pierced relief carving step by step
drawing out design
After looking at approx 20 different examples of this type of work, I drew out my original design, directly onto the wood. It will be a floral design, with petaled flowers, buds, leaves and tendrils. In free-handing this design i worked from the center out and mirrored the image on both sides. I tried to keep the tendrils connected as much as possible to the rest of the work to give maximum support to the delicate hanging tendrils. (35 min work)
color coding
In order to ready it for the scroll saw work, I color coded the design, black was the area of the design that would be cut around and red were the areas to be certain not to cut out. (5 min. work)
design completedthis is the final design, ready to be cut on the scroll saw.
Drilling guide holes
Using my drill press, I then drilled holes into all places that would require interior cuts. (you can use a hand drill to do this, being careful to keep the bit 90o vertical to the board) interior cuts cannot be accessed from the edge of the board. Holes are drilled so that the scroll saw blade can be inserted and the inside areas cut out. (5 min. work)
cutting away the waste
using a scroll saw, I selected a size 3 spiral blade. Spiral blades must be used for the piercing as the work is too large for the 16″ capacity of my scroll saw. spiral blades allow you to cut in any direction. All interior cuts must be made first to give support to those pieces so they don’t break off. next step is to cut all the exterior waste off. (interior-1.25 hr work, exterior- 1.75 hr work)waste removed
at this point all of the waste, interior and exterior has been removed. The final demensions are 32″ long, with the arch being 6″ wide
close-upclose up of final pattern now ready for carving. from this point on, the carving will be very delicate to work with because there are a lot of unsupported tendrils. I will lay it flat out on top of my workbench for the carving, using an anti-slip mat under it so that it will not require clamping down. using clamps at this point would likely break off some of the unsupported tendrils.
carving tools selected
as this will be a delicate carving I have selected small hand tools to do the job. Left to right: #5 gouge, #7 gouge, #1 bent gouge, sloyd knife, 60o v-tool and a #3 fishtail gouge. After selecting tools 1st step is to hone them so that they will slice thru the wood cleanly. They will be honed repeatedly over the course of the carving stage. this is an important step in this carving as any unneeded pressure will break off the delicate pieces.
begin carving
first step is to use a v tool to separate all flower petals, leaves, buds and tendrils. I will start carving at the strongest points of the carving, working my way down to the most delicate pieces, allowing those pieces to be supported as long as possible
carving the pansy
gouge out the center of each petal
make a stop cut around the center mound
gouge out 1/4 of each petal in towards the center
round over the outside edge of each petal
round over the center mound
redefine the valley between each petal using a v-tool
using a gouge round over the top of each half of the petals
using a knife, make a v cut between each petal to define the separation
using a knife clean out and define area between the petals
clean up area around center mound
using a v-tool, put 2 or 3 wrinkle lines into bottom 1/3 of each pedal, working in to center
Carving The Daisy
after making a stop cut around the center mound, gouge out about 1/4 of each petal, going down and into the center
Round over the edges of each petal
round off the last 1/4 of each petal and then shape the sides of the petal
round off the top of each petal
do another stop cut around center mound
clean up the center mound
round over center mound
redefine the valley between the petals using the v-tool
using a knife, make a very steep v cut which will separate the petals more
redefine edges of petals going deeper in the area between each petal
finished daisy
texturing the button
using a nail, gently tap in many random spots on center mound to create texture. Texture the buttons on all the pansies and daisies
Carving the leaves
Gouge out a section approx. halfway on the leaf. This will give a wave to each leaf.
leaf gouged out
after making a stop cut along the edge of the petal, gouge out 1/4 of leaf in towards the flower
using a gouge remove the end of the leaf
round off and shape each leaf
after rounding the leaf over use either a knife or small v-tool to make veins. make a curvy line down the center of each leaf and then make veins from the center line out to the edges angled to the tip of the leaf
pansy and leaves carved
carving the bud
first shave off 1/2 of the edge from center out to tip of bud, then make a stop cut along base of bud
gouge out stem into base of bud
round off base of bud
round over top of bud
using a v-tool, make curvy line from base to tip of bud
carving the tendrils and bud stems
Make a stop cut where stem attaches to flower
gouge out stem in towards flower, remove enough wood so that the level of the stems and tendrils are lower than the flowers and buds
make stop cuts wherever tendrils meet each other and where they meet flowers
round over stem working in towards flower
completed bud stem
continue rounding over all stems and tendrils
cleaning up the carving
this is much to delicate a piece to do any hand sanding on. I have cleaned it up using rotary power tool with a fine ceramic pointed stone
tendrils and bud stems completed
I used a different stain on each part of the design
carving stained
painting
I used thinned water colors to tint the carving
completed caving
carving mounted over archway
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Of all, this is truly my favorite! A lot of work with the scroll saw and hand tools, but the paint job to achieve the colors are what amaze me. Almost like a stain glass look. Really nice job on the whole project.Oct. 26, 2008 By: banjo52us Delete
A very nicely done carving and an excellent tutorialJun. 8, 2007 By: Charles Hand Delete