147 RECREATIONS The requirements for the work are, besides the handbook, a pencil compass, dividers, a foot-rule (steel, if possible), and two set- squares, one of 45° and the other 60°. Before starting the work, get the size of the space to be decorated on paper, and put in the leading lines of the geometrical pattern, and then it will be quite easy to set it out upon the wood. If the student does not care to make her own designs they can very easily be bought ready traced on the wood. Care must be taken to get a simple pattern at first as some are rather over- elaborated. Almost any shop that sells the white wood articles for decoration will supply them. Suitable articles for this style of carving are boxes of all sorts, blotting-pads, trays, book-slides, buttons, stools, butter-pats, frames, and many other similar things. PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE ACTUAL CARVING If the wood splinters and is difficult to cut, let the student stop and try another direction, as the tool must cut the grain with a clean, sharp cut. However, experience will soon teach this. The chief cut in chip carving is a triangular one, and care must always bs taken to get the edges sharp and clear. It is better not to fix the work, as it has to be moved con- tinually. It can be steadied suffi- ciently by the left wrist and fingers whilst cutting. Now, as to the actual carving. The chisel should be held upright and used with equal pressure along the line, and care always should bs taken to insert the tool into the corner of the former cut before making a fresh one. For the side lines the chisel is held slightly sideways to the wood. The cutting should be done from right to left. The veiner should be held with the handle sloping towards the worker, fairly low. The tool itself is guided with the thumb and first finger of the left hand. It is run along the line, and the cut it makes is a short semi- circular groove. It is as well to practise using the different tools, making zigzags, circles, straight lines, etc., before starting on the actual work. The tool must be held firmly, yet allowed to work quite freely. For curved lines the knife will be found A circular box lid best, and then the cutting should be done from left to right. HOW TO SHARPEN THE TOOLS Every student should know how to sharpen the tools. The chisel and knife are to be sharpened on the Washita stone, which is ftrst wetted with a little oil before placing on the table. The cutting edge of the tools is rubbed up and down on it, and then they must be wiped and stropped on the leather. The veiner and gouge should be sharpened on the Turkey slip, held in the hand ; the inside of these should be rubbed with this, which on one of the rounded sides should fit into the veiner. Care must be taken not to turn over the cutting edge of the tool. For the back of the tool hold the shp in the right hand, the tool in the left, and move the flat surface of the slip up and down ; afterwards wiping and stropping it. For the flat gouge use the thicker edge of the Turkey slip for the inside. The tools must be frequently sharpened, as otherwise the work will not be good. If possible it would be an advantage to have a lesson in sharpening from a practical woodcarver (not a carpenter, as their method of sharpen- ing tools is very different). When the carving is finished it should be first stained, and then French polished. Not many stains are required, as by mixing them various colours are obtained. Four bottles of Stephens' water-colour stains— (i) walnut ; (2) rosewood ; (3) ebony ; and (4) salinwood, costing 6d. each — and two small tubes of water- colour paint, crimson lake and indigo, and two camel-hair brushes, will be sufficient t o start with. The stains should be mixed in little saucers, and when taking up a brushful al- ways stir a little, as the colours are apt to separatCr Use rather a large brush, and take care never to let one brush- mark dry before the next is added. When working, be careful not to rest the hand on the wood, as the shght moisture from the hand will prevent the stain taking evenly. Brushes must be thoroughly washed before using each dif- ferent colour, and before being used the colour should be tested on a waste piece of wood. Two carved butter'pats that may be easily made by the beginner
