Carving On The Edge Festival

[Brian T]

There has been a wood carving festival held each summer in Tofino, BC for many years.
The Nuu-chah-nulth people of the west coast of Vancouver Island are the principal sponsors.
This year is a free Zoom meeting, March 26, 27 & 28.

The Festival schedule is now available in the website. Registration is free.
I think from tools to heritage, there's something for everyone.
I'm looking forward to the "Carver to carver" events and the Open Carving Area.

https://carvingedgefestival.com/

[Randy]

Looks like a really interesting show. Wish I was able to go see it.

[pallin]

Thanks for sharing this, Brian. I will try to participate online.

[PittsburghTim]

Thanks for the info. I registered for the event!

I have purchased a few books on the subject of Northwest Coastal carvings and customs and have a few projects in mind. I have also thought about testing my blacksmithing skills by making a few adze blades. I have some smaller trailer leaf springs that I think would be fairly easy to transform into blades. It should definitely be worth a try.

Thanks again,

Tim

[Brian T]

A good elbow adze is a "bandsaw on a stick" for rough outs and textured surfaces.
Get the Kestrel Constant for handle size right, get the Holm Constant right for hand placement and swing at your heart rate all day long.
The D-adze is a nice chopper when you need to do that.
Start with some worn down farrier's hoof trimming knives.
Good starts for crooked knives and you will need a dozen+ shapes.
Bash off the factory handles, surface haft them again and they carve really well.

[pallin]

Most of the festival is being presented virtually, so you don't have to travel there.

Take a moment to see the work of one of their featured carvers: JoshuaPrescott.ca

[PittsburghTim]

A good elbow adze is a "bandsaw on a stick" for rough outs and textured surfaces.
Get the Kestrel Constant for handle size right, get the Holm Constant right for hand placement and swing at your heart rate all day long.
The D-adze is a nice chopper when you need to do that.
Start with some worn down farrier's hoof trimming knives.
Good starts for crooked knives and you will need a dozen+ shapes.
Bash off the factory handles, surface haft them again and they carve really well.

I know where I can get all of the used hoof trimmers I need. There is a large Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio, a pleasant two-hour drive from Pittsburgh. It has more Amish than Lancaster, PA. I know of a few blacksmithing supply/farrier shops there that sell the used ones for a few dollars each. I assume that they are some sort of high-carbon tool steel and could be annealed, reshaped, and re-hardened in my backyard smithy. Right now, I would have to isolate from work for two weeks if I went there because of the virus. As I work for a defense contractor for the Navy, I am considered an essential worker and have all kinds of travel restrictions to follow. Hopefully, they will ease up soon.

[Brian T]

Too bad you can't move much. A new Hall knife is $50 each. I give the local farrier $5 for pizza.
Score at least a half dozen, every chance you get. I give some away.

I looked over the Festival schedule again tonight.
The Zoom format means people from worldwide can take part.
There's no way, even in the past, that I'd ever be able to get there for the real deal.

[Brian T]

Starts tomorrow! The Zoom codes for all the sessions have been emailed to everybody who registered (free.)

[Brian T]

This morning's Festival session is a 2-hour presentation "Introduction to Wood Carving With Hand Tools." It consists of 5 videos with Robinson Cook. The set is being put up in YouTube.
Good sound and no camera shake, several cameras and well edited if at all.
Whole lot of things that I figured out for myself over the years about wood and tools.

I recommend watching the set when fully posted. Even if you know all the stuff already, it's reassuring to know you are on the right track.

[Brian T]

All the stuff about texturing surfaces with adzes, knives and gouges is the last 15 minutes of the tool safety video. You also get a good look at the performance of the Lee Valley carver's platform. Little too rich for my budge and floor space.

[pallin]

Hi Brian - Was that you in one of the Sunday sharing sessions?

One thing that struck me was the use of "European" carving tools by First Nations carvers. When I attended a similar event eleven years ago in Campbell River, B.C., the only carving tools shown were the crooked knives & adzes which came out of the traditional process of making one's own tools. Now they're including Swiss-Made gouges and touting the sets available from Lee Valley. Is that "cultural appropriation?" But I continue to admire the traditional form-line designs of the coastal clans.

[Brian T]

Yessir, Phil, that was me. It was good to see you there. I enjoyed being a student again. So many different things to learn.
I hope that Robinson Cook's Carving Tools series stays up on YouTube for a long time. Every beginner or even those with a curiosity should watch them all.

Introduction to Wood Carving with Hand Tools - Part 1/5 - Types of Wood - YouTube

First Nations in the PacNW have been using Euro-tools and chainsaws behind closed doors for decades. At last, it's apparent that they have adopted the stance that "the best tool for the job" is the correct tool to use. Of course to work properly in silver or gold, using the correct gravers and tools is the only way to participate. I don't think of that as appropriation like passing off copies of formline as original and First Nations work.

In the video of the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art, There's bandsaws beside the adzes and Pfeil gouges all over the place.

Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art - YouTube

[Brian T]

All of the common sessions from the festival have been put up in the Youtube channel.
You can watch every session except the common rooms.
The best lunch time viewing entertainment have to be the 5 wood carving tool sessions with Robinson Cook.

Just this morning, a bunch of short video clips have been posted.
They show the beach steaming of the cedar canoe that Joe Martin and apprentices have carved.

With a high wave-cutting bow on their boats, the Nuu-chah-nulth people on the west coast of Vancouver island were the really serious whale hunters.