Adding carvings

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    I've had some requests for a build along detailing carvings on my bows . I'm not sure what info they were looking for but feel free to ask any questions you may have .
   The first step is to plan out what you will be carving and where. Without a clear plan , adornments can  become  unbalanced or disproportionate , and ruin the bow you just spent hours  building. This is taken into consideration when starting to build the bow, as you may want to leave a bit of extra wood in areas to receive the carvings. In this case the hickory back was applied about 3/16" thick and worked down for the bow to a crown of less than 1/8" tapering to a near feather edge on the sides.Left full at the handle and nocks. It is a child's bow ,so there isn't a lot of thickness in the body and I didn't want the back to overpower the belly .I carve in areas of non  working wood as any carving on the working portion has the potential to damage the bow or simply break off .   
      Generally I will come up with a theme , based on the personality of my client . In this case a 7 year old boy who is fascinated by Mermaids .I make arrows to match  ,but if desired you could Carry the theme into bow sleeves ,quivers ,armguards,etc.
      I trace out a few outlines on a piece of paper of where the carvings will go and try out a few different drawings until I come up with something I like. It usually comes together pretty quick as one idea on paper  usually sparks three more .
   From there, I transfer the  ideas to the bow. Because I've used the bow as a template ,  the drawings are basically a direct copy of the original. On open grained woods like Oak and Hickory you may find it usefull to fill the pores with wood filler and sand it smooth when dry, if you are doing very detailed work. This gives you a smooth drawing surface and allows you to see the lines more clearly. On darker woods like Walnut , a  silver gel pen will show up better than pencil. It's important that you can see the lines clearly, and judge them for size and proportion on the bow before you start cutting.What looked good on paper ,might not "fit" the bow in overall appearance.

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   With the layout lines in place, I begin to incise the cuts. (trace over the lines with a knife or chisel to define the outline). This creates a stop cut to release the chips when you relieve the carving. This is a low relief carving , meaning it is not in full 3 dimension. It is carved just deep enough to create a 3D effect  .
   Notice how the different shaped gouges  match the curves  on the carving. If it doesn't you can use your knife but you will find it a lot  quicker and a smoother end result to use the gouges. Although I have many shapes and sizes of gouge there are really only a few that I use on a regular basis. I sometimes use a  "V" tool or veining tool to rough out the straight lines after incising them with a knife and straightedge. Take your time here too. A crooked or wavy line that should be straight  can really ruin the look and will be picked up by the eye very quickly.
      I cannot emphasize enough the importance of sharp tools (razor sharp!)  and complete tool control. You will notice the bow is in a vice, not being held in a hand. this allows me to use both hands on the chisels. If both hands are being used to guide the chisel you are less likely to slip and screw up the caving or put that nice sharp chisel through your hand. Take small cuts. It's not a race, and it's harder to put the wood back on that you shouldn't have taken off. Take note as well of how I use my hand's against the work piece to guide the cut. It's used like a compas to guide the knife smoothly around the curves. This is also done with the gouges and chisels . The second hand will also limit the power behind the chisel to bring you slowly and carefully to the stop cuts so when you suddenly hit a soft spot or the chip releases ,you don't plow into the next piece.

 

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 Relieving the carving.With the lines incised , I begin to relieve the carving , creating a level field as a background. Dont get lazy with the field, if it's not all one level with a smooth transition , it will make your carving look distorted  . It really shows when you finish it. Take it slow with small controlled cuts, to avoid tearout and chipping off a piece of the carving. Start close to the lines and work the field back .

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As you move through your carving , you will be re drawing sveral times ,the elements that have been removed or that may have worn off. It's important to keep a clear picture of what you are doing.Here I've roughed in the scales  using the "V" tool

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Be sure to allow enough depth to handle all of the elements of your carving. Here we have her hands in the fore front with her  trident beneath that and her body and head on the next plane down. if you don't it will look like it got melted and collapsed on it's self. Because I'll be painting this ,I can add some depth with colour, so I don't have to go too deep with the details.
   I've roughed in the face with a small knife and  will finish the fine details with a tiny,tiny dremel tool. I started with the bigger one shown and quickly switched to on half the size. It's so small that I'm not even sure of the shape. I think it's a cylinder but might be a ball.Not that critical on wood when you get to the size of a sharp pencil. It would make a difference on shell or ivory ,if you were working with magnification.( which we might be doing a little for the arrow pass)
   The hair was done with the same techniques as the tail. I will go into more detail on that when we carve the seaweed leaves on the grip. You can see that when sanded , the field needs more work to get it level behind the whole carving. Try to keep sanding to a minimum while you are carving, and grit that is left behind will dull the tools pretty quick.
    That's all for today.

