Follow My Carving - Gnarly Tree

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in upcoming issue of Woodcarving Illustrated the "Follow My Carving" series was created to give you a an insider’s view on how the art is made.


The pattern for this gnarly tree has been adhered to the wood blank using a 3M spray glue that is mildly adhesive, allowing the paper to be lifted from the wood once it’s been cut out with the scroll saw.

The saw uses a very thin blade with teeth only on one side. It reciprocates up and down like a sewing machine needle. Small holes are drilled into the corner edges of the waste wood sections to allow access for the saw blade.

You’ll notice that the holes are very close to the lines in tight corners. While it’s fairly easy to maneuver the blade around curves, the holes make it easier to change direction and cut tight angles. For accuracy, the holes are made with a drill press. It’s important to be as close to both lines of the angled area as possible without actually touching the lines.

The entire pattern has required over 80 drill holes, almost half of which are seen here. It takes a lot of patience and focus to drill each one as accurately as possible. Since the blank is 11.5 inches square, holes closer to the center had to be hand drilled. The blank was simply too big to allow access to these areas on the drill press.

Next, the waste wood areas will be cut out.

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