shellcarving_fww_0138

8/12/2019 ShellCarving_FWW_0138

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Master Class

Th h l l gm Ti ps for carv i ng a c lass ic N ewport sh el l

B Y A L L A N B R E E D

Carving can be intimiaing. Te iea ofcreating lifelike treeimensional imagesfrom a block of unmarke woo using aconsing array of expensive gouges an

cisels is enoug to make a Saker out ofmany wooworkers But give even anavowe noncarve a tase of te satisfactions of proucing a convin cing carvingan you may ave a ar time wresting tetool roll away from im

Cabinetmaking an carving are separatetraes by taition Wile te cabinetmaker sowcases te beautful properties ofis woo te carver is e alcemistransfoming woo into sels ribbonsan foliag. Wen you reprouce a pieceof fine perio niure, you are likey tobe copying carvings one by someonewo i noting but carve every ay forecaes Stuying ese original carvingscan be exceengly epfu to a carver atany level of accomplisment Suc workmigt look magically goo but a anlens an a little patent oservation canelp emysti it uncovering te tools an sequence of cuts te carver employe

Carving on perio rniture was a finely

calibrae status symbol an inicaor of

2 I N E W O O D W O R K I N G

FOUNDATION O F A FINE SHELL: LAYING O UT AND R OUGHI NG I N

cs o a sa as o a . a o gs a a cs

a ms a ooos o c

Two saws start things o.

Th author uss a andsaw

to mak shallow krfs that

mark th transitions or f-lts twn concav and

convx los H follows up

with a handsaw to carry thkrfs across th top of th

shll h dpr andsaw

krfs ar rlif cuts at th

nds of th concav los I Volu e


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M a s t e r a s s ( c o t i u e d )

th walth o f th patron who commiiond it Rmov th carvd and appldornamnt from a Chippndal cht orcrtary for xampl, and a impl boxon lg rmain To burnih hi tatu inth community a walthy patron might rqut that th ox b drd up with

ballandclaw ft, a fancy ba moldingcarvd drop, quartr coumn, bocdor carvd drawr front am fnial, pand door with pilatr an aborat cartoch on op or vn tatu of poitcalor allgorical figur

Th hll I carvd for thi articl rproduc on found capping th panl onth uppr door of a famou Nwpor R,crtary built in th 1760 and attributdto John Goddard Simlar hl ar foundon Conncticut and Rhod land cloc,d tab and cht Compard with

th oftn aborat carving from othrColonial citi uch a Boton and Philadlphia, thi hll rativly autr

Athough priod mar occaionallycarvd hl right into ol d drawr frontor d id mot hl wr carvd pa-

Auere hell. The six shells on the author's

reprodution of John Goddard's 9/fttall

seretary are typial of the powerful and ele-

gant but relatively simple arvings found on

Newport furniture in the 18th entury.

14 F I I W O O D W O R I N G

DEFINN G HE FLLES

Fillets or the transtons beteen the shel's concave and convex lobes; carve the llet

careully and good lobes ll ollo

Vgroove ar he fille fter redrawing the

lines in the ramped area a parting tool is used t

tablish eah llet with a Vshaped groove The g

entered on the line nearest to the onvex lobe

should be about V in. deep at the rosette and das it reahes the perimeter where it should just

erase the shallow bandsaw kerf _ f .= vTo s ce cleay thchagig grai tauthor grids bacpatig too, proda shearig cut.

. " .

Open up he Vgroove. seond pass with the

ing tool flattens the Vgroove on one side and es

lishes the llet surfae The author rolls the parttool toward the onave lobe and uts that side

Vgroove so that it is at 20 or 30 rather than a

,\

Finihing he fille With

viders or a ompass set a

%2 in the author sribes

width of the fillet from baboard to rosette (left) One

of the dividers rides in the

tom of the Vgroove the o

on the onavelobe side

Vgroove With the parting

he makes a shallow ut to

onavelobe side of the l

(below left. This ut both

fines the llet and starts t

wall of the onave lobe

I . --._ -_ i- - :


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M a t e r I a ( c o n t n u d )

rtely d he ied to e piece o ture h eled the mer to ue thier toc d to vod the dger (whecrvg the old) o tool lippigd dmgg the re roud the hell

For th hell ued ome very cooertive mhogythe d o toc ried

o mie cll ego wood or ow good tme you oo whe you wo it ometime cooe wood with igure or ellcrvg ut the diiculty cree withevery little p d tur o the gr

