Carving Lesson Using Hook Blade** Sharpening 101**

Here's a bit more detail than I gave in Raffertikis post and rather than take over his post I'm starting a new one.
Same tiki, 3 1/2" tall shaped like a bongo drum and sliced in half.
I first drew a center line and a few 90 degree lines for refrence points then drew in all the lines on both sides.




Starting at the top, cut a "V" line for the brow lines and the same all the way down past the mouth



Then start shaping the teeth section shaving a little off at a time until you have the basic shape


Then begin to shape the tongue



Then I shaped the teeth more, lowering them to Below the tongue line so the tongue sticks out more.



Thenshape the teeth some more and define each tooth, being careful to cut Away from the tongue, as it is fragile at this point and a wayward slash would severly ruin it.
Then I went back up to the eyes and cut deeply into each corner of the eye on all 4 sides. Then removed each corner area to define the beginning of the eyeball.

Then continue cutting off the corners until the eyeball is round, then cutting off the top of the ball to identify the pupil.

Then begin cleaning up the detail and depening the mouth and eyes. You will see where it needs to be cleaned and shaped.





Somewhere a nose popped up. Now this is ALL done with the hook knife. once you get ti to this point you can sand it to your liking. I use small fingernail emory boards from the local drug store. you can cut them in half longways to get a thin stiff strip and you can wrap it with finer grit sandpaper if you like. of course I use plain sand paper, sand paper sponges and drums on the Foredom or Dremel.
This concludes this portion of lesson 1.

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-12-03 19:09 ]

Bloody Hell - I've learnt more in the 2 minutes spent going through this post than all the info I've read in all the carving books I've got put together. My tools are covered in years of dust, but this really makes me want to break them out and get carving.

It's all so clear and (relatively) simple.
Great post Benzart!

Trader Woody

Thanks, I apreciate that. Show us your stuff when you pick up the tools again.

Thank you Benzart,
picked up Oceanic Arts, the book, have some fairly dried logs, think I am finaly going to start carving.
TT

[ Edited by: tikitanked on 2005-01-13 14:57 ]

I hope so and I hope you share your carving with us.

Thanks for the awsome post BEN!! I swear one of these days I am going to start carving!! Not only was that a great lesson but I really want one of those TIKI's. I love the facial expression. So if you want sell me one of those TIKI's please send me a PM.
Later,
Spermy

Thanks Benzart, great post! I have to get me a hook knife, have alot of knives but none of those. Been thinking about it since you mentioned it in RT's post, but coudn't picture how it helped, this post helped, gotta get one.

Outstanding! You make it all look so easy, Ben. One thing you forgot to mention is PATIENCE. For us newer carvers that's I think that's the key to success.

Can't wait for session 2. Thanks for sharing, Ben.

Aaron

wow!

The hook blades I use are from Warren tools and is #21 small blade by their description. Treeline (link) also sells Flexcut tools and if you need good chisels and gouges hey give a good discount when ordering 5 or more, call for the discount.
http://www.treelineusa.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=290-0302
I'm glad you are all enjoying this post and I apologize for it being so large.

Great stuff Ben... but what I don't get is how you are holding that blade and in what when you carve. I'd love to do some small stuff but the blades scare the hell out of me. I think the major reason is I don't know how to hold or carve with them without slicing into something or slicing something off. Can you get a shot of how you hold that thing when you carve?

Thanks!

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2005-01-13 23:44 ]

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2005-01-13 23:45 ]

LS, here are some pix of the knives and me holding them





It is good to be afraid since this tool has bitten me more than Any other, but I use it more than any other too. It is my Main tool. If you get in a hurry, have bandaids handy. Take your time and pay attention to the Path of the blade through the cut. Is a finger or thumb in the way? If so, it will get cut. Stop and analize where the blade is going and adjust your fingers accordingly. used properly the hook blade is an Awesome tool tha will do Anything for you.
Heres the link to the handles.
warren Handle
Vertas Handle
Here are some bulk prices, Anyone interested in splitting up a bulk order of 144 pcs # 10Hard? look here under "Industrial blades and handles". You have to go to "Shop Online" first to find it.
Blades

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-12-16 18:45 ]

Thanks Ben! I get it now! Gotta get me one of those!

Just wondering how the lessons are coming along???

Ben, It took some time to get the nerve to cut the other side if the conga piece you sent me. Once in it wasn't so bad. I realized I wasn't going to completely screw it up. It's about half done, but I need to sharpen my blades. I'll keep you posted.

It's next on my list. This tool may answer a lot of my "small scale" questions!

Well, I carved my half of Ben's carving. My cuts are less defined, and less confident than Ben's. Heck, I could'nt even figure out how he made some of those cuts, like at the bridge of the nose. Though I felt I did make a solid cut or two. Ben, I hope my efforts don't dissapoint you. Thanks again for carving lesson. I learned more doing this than I had in the past year and a half.

Raffertiki, That is VERY GOOD. I had to look close to see which side I did. You make me proud. See, I Knew you could do it.
Happyhappyhappy

That was a great idea, Ben. And a great effort, Raff. I can't tell who's who either.

You guys are too kind. All that's left is to sand it a bit, rub in some tongue oil, and treasure it forever.

That looks really good, I think Ben should start carving halfs only.Kinda like carve by numbers. Any idea what type of finish your going to apply?

bump

Cool thread. Love the step by step Benz. Awesome. Hopefully santa or my birthday gonna be good to me and Im gonna get some carving knives.

Thanks for the bump, great stuff. Question. How do you rough out the basic shape of the block. Band saw, jig saw, or just using the hook knife?

I use power tools as much as possible. This one met the band saw first then a Belt sander.. Any tool that you can use to remove or shape the wood is Fair game I Say. Later I will take pix of the sharpening procedure for these hook knives.