[autologus]

Wow this is awesome, you are a very talented artist and craftsman.

Grady

[Stoker]

Beautiful
Thanks Leroy

[BryanR]

You make it sound easy.  A true craftsman!

[Danzn Bar]

Wow    Lostarrow.............That is absolutely beautiful, lots of talent in your hands.
Can't wait to see more.
DBar

[lostarrow]

   Glad you are enjoying it guys! Carving really isn't as daunting as it might seem. There are plenty of subjects that would make it easy to get ones feet wet with professional looking results. I wouldn't recommend starting with something like an animal or human figure.I would say that something like a leaves or heraldry would be a great place to start. Also  ,you want to start with a medium that is a little more forgiving and kind than Hickory ,or this soft Red Oak. Use a piece of White Pine ,or Basswood, Poplar or Soft Maple . I will  show the tools in detail that I've used  for this project at the end.It's likely the same as you would get in any beginners carving tool set for less than $50. The only reason for using different tools would be if you changed the scale of project.  You wouldn't carve a 6" leaf with a 1/8" gouge.
      Back to the task at hand. Spent a few hours in the shop today.  Let's  see where we're at.

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  So I started on the shells on the back today , as I needed a little break from the detailed stuff and didn't feel up to power tools, however small they might be.( I'm a little stoned on painkillers from a wisdom tooth surgery that went south).
          The process is generally the same with all carving.  Layout, incise , remove waste and rough shape, detail and sand. I started by roughing in some steps with a rasp to speed things along. Always use the easiest method for bulk waste reduction , wether it's a rasp, large gouge, belt sander ,handsaw or even bandsaw or table saw in some cases. Save your hands and time for the important work.
   From there I incised the edge of the shells by letting the sizes of gouge dictate the spacing. I varied the treatment of the edge of the shells from one to the next to break the monotony .By changing the direction you put the gouge it will make a slightly different looking shell.
    I then use the V tool to start defining the lines of the shell.

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Then I might use a  gouge to create a grooved portion of the shell , or a straight chisel to create a rounded portion.Clean up the edges with a straight chisel . This chisel that you see me using in the last pics has become a favorite go to chisel .I made it from a small triangular file blank. Ground the back flat and carefully ground the edges down to a parallel profile. Polished it up and put a handle on it. Takes a razor edge and keeps it all day long .It's also the perfect shape for cutting English dovetails (the real skinny ones)
  Sorry, back on track!

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Simply repeat for the other shells, ofsetting each slightly to add interrest to the composition. Thigs still are pretty rough at this stage. Once eveything is roughed in I go back and tidy lies up to straighten them and make them uniform. Sand  and/or use small rifler files or needle files to clean things up. Once again I spent less than $10 on the needle files.

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On to the leaves, which bore a striking resemblance to the seamonsters depicted on old maps once i was finished. Ordinarily I would have modified them  but in this case I thought it was a fitting theme. I can visualise how things will look in 3D pretty well from a 2 D sketch , but sometimes (More with the help of prescription drugs ) you can be surprised like that
 Rough the center stem with the V tool .Create the scroll at the bottom of the leaf  using an appropriate gouge and incise the rest of the leaves. I only used 2 sizes of gouge to do all of the incising. You'll find this is often the case ,as one to three curves is all it takes to make the graceful curves you've been drawing out freehand , thinking they were so complex
     Relieve the carving from the field with a small straight chisel  and define  the leaf veins and edges with the V tool

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 Shape the leaves , adding depth by varying upturned leaves and those that curl under. The upturned ones  are made by using the gouge to scoop it out  and leaving the tip of the leaf pointed up. The curled over ones can be made by usig a very flat gouge to round over the leaf.