Capital City Carvers

Tips and Techniques

V-tools can be one of our most handy wood carving tools. Whether they are microtool or standard size, they all have the same characteristics: three cutting edges. The two sides are chisels and the meeting point between the two is a gouge. Since they are a complex shape, they can be a bit tricky to sharpen and hone, but those instructions are for another time.

The British publication, Carving Magazine, recently had a page of top tips from three expert carvers on how to use V-tools. I've summarized some of their tips here.

• Using the V-tool for carving hair or fur can be very effective. The basic cut should be an elongated "S" and rocking the tool from side to side as you carve the S can produce angles on one side and undercuts on the other for great texture.

• A 60 degree V-tool is the most versatile and can be used for cleaning angles of all sizes between different parts of the carving, making sure to keep one or the other side in contact with the wood to avoid unsightly grooves in the surface.

• Never work from long grain into cross grain. The outside edge will want to carry on along the grain and even with the best quality tool, you will end up breaking the wing off. Cross grain into long grain is fine.

• Steeper V-tools produce stronger shadows when texturing. Using a 45 degree to create shadow areas, a 60 degree to produce mid-tones, and a 90 degree on highlights will give additional depth and realism. The secret to a good beard or head of hair on a carving is using three different tools to produce various depths and surfaces.

• The V-tool is an ideal choice for "sketching" around detail to very quickly form an area of depth near the contour that you are working to, before cleaning up back to the line with a gouge or knife.

• V-tools don't have to be used vertically — they can be canted over to one side or the other to produce a crisp vertical edge and move the edge of the waste material away to define boundaries when roughing out relief work.

• Peter Benson maintains that you will be unable to carve curved lines if your V-tool has a sharp angle at the underneath of the Vee. Any attempt to turn the tool may result in breaking the side (we've all done that and now we know why). He recommends rounding off this angle, making the undemeath of the point like a small gouge which will prevent breaking a side and make the tool much more versatile.

Denny Tools makes two sizes of "soft V-tools" which I use extensively when carving faces. These have the sharp angle rounded and the underneath resembles a small gouge.

You Might Be a Woodcarver If...

The last newsletter suggested we could have a little fun with some Jeff Foxworthy-like humor. Here are the entries from club members.

.. your outfit is not complete without wood chips. (AG)
.. your wood budget is larger than your clothing budget.
.. one shelf of your refrigerator is dedicated to moisturizing cutouts. (BM)
.. there is a trail of wood chips from where you carve to the refrigerator.
.. there is a small collection of wood chips in front of the commode.
.. your idea of a vacation is to go to a carving show, carving school, or a carving roundup.
.. you sneeze and it takes 5 minutes for the dust to settle.
.. you drool over the latest carving supply catalog.
.. your vehicle is out in the weather because your garage is full of wood, band saw, drill press, cutouts, unfinished carvings, cypress knees, walking sticks, etc.
.. you get more wood chips from the clothes dryer filter screen than you do lint.
.. you find wood chips in your shoes. (BMcV)
.. you spend hours looking for more carving supplies on Ebay.
.. you buy more knives than you can possibly use.
.. you have a garage full of tree limbs that have the potential to look like art.
.. you have half-finished projects in your garage, attic, living room, bedroom and bathroom.
.. you have a tendency to begin new projects and never get around to finishing them.
.. you believe buying the latest and greatest knife sharpener will make you a better carver.
.. you can't get all your carving tools in one box.
.. you have knives and gouges that are years old and still in their original packaging.
.. enthusiastically sign up for carving classes and never complete the assigned project.
.. you believe that all non-carvers don't understand fine art.
.. you can convince non-carvers that making a wood chain is rocket science.

And the best of them all came from Bob McVety:
.. you wear only one glove and are not a pop singer.

Club Dues

If a green membership form is included with this newsletter, your dues for this year were were not paid by April 11. To renew, fill out the form, send with a check to Irwin Jahns, 1906 Myrick Road, Tallahassee, FL 32303. Or better yet, save a stamp and bring the filled out form and your check to the next club meeting.