TOOLS USED FOR WOOD CARVINGS

Lots and lots of tools are responsible for the shapes and sizes of sculptures and carvings available to us today. These tools tend to help the carver get the kind of sculpture he or she wants and in a particular shape and style. There are various hand tools such as chip-carving knife or an x-Acto knife. Also some power carving tools such as a flexible-shaft freedom tool can help speed up the carving process and produce effects that one cannot get with hand tools. Large power tools such as a band saw, belt sander, drill press and chain saw, fill out the wood carver’s shop. However, the kind of tool you see in a carver’s shop depends on the monetary strength of the carver.

Some knives and chisels for wood carving include;

The chipcarving knife; it is the first tool that a wood carver starts with. Its primary use is for whittling and chip carving. The blade is about one and a half inch long and has a handle designed to fit comfortably in the hand.

There are also the U-Gouges which are the work horses of wood carving. They are designated by the width of the cutting edge, sweep or the amount of curvature of the cutting edge, and the shape of the shaft, either straight or bent, spoon or back-bent. There are also the V-Gouges that are designated by the width between the top edge tips and the Vee bottom edge. There is also the bent and spoon Gouges which are special gouges used to get into inaccessible spots of a carving that a straight gouge cannot reach. 

                         mallets,chisels and gouges

The Skewed Chisel is a chisel which is angled back from the leading edge of 45 degree angle. 

The Mallet is another important tool in carving. The traditional mallet for carving is cylindrical shaped and made from heavy dense hardwood. There is also the rubber mallet which is made from rubber.

                                A drill Press

Some other wood carving machines includes;

 The Band Saw; it has a long thin blade, welded into a loop. An electric motor powers the blade around two large wheels. It is the wood carver’s most often used large power tool. It quickly cuts off scrap wood, saving you the work of removing by hand.

The Drill Press is an invaluable shop tool which drills precise holes, but other attachments can be added, such as a Sanding Drum.

The Belt Sander is another tool that comes in handy for doing so many things that come up during a carving project. Once you have one, you can do a lot of carving work.

The Planner and Joiner are used to surface wood, giving boards flat sides. In order to laminate boards into larger blocks for carving, flat surfaces are necessary.

The Chain Saw is a very useful tool that can be use to rough out logs for large carvings.

              The various tools used in wood carving

The above tools and machinery and more, all help in the carving process. With them, the carver can easily create and design any sculpture of choice.

TYPES AND KINDS OF WOODS USED IN CARVING

In carving, there are various types of woods and tools used. The kind of wood and tools used for a particular sculpture depends on how the carver wants the sculpture to look like and the kind of finish work that is expected.

In terms of wood, choosing the appropriate wood for carving can depend on many factors. Some includes; is the wood soft enough to cut easily with a chip-carving knife, or do you need a chisel and mallet? , will it have a natural finish that shows the grain, or it will be painted or polished? These woods after carving can be polished with normal shoe polish which includes brown or black in order to give it its colour. At other times, potassium is used to give it a particular colour.

         A carved bowl made from the Base wood( Os3s3)

When a wood is fresh, it presents problems since it is filled with a great deal of moisture. Also, if the log dries too quickly it may crack badly. It is therefore best to let the log air dry for a long period until it reaches an acceptable level of moisture content to prevent unwanted cracking. In the case of carving small, hand-held craft objects such as decorative designs on flat surfaces like the sides of jewelry boxes, base wood is an excellent choice. It is soft and easy to carve, and it is stable when dry. However, base wood’s softness makes it difficult to apply a stain evenly on carved surfaces or attain a glossy finish. Hence most base wood carvings are painted.

For sculptures with a natural wood finish, walnut, cherry, butternut and mahogany, provide rich colour with an attractive grain pattern. Butternut is very soft and the easiest to carve with hand tools. Walnut, mahogany and cherry are rich in colour and are somehow difficult to carve because of the dense grain. Therefore gouges and a mallet will be needed for these woods.

                              Pieces of Ebony wood

Some possible woods that can be used in wood carvings and their characteristics includes;

BASE WOOD is cream coloured, easy to carve and excellent for whittling and painted sculpture. There is also the BUTTERNUT which is light brown in colour, has a distinct grain pattern, good for natural-finish sculpture, very easy to carve but it quickly dulls tools. The CHERRY on the other hand is reddish brown, has a wavy grain and can be difficult to carve. It is however excellent for natural finish-sculptures. MAHOGANY is a dark reddish brown wood and an excellent choice for natural-finish sculptures. There is also MAPLE which is creamy, very hard and is difficult to carve, though it finishes well. OAK or WHITE OAK as it’s commonly called is light yellowish brown and very hard when kiln dried. It is difficult to carve but finishes well. There is also the PINE WOOD which is aromatic cream coloured, soft and is good for whittling; the prominent growth rings may however be difficult to cut through. There is also the EBONY WOOD that is black and cream in colour. It is good for all types of sculptures and carvings. Lastly, there is the WALNUT (BLACK WALNUT WOOD), which is dark brown and excellent for natural-finish sculptures. It finishes well too.

These wood types vary in different places or environments. The carver also makes it a point to choose the one he or she deems may give a good finished work.

HOW CARVERS COME ABOUT CARVING

A woodcarver is someone who is involved in the art of cutting designs into wood or carve objects out of wood. There are lot of wood carvers in Ghana and Africa as a whole who engages in the art of creating wonderful sculptures and figures that tend to carry specific meanings and also just for decoration purposes.

In order for something to be carved by a wood carver, there must be a sketch or design available into which that thing will be carved. Some wood carvers are lucky with the gift of drawing or sketching items for carvings. Whilst others depend on drawings before they carve an item. Most often, some individuals take their sketches to the carver to be carved for them. An example of items that can be given to a carver to be carved is a “portrait picture” of oneself.

Carvers at most time uses their creative sense to carve sculptures that look attractive to buyers or people at a first glimpse. However, some people prefer an item to be carved according to their specific needs so they team up with the carver to produce those items.

The question I ask myself is; “how do these carvers come to know how to create such wonderful sculptures and figures?”In my quest to understand this, I spoke to Papa Muku Sakyi who has been into wood carving for 43 years  He is from the Volta region of Ghana; however he did not learn how to carve from there. He got his training from a man in Accra, specifically Adabraka Official Town.

According to him, one can learn how to carve locally from a family member who is in the field already or from whomever one chooses is appropriate to learn from. He says, formal education is not a requirement inorder to learn how to carve. One can learn even without formal education. You can start carving if you think you have the talent or someone can give you an idea and if you are interested, you can start learning how to carve, maybe by apprenticeship. According to Papa Sakyi, one just has to be creative, because that will help you to come up with wonderful arts and designs. He started by learning how to carve elephants because his master was specialized in carving elephants. However, due to his interest in carving and his creativity, he started trying to carve sculptures of other animals and even of human beings.

        Papa Muku and one of his elephant sculptures

Papa Sakyi is now a great carver who has taught a lot of youth including his own son who works with him at his shop in the “ARTS CENTER”. Some of his students had the idea to carve and came to him, whilst others saw his work and got interested in carvings.

In view of this, it can be agreed that in order for one to carve, you just need to be completely interested in it, have the creativity and the passion to learn how to create diverse form of carvings.

                       A typical wood carving work shop.