With thi ewort hell i l crvigthe ic hpig o the l i extremely mportt hi iitil hpg i tothe roduct much lie premiryetchig i o drwig the hum gure:The ic proot mut e correct orthe i igure o e covicig Evecrvg gre detl lter o wil l ot ve

hurried d lumpy roughg out try to etiet d tret the til hg i itwere ed i tel

Oe quetio Wat tool do I need tocreate the shape I ?hould e imid lwy t worthwhile to te omeime to rctice wth your oo d lerwht hpe they leve they pthrough the wood vg ht loo tettive d worriedover c e very dtrctig delly the crvg will low emle d oteou rhythm

try to ue the lrget tool oe or

the jo d ue t or my operto poile eore put t dow thu vg

tme wtchig c d orth rom tool totoo Some tude o mie ried heireyerow ecetly whe ued 2ocet chiel o true up the loe o hell eeded to cheve log trghtcydrcl hpe o choe tool wth log trght edge t c e tht impleO coure m ot recommedg you dothe whole hell with 2i chel Therere hudred o deret hpe vlle crvg ool d he cloer the tool i

to the hpe you wt o crve the ettero youll e

A you wield your tool you'll getmoother reult i you miti t lettwo pot o cotct wth the worthe

tip o the tool d ome prt o your hdor rm lo d t techig yourel toe midextrou crver provide gret dvtge Wh ll o the grcge you ecoute i dee rele crvg you cottly eed to chge you

1 16 I I W O O D W O R K I N G

THE H EART O F THE MATTER CARVING THE LOBES

Th lobs would sm to b th hardst part of th shll to ca but if th prlminary

work has bn don wl, th lobs usually flow fairly asiy.

Concave comes firs

Starting about a third

way out rom th rosth author cuts outwa

with a goug o slightlsmallr swp than th

widst point o th lob

taks incrasingly d

until th inal pass cut

across th ntir lob

up to th llts H cu

cntr third with a smgoug, athring its c

to th largr ons Thcut is mad back towacntr, and a downwa

chop with a chisl rlith wast

Giving convex oes

curves Conv lobs

shapd with gougs ubvl sid up small

bnt goug is usul

sction nar th rost

or aras o tricky gra

The ins and outs of

Grain orintation on ath cntr lobs will u

ncssitat cutting toth rostt on on sid

o th lob and away

on th othr


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M a s t e r a s s ( c o n t i u e d )

agl ofapproah to th work; havg thxblty to arv from lft or rght s atrmos bft

hr ar rta spots h shll hat

wll b lt to arv wthot spltrg ot spally whr th bottom lobsrl towar th tr motf If yo

rah a pot whr yo st as sooop pat as or hp off h tpswth yo arvg tools swth to aythgthat works gr sraprs from haksawblas s saw ls tapr sqaragr-bt fls a rasps to gt to thosasty spots spally fg woosYo may v wat to gr rta tools(sh as small skws a gogs) plat pars for l a rght s

As work o pas to f th arvg for fas a bmps omparg os to th othr for symmtry. Bt th f

al tst of a arvg's qalt s th y f tooks goo thats all that mattr 0 os vr gog to pll o alprs a hkyor work I fat ormos srpas proporto wll oft go otSo assss th work by y f somthglooks wobbly or ot of proporto gobak a work o t tl t looks bttr Ift looks blvab lav

atral lght rakg aross th work or alowagl oolght wll mak t asr tohk for mprftos A lght rtlyovrha wl o o goo at all It wl ot

ast shaows fftvy ag ot tharvg Ev a lttl bt of aylgh aglgthrogh a wow or a low-wattag blbshg aross th work wll prov farbttr arvg lght tha a mh bghtrlg lght

Wh yo work wth goo oblqlght yo ralz that t ost tak a vryp t to rat a sr shaow Err oth shallow s ttgyoa f shaps morply latr f b

18 I E W O O D W O R K I G

TH E MOTIF I N TH E MIDDE

e sa e a saoe avg o e osee goes eave q ae e a

o o e oes

Shap and shav th rostt fld Using a gouge wit a sallow sweep te autor defin

narrow uring rib at te rim of te rosette Ten after e ops in te olutes e uses a wiisel to angle te wole field of te rosette ramping it downward from te rim toward a lin

tween te olutes drawn 36 in below te ig point

Vroovs stop at th bar Partingtool utsdefine te petals of te rosette starting at te

rim and ending at a %in.wide bar at te base

of te ramp.

On last bt of oun.

large gouge soops out

te petals dising tem

out deeply at te tops and

letting te ut feater out

ligtly at te base

Chop th tops fter defining te tops ofpetals using a gouge wit a tigt sweep t

autor uses a sallower gouge to remoe

te triangular ip between petals.

shellcarving_fww_0138

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