Follow My Carving - Step 6

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in the winter issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, a new series is being added to the blog and site titled "Follow My Carving". The prototype of this piece will be shown in one of the magazines. Now you can follow along as it is finished, step-by-step.



Time to begin the bark carving. This requires the use of micro carving gouges. You may have noticed a few splinters at the edge of a carving stroke. The gouges must be kept razor sharp to keep this type of tear-out to a minimum. A leather strop is kept handy at all times during this phase and the gouges are honed about every twenty strokes. This makes a world of difference in whether the tool is cutting through the wood or just ripping it apart.

Here’s a picture of the micro carving tools I use. The pencil will give you an idea of the small size.



The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.