Ben-
Thank you for being a patient teacher. I have been just buying hook knives after they go dull.
I love this thread!!
Moon

I'm glad this topic was bumped up. I bought some hook blades after reading this early in the year. I kept fumbling with the blades and felt I was going to cut my fingers off. Chainsaw, no problem, little hookblade- scares me to no end. Re-reading this post makes me want to try it again.

Benzart, how do you get the bottom of your deep cuts looking so clean? I keep struggling.
JohnnyP

Moondance, I will post pics now of how I carve the hook blades.

JohnnyP, I get to the bottom of the V cuts a little at a time. The line starts out narrow and shallow and as I go along it gets deepeneduntil it looks right. When the carving is all done, it's time for the "Clean-up" which consists of justmaking sure all the deep V's are even and fair, and that they have no Junk in the bottom. As you go around the carving cleaning it up, it's important to keep the cuts Light and not deep. soon it will All look like you made about 10 cuts to do the carving, when in reality you made about 1000 cuts.
Hope that makes sense.
Here are the things I use to sharpen the hooks. I have a few pieces of 3/4" pipe cut to 16" lengths. I cut pieces of sandpaper, 4" long and just wide enough to wrap around the pipe. Then I glue the pieces onto the pipes in the order of the grit. 220, 320, 600,800 on 1 pipe, 1000, 1200,1500 and 2000 on the next and on the last I have a piece of leather steering wheel cover and a piece of thin cardboard coated with buffing rouge.



Then I start with the 220 grit and use the pipes just like a file, doing one side of the hook and then the other. I Rub the pipe againts the hook instead of the hook against the pipe, it works better.




After several strokes on eachside of the hook on the 220, move up to the 320, and then the next higher grit until you get to the 2000 or the highest grit. Then a few strokes on the rouge laced cardboard, and a few strokes on the leather and you are ready to go.
It is important to look at the edge closely, preferably with a magnifier of some kind, before moving to the next grit. If you don't, you could end up Polishing a dull blade.
You don't really have to get fancy with a Bunch of different grits of paper, but the more you have, the faster it goes.
If I left anything out or you need any more info, just ask or say so. I'll try to re-define it.
By the way, this is basically how I sharpen my chisels, only I have all the grits clamped on a clipboard with the 220 on the bottom and the cardboard on the top. It gives me a nice flat surface to back the sandpaper and it only takes a few minutes to sharpen a chisel as long as it doesn't have deep nicks on it. And, you Don't need to start at 220 every time, start higher if the tool is not too dull. Plus, for the Micro chisels you ALWAYS start half way up, they should Never feel the 220 unless they get broken or something like that.

I Hope this helps, now Lets see some Sharp knifes and chisels and gouges.

Amazing Ben! I don't know how you do those tiny cuts, really. In fact, I've got to ask . . how do you see what you're doing? Do you use magnifing glasses or goggels? I don't know if my eyes could be trusted on something that small.

On top of my bifocals(pre cataract surgery) I use a magnifier that has a headband. $4.95 from Harbor Freight. Makes it look big enough so you can SEE it.

Ben, you're awesome. Thanks for all your help. We all appreciate it. Hope you are doing well.

G.

As mentioned B4.... you are the MAN!!! Got mad skills. Love the detail on the pipe and sand paper grit assembly. Ingenious! (why could'nt I think of that?)
I learned so much from you! I credit all my 5 inspired carvings to you. I've already enrolled for the next online tutorial. Did you get my registratiion? lol.
Happy Holidays all.

ed

Aloha Ben! Great stuff bruddah! Im sure its going to help a lot of people! And, you explained it perfectly!

Keep up the amazing work brah!

Malama Pono!

bump

I was fortunate to see this sharpening process in person at Coontiki and it is fantastic. In case this isn't mentioned elsewhere in the thread, here is something I learned about the sandpaper that really helped me assemble the necessary grits for the proper Benzart sharpening system. The hardware store will carry lots of sandpapers but if yours doesn't have the really high number grits, check your auto parts store because they will have it in the body repair products section. I found packs of 5 half sheets for $3.49 I probably wouldn't have known to look there if I hadn't heard it mentioned at the seminar. So lets get sharp everyone!

bump

On 2005-01-13 14:01, Benzart wrote:
Here's a bit more detail than I gave in Raffertikis post and rather than take over his post I'm starting a new one.
Same tiki, 3 1/2" tall shaped like a bongo drum and sliced in half.
I first drew a center line and a few 90 degree lines for refrence points then drew in all the lines on both sides.




Starting at the top, cut a "V" line for the brow lines and the same all the way down past the mouth



Then start shaping the teeth section shaving a little off at a time until you have the basic shape


Then begin to shape the tongue



Then I shaped the teeth more, lowering them to Below the tongue line so the tongue sticks out more.



Thenshape the teeth some more and define each tooth, being careful to cut Away from the tongue, as it is fragile at this point and a wayward slash would severly ruin it.
Then I went back up to the eyes and cut deeply into each corner of the eye on all 4 sides. Then removed each corner area to define the beginning of the eyeball.

Then continue cutting off the corners until the eyeball is round, then cutting off the top of the ball to identify the pupil.

Then begin cleaning up the detail and depening the mouth and eyes. You will see where it needs to be cleaned and shaped.





Somewhere a nose popped up. Now this is ALL done with the hook knife. once you get ti to this point you can sand it to your liking. I use small fingernail emory boards from the local drug store. you can cut them in half longways to get a thin stiff strip and you can wrap it with finer grit sandpaper if you like. of course I use plain sand paper, sand paper sponges and drums on the Foredom or Dremel.
This concludes this portion of lesson 1.

---

[ Edited by: Benzart 2005-12-03 19:09 ]