The Art Of Chip Carving is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide to
one of the world's most ancient and widely practiced forms of
woodcarving.
Anyone, from the completely inexperienced beginner to the veteran
craftsperson, can learn to use simple, inexpensive tools and techniques
to carve striking decorative designs in wood. Chip carving is an
especially good introduction to working wood for the inexperienced
because of its low cost-of-entry, and because it puts the most essential
concepts of woodworking front and center: safety, precision, and how
understanding the nature of the wood itself leads to successful results.
This guide is loaded with the technical information you need to start
chip carving--the few tools you need and how to sharpen them, how to
select and prepare wood for carving, how to transfer carving patterns,
how to carve safely and precisely, and how to read and understand wood
grain. Clay also teaches the basics of good carving technique, provides
step-by-step guidance through two practice boards to build your skills,
and then walks you through ten beginner projects that allow you to put
your skills to use.
The Art Of Chip Carving goes beyond any other how-to manual by
introducing techniques and projects for learning freehand carving, and
how to use the simple shape-vocabulary of chip carving to create your
own carving designs in the style of traditional European folk carvings.
