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262164 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2017‑04‑14 Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
OK this is too weird guys.
   Remember the Chinese chisels?
My friend Mathew was in the middle of nowhere mainland China. And went 
to the market in the town square, where they had hundreds and hundreds 
of woodcarving chisels for sale.
Like nothing I ever saw, and nobody recognized anything when I showed 
them here.
     All forge rough. Seemingly not even that finely forged.
  Unhandled, but dirt cheap, to the edge of practically free. heheheh. 
So he bought a bunch.
  Super super weird shapes. Radically skewed gouges and wide paper thin 
straight chisels.
   Long skinny shanks on all of them.  Unwelded sockets.

   Back in China that day, they weren't exactly welcoming him to stand 
and watch the work they were doing nearby. You know, repairs on those 
giant unreal carved wooden bridges, and monster wooden temples all over 
the place.  That kind of stuff.  There is wholesale wood carving in 
mainland China.
    But they weren't welcoming distractions so much.
  Matthew didn't see anything except the rough chisels for sale. No clue 
how they were using them.  He just grabbed a sack. As much he could get 
onto luggage.

He brought them to me of course. I had a handle one, get one deal going, 
except I deserved a few extra, and besides there was more than either of 
us needed then.
  I made him some handles and kept some chisels.
  First thing I noticed is, I think the unwelded sockets are spring 
tempered. I think they leave them open because if they don't pound them 
in use, being springs, they bite into the handle like a piranha and 
don't let go.

    I tried the chisels. Tried them and wasn't thrilled. I made some 
short handles and regular western sausage handles.   Couldn't get the 
hang of it.  The balance was off. Or something.  Mallet or hand work 
either one.
     I sent some to Jim Thompson. He tried them too. Various handle 
methods and carving techniques and just never could get the point either.

  Best I found to work with were short fat handles for small details. 
Still not a favorite.

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/chinachiz2.jpg
http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/hometools/chinachiz3.jpg

   Eventually we both kind of gave up.
     So, how long has it been? Several years?

         tah duuuhhhhhhhhhhhh

  One day I was perusing ebay, and down near the bottom of the screen, 
under those,
"you might be interested ads"?  Was an ad for Chinese chisels, finished.
  First I had seen finished. I tried to buy them but they were already 
gone.

  Look at that long handle?   Are you kidding me? Is that a carving 
chisel or a pool cue?
  What in the world do you do with this? Guess you could poke a mad dog 
easy enough.
It looks like a lathe chisel.
           I made one.
   I grabbed some scrap wood and tried to make the proportional lengths 
the same as the chisels I had seen in the photograph.  More or less. 
Just guessing.
    I tried it and it something about it worked.  Balance was good. It 
was now a tool in your hand.
You knew it. I was unsure on technique.   You can lean your belly on the 
pad and push if you want. Teriffic power that way.  Seemed like some 
possibilities. But something was still just a little wrong.
  I had an idea. (slaps forehead) these guys are a foot shorter than me. 
I could put on some lumber.
   So I made the next one a few inches longer.  It did feel better.

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/oldtools/chinachisels3.jpg

   I picked up another piece of firewood off the floor. On its way to 
the stove.
   I sharpened up the tools and clamped my firewood in the vise.
  I was kind of fumbly for a while. It was working but not that easy.  I 
was used to pushing a carving tool forward much of the time. It's how I 
always did it. You push the tool forward, and do your best to control 
its progress. Read the grain and often straight ahead.  Experts are 
terrifically better. But basically this is how its done. Mallet and hand 
pushing, and away you go.

   Well these don't work that way. I mean they -can- work that way (and 
sometimes do).
   But mostly, they work on leverage. You don't need thick steel 
anymore. You don't need to push hard to cut wide chips. Or cut deep.
   Instead, you slip the corner of the tool into the wood, with your 
forward hand, and swing your other arm on that long handle.
   Take a pivot point, dig in,  and swing.

