Carving with Feeling

In this deliberate practice I’m working with the sloyd knife.

The long bevel on the sloyd knife gives us a guide to rest against the surface of the wood. Because there’s no secondary bevel, we know that the edge is going to engage the moment we start putting a little pressure on the knife, into the wood. 

The knife is always going to want to exit the cut. It’s following the path of least resistance. As carvers, when we want to make a long shaving we’re having to balance quite a few different variables to keep that cut going without exiting or delving too deep. The things to think about are the downward pressure, the angle of the knife and the forward movement. Ideally we would just lock-in the first two and plough ahead. Unfortunately, due to our fragile and weak human forms, that’s not really possible. So we’re forced to continually make tiny adjustments as the cut progresses. If you move the knife through the wood quickly, your cut is more likely to follow the path you first set. Unfortunately, when it does wander you have less time to react and correct the direction of the cut. Move the knife slowly and the cut is more likely to wander, but you’ve got more time to feel for it and make adjustments. 

Whatever the speed of the cut, you’re going to feel if it’s going off course before you see it. If the cuts going deeper into the wood, the resistance will increase. If the knife starts to exit the wood the resistance is going to lessen. Feeling for these changes is what I’m deliberately practicing in the video.