and you have to understand how you are going to work on moving the knife through the wood using only your wrist.

Get the stone wet by either running it under water for a second or by spitting on it. Once the stone is wet, then grip your knife by the handle, and work the edge of the blade against the stone in nearly parallel fashion.

You want to bevel the edge with smooth and sure strokes, applying light pressure so that the edge of the blade is lying flat against the stone, but the edge is getting beveled. Make small curving motions when beveling for added effect.

Carving through quality wood will make all of the difference and you do not want to be worried about hitting knots throughout the entire time that you are carving.

When it all comes down to it, applying accuracy and precision when wood carving is going to make the biggest difference of all when it comes to the quality of the product.

After repeating this process on both sides, you should have a newly sharpened pocketknife which is perfect for wood carving. Take care, and have fun!




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