Wood shavings

“ It is not unusual to employ veneers, or very thin sheets of wood, as a guard across the grain where shrinking is to be apprehended, as in tablets for painting on or panels, and it is a great pity that this very cheap precaution is so little used. But there are very few cases in which shavings are not as applicable, and they have the great advantage of being obtainable wherever there is a plane and wood. ”

“ Paint, gilding, and enamel, or bronze powders, can, of course, be applied. Shavings combined with weak glue submitted to pressure form artificial wood or boards, which can be improved by further combination with waste-paper. Made with a solution of alum it is fireproof. Its strength will be in proportion to the pressure applied. It can often be employed in repairing when suitable wood is wanting, and has the advantage that it can be turned to any shape. ”

“ The fresh wood must be neatly inserted or placed in position and may be held in position during the hardening of the glue by supports or wedges placed across from side to side. When quite fit by reason of its dryness, the distance from the centre must be marked and the fresh wood cut away to the required depth and width with a keen edged chisel and small shavings cut at a stroke, as there will be some cutting against the grain to be done besides working in a confined position. ”

“ The more cross-grained the wood is the closer the workman brings down the dull iron towards the edge of the sharp one, and his shavings are consequently finer.
The veneering plane is about the same size as the smoothing plane, but the iron instead of having a smooth edge is toothed like a fine saw, so that, instead of taking off shavings, it makes scratches all along the grain of the wood. This is applied to the veneer as well as to the wood to which the veneer is to be glued, so that the glue may easily hold the two rough surfaces together. ”

“ The most important feature of carving is the ability to sharpen and maintain the little tools, and when this is mastered, more than half the difficulty has been overcome. The dexterity to handle, with a firm and sure hand, the various chisels and gouges comes, of course, with practice only.
It is better to begin with a soft wood. Pine, poplar, button-wood, cypress, or red woods are all of close grain and are easy to work. The harder woods, and those with a very open grain—such as chestnut, ash, and oak—should [39] not be carved until the first principles are learned in the softer woods. ”

“ A very thin shaving should be taken. If the gouge is allowed to roll back so the grind above the cutting point comes in contact with the wood it is sure to catch and gash the wood.
5. SMOOTHING THE FACE. (SMALL SKEW CHISEL.) FIG. 16. ”

“ Frosted shingles smoked against a sky colored like flax-blossoms, sleigh-bells clinked, shouts of greeting were loud in the thin bright air, and everywhere was a rhythmic sound of wood-sawing. It was Saturday, and the neighbors' sons were getting up the winter fuel. Behind walls of corded wood in back yards their sawbucks stood in depressions scattered with canary-yellow flakes of sawdust. ”

“ Those which are moderately moist are easily sawn and cut, but dry woods are apt to give way beyond the part that is touched by the saw; while, on the other hand, the green woods, with the exception of the robur and the box, offer a more obstinate resistance, filling the intervals between the teeth of the saw with sawdust, and rendering its edge uniform and inert; it is for this reason that the teeth are often made to project right and left in turns, 428a method by which the saw-dust is discharged. The ash is found the most pliable wood of all for working ”

“ What I wish to say is, that finishing your woodwork without paint does not, necessarily, require the said wood to be of the kinds commonly called "hard." Any wood that is not specially disposed to warp, and that can be smoothly wrought, may be used. Those you mention are all good; so are half a dozen more,—the different kinds of ash, yellow-pine, butternut, white-wood, cherry, cedar, even hemlock and spruce in some situations. There are several important points to be religiously observed if you leave the wood, whatever the variety, in its unadorned beauty. ”

“ It may happen that a rotten, broken place is found even in the best wood; or the carver may obtain possession of a piece of ancient, worm-eaten, half-decayed carving, and with a very little skill such pieces can be perfectly repaired. Take a piece of similar wood, and reduce it to fine sawdust by means of a rasp. For this purpose American walnut and dark old oak, or cocoa-nut shell, which is easily pulverized in a mortar, is excellent. Make this into a paste with glue, and repair with it any broken places. This, if properly made, is quite like wood itself, and may be moulded into any shape. ”

“ In the first place, you must underbrush. With an axe or a strong, long handled bill-hook, made to be used with both hands, you cut away for some distance round—a quarter or half an acre perhaps—all the small saplings and underwood which would otherwise impede your operations upon the larger trees. In "a good hard-wood bush," that is, where the principal timber is maple, white oak, elm, white ash, hickory, and other of the harder species of timber—the "underbrush" is very trifling indeed ”

“ For a thin shaving the cutting edge should appear as a black line of uniform thickness. For a heavy shaving turn the brass screw until the iron projects slightly.
In using the plane avoid a stooping position. Stand with the right side to the bench and with the shoulders thrown back. Let the pressure of the left hand be greater at the beginning and that of the right hand at the end of the stroke. The tool should rest perfectly flat on the wood from start to finish.
Fig. 23. Irons of Smooth and Jack Planes
10. ”

“ It is well where stock is kiln-dried direct from the saw or knife, after having first been steamed or boiled—as in the case of veneers, etc.,—to get them into the kiln while they are still warm, as they are then in good condition for kiln-drying, as the fibres of the wood are soft and the pores well opened, which will allow of forcing the evaporation of moisture without much damage being done to the material. ”

“ It is quite unnecessary to pursue the subject of woods beyond the few kinds mentioned. Woods such as ebony, sandalwood, cherry, brier, box, pear-tree, lancewood, and many others, are all good for the carver, but are better fitted for special purposes and small work. As this book is concerned more with the art of carving than its application, it will save confusion if we accept yellow pine as our typical soft wood, and good close-grained oak as representing hard wood. ”