  Whazeeeeee, the wood just evaporates!
It just gives up.      And curls away with the greatest of ease. Big 
chips, little ones, you pick. And it happens fast.
When you have a good read on the grain, it falls away leaving a shiny 
surface behind.

  If I was worth a crap at drawing?
   Well you can get up and draw with the sharp corner of the chisel! 
Like it was a pencil.
   And make that your stake in cut. The extra leverage and thinly forged 
tool makes it all feel like childsplay.   It's freaky.
    I mean guys, this is like a drawknife in moist wood.

  Except its seasoned dry firewood, and douglas fir besides, which no 
one in their right mind would choose to carve offered anything else.  
This is straight from the tool, and not even much in the way of 
"finishing" cuts. Just straight work.

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/oldtools/chinachisels4.jpg

   I just scratched some lines, no layout, just lines
   and tried to see what and if I could follow.    All I had were two 
chisels
  In minutes flat it started becoming fun. So much faster and easier 
that I had ever done before.
Easy to clean up tearout when I didn't read the grain right. Wide 
relatively flat surfaces, check.

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/oldtools/chinachisels2.jpg

   Its a little weird to switch swings for the "other side" but I'm 
gettin' there. You have these big movements. Not like carving with your 
elbows down and powering though. This is standing back, kind of steering 
the boat. "Diva a cou" as my granddaughter used to say when she was 2 
1/2. If it was going and it was easy it was drive a car.
   Paddling a canoe actually comes closer to the movement. You are 
shearing the wood without chopping so much.

   And this is with tools still rough as a cob, for chisels. The handles 
were literally firewood off the floor. Made in haste.  All just for 
trial purposes.   Some fairly serious grinding,  shaping the cutting 
ends, were necessary.
    I wondered how they did all those monstrous wood carvings all over 
china.
   Here's how.................
      they cheat

http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/oldtools/chinachisels.jpg

   yours Scott


-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html
262165 Mike Rock <mikerock@m...> 2017‑04‑14 Re: Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
Now THAT is amazing.  How's the edge quality?

Mike

On 4/13/2017 10:44 PM, scott grandstaff wrote:
>        OK this is too weird guys.
>   Remember the Chinese chisels?
> My friend Mathew was in the middle of nowhere mainland China. And went 
> to the market in the town square, where they had hundreds and hundreds of


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262166 curt seeliger <seeligerc@g...> 2017‑04‑14 Re: Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
Darn tasty research there, Scott. I bet those chisels don't need fine
sharpening to be used like ain't saws. Thanks for sharing your results.
262167 David Nighswander <wishingstarfarm663@m...> 2017‑04‑14 Re: Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
Always enjoy Scott's letters.
Those chisels look like something an amateur like me could make. Welding the
sockets has been problematic.
262168 "yorkshireman@y..." <yorkshireman@y...> 2017‑04‑14 Re: Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
> On 14 Apr 2017, at 04:44, scott grandstaff  wrote:
> 
>       OK this is too weird guys.
>  Remember the Chinese chisels?

Yep, I remember.  And I had the same thoughts I’ll bet you did too.  “How do
they do all that with tools like these?”  even allowing for the old fashioned
idea of selling a tool as a kit and expecting the craftsman to refine and polish
it.

Thousands of years of civilisation is bound to produce the easiest way to remove
timber by hand.  One day, our society will evolve something similar.  If we’re
around that long of course.

Great to have a happy ending to the chisels story though.


Richard Wilson
Northumbrian Galoot.
262169 RH Hutchins <rhhutchins@h...> 2017‑04‑14 Re: Woodcarving.................... by CHEAT!!
Great work, Scott!  The Old Millrat is smiling down on you! Those turned 
handles are truly beautiful!

Thanks for sharing your epiphany with us!

Bob Hutchins
Temple, TX, USA


On 4/13/2017 10:44 PM, scott grandstaff wrote:
> OK this is too weird guys.
>   Remember the Chinese chisels?


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