CUTTING GROOVES WITH A GOUGE.

We will now suppose that the pupil has a piece of smooth pine wood, at least six inches by six in size, and half an inch in thickness, fastened to the table before him. Let him draw on it two lines with a lead pencil, across the grain, one-fourth of an inch distant from each other. Then taking a fluter or gouge of semi-circular curve, also one-fourth of an inch in diameter, let him carefully cut away the wood between the lines so as to form a semi-circular groove, Fig. 28 a. This is not to be effected by cutting all the wood away at once. A very little should be removed at first, so as to make a shallow groove, then this may be cut over again till the incision is perfect. Hold the handle of the tool firmly in the right hand, with the wrist and part of the forearm resting on the bench; place the two first fingers of the left hand on the face of the blade about an inch from the cutting edge, to direct and act as a stop to prevent the tool advancing too fast. Some place the thumb below the blade, so that it is held between the thumb and the two first fingers.

“Keep your mind on your work—a careless movement may cause a slip of the tool and ruin it.” Let every stroke of chisel or gouge be made and regulated by purpose and design, not haphazard, or at random. Think exactly what you wish to cut or mean to do, and leave nothing to involuntary action. The habit of doing this may be acquired in the first few lessons, if you try, and when it is acquired all the real difficulty of carving is mastered.

Never attempt to carve anything unless it is fastened to the table. Pupils who do this fall into the habit of holding the panel down with the left hand, and the result is that the tool slips sooner or later, and inflicts a wound which may be serious. Always keep both hands on the tool.

When the pupil shall have cut perhaps twenty straight grooves with great care with the gouge, he may then cut cross-barred grooves, Fig. 28 b, and then curved ones as in Fig. 29 a, b, c.

Two sections of a circle thus intersecting form, as may be seen, a leaf. One, two, or even three lessons may be devoted to this, but let the pupil go no further until he can cut these grooves perfectly. He will then find it excellent practice at odd intervals to carve grooves in circles, spirals, or other forms. Groove-carving may be regarded as line-drawing, for any pattern which can be drawn in simple lines can be of course imitated with a gouge.

Very pretty decorative work may be effected by this gouge-grooving alone, and in fact it was very common in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as is shown by specimens in the museums of South Kensington, Munich, Vienna, and Salzburg. The wood chosen was generally a highly-grained or strongly-marked pine, the natural yellow colour of which was somewhat heightened by staining, oiling, or age. The pattern, generally a leafy one, was then outlined with a narrow, say one-third inch gouge, and the grooves painted in with black or brown. This was applied in many ways, but especially to large cabinets or wardrobes. It is a very rapid and effective kind of work.

Celtic or Irish (or Runic) patterns, which resemble ropes or ribbons crossing one another, can be very well imitated by running these lines with a gouge, Fig. 30. No writer on wood-carving ever seems to have noticed what beautiful, complicated, and valuable work can be executed in this manner alone. These lines can be painted in black, dark colours, or red, so as to make fine effects in decorative furniture or friezes. It may also be observed, that when cut they may be used for moulds for plaster of Paris, papier-machÉ, and leather. The pupil would do well to pass a few days in developing simple groove-work, which is worth perfectly understanding. There are few who cannot with care learn to cut grooves very well with a gouge after a few days’ practice. I urge that the pupil shall do this with ease before going further. Secondly, that he shall actually realize what a great amount of beautiful work can be made with one gouge of from one-fourth to one-third of an inch diameter; as, for instance, in inscriptions, interlacing bands or any kind of design formed of lines or cords, Celtic decoration, interlacing ropes or ribbons, etc. The artist who proposes to master carving for general decoration should pay particular attention to this simple work.

Beginners in carving are, without exception, so anxious to get ornaments or leaves in relief, and to produce some kind of high-class art work, that they pass over grooving and curve-carving or flat-cutting as of very little consequence, when in fact it would be in every way much more to their advantage to develop it to the utmost. The great reason why there is at present so little decoration of broad spaces in panels, scrolls, or furniture, by means of carving, is because all carvers are devoted almost exclusively to more ambitious work, and ignore what may be done with a few tools by the simplest methods.