“ This is a very important question, as woods that are too hard, too soft, too wet, too oily, too gummy, or too resinous will not produce fire. The wood should be soft enough to wear away, else it produces no punk, and hard enough to wear slowly, or the heat is not enough to light the punk, and, of course, it should be highly inflammable. Those that I have had the best luck with are balsam fir, cottonwood roots, tamarack, European larch, red cedar, white cedar, Oregon cedar, basswood, cypress, and sometimes second-growth white pine. ”

“ Use this tool at first with great caution, for it is much more difficult to manage than the gouge; with an inexperienced hand, the point is apt to dig into the wood, quite spoiling its surface, or else, by pressing it too firmly upon the work, it cuts great pieces in an uneven manner. When skillfully used, it should feel almost to work by itself, merely running steadily along the wood, shaving off all its inaccuracies, and making it look quite bright, smooth, and polished. All soft woods are entirely turned with the gouge and chisel, of both of which you must have several sizes. ”

“ But, in fact, there are instances in decoration in which paint or dyes, French polish, nails or other metal work, may be most artistically and beautifully combined with wood-carving, as many thousands of relics of the Middle Ages and Renaissance prove.
Polishing a pattern makes it shine, while roughing or dotting a surface darkens it. ”

“ Great care is necessary to shave off but a small portion as the gouge is passed along. The latter has a very keen edge, or it will tear instead of cut. It is used here and there in contrary direction, as the grain of the several parts of the purfling does not run quite level. A curved file, and finally a little glasspapering, will complete the matter so far. There will be for the finishing of the whole of the fresh wood a further process to go through, that is, a slight damping.
This can be done with a small fine grained sponge or a moderately wet camel hair brush. ”

“ In the endeavour to gain greater relief, shading and tinting the wood were resorted to, the shading being generally produced by scorching, either with a hot iron or hot sand, and the tinting by chemical washes and even by the use of actual colour, but the result is usually hardly commensurate with the labour expended. ”

“ For the removal of small limbs from young trees, hardly any time can come amiss—better to do it out of season than to neglect it, and it is a good rule to have a sharp pruning knife always at hand when passing through our young orchards. There is but one time when pruning is absolutely interdicted, and that is when the wood is frozen. When so circumstanced, it should never be cut nor disturbed in any manner—not even to gratify your best friend, by helping him to a few grafts from your proved tree of some coveted variety. ”

“ For example, in cutting four boards of one-inch lumber, an ordinary circular saw wastes enough material to make a fifth board, because it cuts an opening that is one-quarter of an inch in width. Band saws, although they do not work at such high speed, are replacing circular saws in many mills because they are less wasteful of lumber. Although sawmills try to prevent waste of wood by converting slabs and short pieces into laths and shingles, large amounts of refuse, such as sawdust, slabs and edgings, are burned each season. ”

“ Heartwood brownish, sapwood lighter color; it can be worked to a satin-like surface and take a fine polish, it is not durable if exposed, and requires a good deal of seasoning. Medullary rays small but distinct. The "curly" or "wavy" varieties furnish wood of much beauty, the peculiar contortions of the grain called "bird's eye" being much sought after, and used as veneer for panelling, etc. It is used in all good grades of furniture, cabinetmaking, panelling, interior finish, and turnery; it is not liable to warp and twist. ”

“ The second room was evidently the work-shop. There were a circular saw and a turning lathe, with the needful belts, and a small electric motor to furnish power. Also there were piles of lumber, shelves of paint pots and brushes, many shavings and much sawdust. And, standing beside a dilapidated chair from which he had evidently risen at the sound of the door bell, with a dripping paint brush in one hand and a wooden sailor in the other, there was a man. When he saw who his visitor was he sat down again. ”

“ With care and measurement even the beginner will soon find his leaves beginning to assume shape. If he has not learned as yet to cut and sweep boldly, he may finish the whole by simply wasting the wood away with straight cutting, aided by the file, riffler, or rasp. ”

“ Care must be taken with the base. If it is not quite true it should be sandpapered to stand flat. A little experience will soon show when it is in the best state for shaving. If the clay is too soft, the tool jumps, forming ridges, or possibly cuts deeply into the form. If it is too dry, the surface crumbles and the pot is liable to break. When turned in the right leathery condition, the shavings curl off like peel from an apple and all tool marks are76 easily removed. A beautiful finish may then be imparted with the leather.
To end the process the shape is reversed in the chuck. ”

“ It is to be recommended that the first attempts at carving in the round be made in soft pine wood, as it is of course most easily modelled. No one should be discouraged because a first or second effort has turned out a failure. ”

“ On hard woods, such as oak or Italian walnut, the pressure of the tools leaves a pleasant polish, which is all that is necessary; the most that should be allowed may be given by a little burnishing with the handle of the tool. ”

“ All wood for carving should be of the best quality, well seasoned, and free as possible from cracks, knots, or other irregularities. Fine white pine or deal, being very easy to cut, is suitable for a beginner. Lime and pear-tree wood, like pine, are even in the grain. American walnut is also easy to cut. It is of a beautiful dark colour, which is much improved by oiling and age. With this, but tougher than the preceding, are beech, elm, and oak. ”

“ Witness the old coloured screens of Norfolk, the harmonious greens and reds, the proper proportion of gold, the panels adorned with saints on backgrounds of delicate diaper work, and compare these triumphs of decoration with the rougher blues and reds of the average restored screen, and one ceases to wonder why we now prefer the wood plain.
Of late years carving has gone out of fashion; a change has come about. The work is necessarily slow, thus causing charges to appear high. Other and cheaper methods of decoration have driven carving from its former place. ”