Bill Gingell’s notes

The finished surface portrays shape and depth by the shadows seen. We need to get a decent finish by getting rid of superfluous little shadows.

So we are aiming for a smooth surface, without using abrasives, which leave scratches.

On outside curves, sharp gouges or spokeshaves will do the job completely, leaving a tool-burnished surface.

The difficulty comes with inside, concave curves, where access for gouges is restricted. One solution is to use scrapers (modified cabinet scrapers) which, when sharp, cut off very thin shavings.

Carvings, by their nature, do not need the "super-smooth" finish obtained by woodturners. Some hand-finished tool marks are desirable, and a good burnished surface straight off the tool makes an excellent finish.

Remember the tools we use are set up to cut and shape wood, and fingers are vulnerable.

The most important thing is to enjoy our woodcarving, and share our enjoyment with others.

Various methods of achieving sharp tools can be seen on YouTube or in handbooks. Different people have different preferences, but I will explain what I do (other people are certainly not wrong!).

Sharp tools will enable successful carving; blunt edges will restrict success and frustrate us all. Assuming tools are in good shape and ready for use, cutting wood will blunt them. Wood, although softer than the tool, is abrasive. After a short time the edge will dull, and it can be maintained by honing.

A strip of leather glued to a block of wood is ideal. The leather is loaded with a fine abrasive, and the tool is drawn backwards a few times to achieve the required result. A piece of leather folded, or wrapped round a pencil, will hone the inside of a gouge. If this is done every 10 to 20 minutes the benefit will likely be impressive!

I have a stitched cotton wheel attached to a grindstone so that it turns away from me (very important). Using this keeps the edges good, and I use it as the final stage of grinding edges when they need it.

It is usual for carving tools to have an outer bevel and a smaller inner bevel. Lowering the handle on the outer bevel makes the cut less deep, so the cut is controlled. The smaller inner bevel makes the tool better controlled when used upside down for shaping concave shapes.

The edge of the tool will sometimes need reshaping, or work to maintain the bevel angles and overall shape. If a tool needs severe shaping, the grindstone on a bench grinder will do the job. This will only be needed rarely, such as when a tool is returned to carving duties after ill-treatment. Assuming the tool is not badly out, a flat stone is needed.

The gouge is moved sideways along the stone while, at the same time, it is rotated so that the whole of the surface is ground. If this is done correctly, the end of the tool will have a straight, square edge when viewed from above. If one corner has been ground away too much and the other not enough, that is no problem: just correct it with future grinding.

So far this refers to gouges. The flat-edged tools (V-tools, carving chisels at sweep 1 and skew chisels at sweep 2) are ground on the stone lengthways. Once the tool is correctly shaped, it is essential to count the passes across the stone: 10 on one side, then 10 on the other.

Lowering the handle of a gouge lifts the cutting edge, as the tool pivots on the heel of the bevel, so the cut is shallower. Raising the handle presents the cutting edge to the wood so it cuts deeper. If the handle is raised to nearly vertical, it can cause a split, as if cutting logs with an axe!

This use of shallow cuts will be apparent when cutting the beginner's leaf, and it is important in all work. You can clearly see the result of cleaning the surroundings with the grounding tool.

Splitting off unwanted chunks of wood can be controlled by using a stop cut. This is most likely used when cutting incised letters.

Work in the direction that cuts the wood cells off cleanly, rather than the opposite direction, where the fibres may split. Bill's original notes show this with arrows on a drawing of the leaf.