The Wood Carving Site dedicated to the designs, themes, and ideas for your next project! Intaglio
Carving Project Supplies and tools needed: Before your begin carving do any woodworking and joinery that will be needed to assemble your finished piece in it's final position in the furniture design. If the piece that you are going to carve will be a drawer front, now is the time to add the dados or rabbit joints to receive the drawer sides and any routed trim designs along the face edge. Establish where any hardware will lay on the surface of the wood element, plan for drawer pulls or handles. If you do the carving first, then try to add the joinery, the carving will receive a great deal of damage form the table saw and circular sander. Whenever you are carving a furniture element that piece should be totally prepared as if it were to be placed uncarved into the woodwork. For your first intaglio carving chose a pattern with well defined areas. Pennsylvania Dutch patterns, basic leaf designs, and even simple animals or birds would be excellent images with which to begin. Prepare the paper pattern by marking the different levels of the image. Which part of the design appears to be closes to you and which part is farthest away. Number the different areas on the paper pattern, one being the closest and successive numbers as each area becomes deeper into the image. As you work on your carving you will want to refer to this mapping for your reverse depth.
The area that you have marked as number 1 will be the deepest area of the image. The area that you have marked number 2 will be the middle range of the carving and intersect area one above it's deepest level. The areas marked number three will lay even higher in the wood surface than either number one or number two. Gouge or hog out each area to it's basic level. At this early stage in the carving process you are not creating detail but establishing layers of depth within the work. Check that you have three definable areas of work, remember that the background of your image is the original wood surface and that each area of the image is being carved down into the wood.
Depth Example There are several ways to check the depth of an intaglio design. One way is to hold it in front of a mirror with a light source that casts harsh shadows. The shadowing will show you your different depths. By using the mirror, the image is reversed giving you a new look at your work and changing the perspective of your eye to the image. Another way to check the progress of your carving is to press either clay, softened wax, or bread dough into the image. Any of these substances will take on the exact shape of your carving and display it in reverse to your work. Those areas that need to reach down into the wood surface now reach upwards as if it were a high relief design. To soften beeswax simply enclose it within your hands for several minutes to begin warming it. Now gently knead the wax between your palms. The wax will become more moldable the more your knead it. To use bread dough you do not have to head to the kitchen to whip up a quick batch of bread every time you want to carve. Remove the crust from any store bought white bread and knead several piece together in your hands. If the bread mass seems dry or crumbly add a few drops of milk and knead again. This can then be pressed into the area of the carving on which you are working for a quick depth check. When you have clearly established individual areas of depth begin to refine each area. Round out flower petals and create crisp edges for any lines or corners. Smooth the carved areas by either scraping the surface with the edge of a sharp carving tool or by lightly sanding it. It is easier to sand this technique with each layer that you establish then to wait for one final sanding or smoothing at the end of the work. Now begin to add your details. Just as with incised designs the details reach down into the carved areas. A light final sanding of the top surface of your carving is needed before it is inserted into the furniture design. This technique, intaglio carving, creates wonderful presents for any cook in your family. Try making a series of cookie presses or butter molds that are not only utilitarian but also extremely decorative. These small treasures will be passed on from generation to generation.
Article Courtesy of Classic Carving Patterns
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